91Independence and Constitution of Virginia, [1827?] (Madison Papers)
[1827?] Although the date when JM prepared this manuscript must remain uncertain, it could well have been written in the autumn of 1827, during his exchange of letters with George Mason’s grandson about the Virginia Declaration of Rights and first Form of Government, and at a time when a revision of the state constitution was much in the public mind. The manuscript has considerable unity of...
92Session of Virginia Council of State, 25 May 1778 (Madison Papers)
present His Excellency; John Page Nathaniel Harrison Dudley Digges David Jameson & Thomas Walker James Madison jr Esquires The Board being informed that the Barracks at York Town were lately burnt by some unknown accident & it being absolutely necessary that the same should be rebuilt as speedily as possible they do advise the Governor to empower & direct Mr James Taylor to purchase Timber &...
93Session of Virginia Council of State, 2 July 1778 (Madison Papers)
present His Excellency Dudley Digges David Jameson & Nathaniel Harrison James Madison jun. Esquires It being represented to the Board that Doubts have arisen concerning the extent of the privilege granted to the Officers and Soldiers raised in this State of being supplied with Goods from the public Stores at the reduced prices—They do advise the Governor to direct the Commissary of Stores in...
94Session of Virginia Council of State, 12 June 1778 (Madison Papers)
present John Page Esquire Lieutenant Governor; Dudley Digges Nathaniel Harrison & Thomas Walker James Madison jr Esquires It appearing from satisfactory Information respecting the Case of Toby a negro man Slave belonging to Benjamin Wilkins, now under Sentence of Death by the Court of Prince George County for Burglary that the said Toby is a proper object of Mercy the Board do advise the...
95Collegiate Doggerel, [June 1771–April 1772] (Madison Papers)
Copy by William Bradford in the notebook among his papers in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Filling the first half of this eighty-five page notebook is “Father Bombo’s Pilgrimage to Mecca in Arabia, Volume II,” by Hugh H. Brackenridge and Philip Freneau. This is printed in Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography , LXVI (1942), 461–78. The doggerel in the remainder of the...
96Session of Virginia Council of State, 10 November 1778 (Madison Papers)
present His Excellency; John Page David Jameson Dudley Digges James Madison Thomas Walker And Nathaniel Harrison Bolling Stark Esquires. The Board taking into consideration the perilous Situation of the People of Monongalia County, Advised the Governor that orders be given to convey 130 Rifles belonging to the public at Fredericksburg, to that County addressed to the Care of the County...
97Notes on Commentary on the Bible, 1770–1773 (Madison Papers)
MS ( LC : Madison Papers). With the exception of the extracts from Proverbs, these notes are quoted verbatim, or almost verbatim, from William Burkitt, Expository Notes, with Practical Observations, on the New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ , first printed posthumously in London in 1724. The pagination of the editorial footnotes is taken from the sixteenth edition of this work,...
98Notes on Salkeld, 1771–1774 (Madison Papers)
In an autobiographical sketch sent to James Kirke Paulding in January 1832 (LC: William C. Rives Papers), JM stated that, following his graduation from the College of New Jersey in the autumn of 1771, he devoted much of his time, both at Princeton and later at Montpelier, to a “course of reading” which “mingled miscellaneous subjects with the subjects intended to qualify him for the Bar.” JM...
I hereby Certify, that Jas. Madison Jr, And William Moore Esqrs., Are duly Elected Delegates, for the Sd. County, to Serve in General Convention, for one year then Next following, Given Under my hand, and Seal, this 25th Day of April, 1776, Salutem Sciatis —that is, “Greeting. Let it be known.” The Convention of July 1775 at Richmond provided that on the regular “court day” in April of each...
100Session of Virginia Council of State, 17 November 1778 (Madison Papers)
present His Excellency; Dudley Digges David Jameson Thomas Walker James Madison Nathaniel Harrison Bolling Stark & Joseph Prentis Esquires Walter Batwell esquire a British Subject & formerly an Officer in the British Service having been for some years in this State and hitherto been unable to remove himself & family to Britain & having set forth his Distressed Situation to this Board & praying...
101Session of Virginia Council of State, 27 November 1778 (Madison Papers)
present His Excellency; John Page Nathaniel Harrison Dudley Digges David Jameson Thomas Walker James Madison & Joseph Prentis Esquires. The Governor having communicated to the Board a Letter, which he had received from Colonel Muter, giving an Account that a British Ship of War (the Swift) in chace of the Rattlesnake privateer, run aground near Cape Henry, & that the Crew to the number of 91...
102Session of Virginia Council of State, 23 December 1778 (Madison Papers)
Present His Excellency; Dudley Digges James Madison & Thomas Walker Benjamin Waller Esquires The General Assembly having passed a Resolution empowering the Governor with the Advice of Council, to raise a Regiment of Voluntiers to consist of Six hundred Men rank & file, with proper officers to command them, for the particular purpose of guarding the British Prisoners which are now, or may...
103Indenture, 16 June 1773—Summary (Madison Papers)
16 June 1773 . JM, James Madison, Sr., Ambrose Madison, and Francis Madison were witnesses to a deed of sale of a farm in Orange County to Henry Gaines by William and Mary Daingerfield. These witnesses, with the exception of James Madison, Sr., also attested a receipt whereby William Daingerfield acknowledged that he had been paid £28 by Gaines for the property. Strangely, £78 is the price...
104Case of Unsettled Claims from Dunmore’s War, 9 December 1776 (Madison Papers)
On 29 June 1776, immediately after adopting the “form of government,” or state constitution, which it had framed, the Virginia Convention heeded the eleventh and twenty-second articles by electing a governor (Patrick Henry) and eight members of the Council of State. JM acted as one of the four tellers for each of these elections ( Proceedings of the Convention , May 1776, pp. 78–79; Hening,...
105Defeated for Election to Virginia House of Delegates, [24 April] 1777 (Madison Papers)
In the election of Delegates to the Legislature for the ensuing year (1777), he was an unsuccessful candidate. Previous to the Revolution the election of the County representatives was as in England, septennial, and it was as there, the usage, for the Candidates to recommend themselves to the voters, not only by personal solicitation, but by the corrupting influence of spirituous liquors, and...
106Order of Virginia Council of State Placing Henry Hamilton and Others in Irons, 16 June 1779 (Madison Papers)
In Council , June 16, 1779. The Board proceeded to the consideration of the letters of Colonel Clarke, and other papers relating to Henry Hamilton, Esq; who has acted some years past as Lieutenant Governour of the settlement at and about Detroit, and commandant of the British garrison there, under Sir Guy Carleton as Governour in Chief; Philip Dejean, Justice of the Peace for Detroit, and...
107Session of Virginia Council of State, 13 February 1778 (Madison Papers)
present Dudley Digges Esquire Lieutenant Governor John Blair David Jameson & Nathaniel Harrison James Madison jr Esquires A Warrant was issued by the Lieutenant Governor with the Advice of the Council, for one hundred pounds payable to Colonel Thomas Marshall upon Account for forwarding the recruiting his Regiment of State Artillery The Lieutenant Governor having in the absence of the Governor...
108Advertisement for Missing Horse, 25 October 1779 (Madison Papers)
Strayed or stolen from the common of this city, a sorrel horse, about 12 years old, and upward of 14 hands high, with a hanging mane and switch tail; he is of a strong make, his hind feet are white and he has a few saddle spots. He formerly was owned by Mr. Edwin Fleet of King & Queen , deceased. Whoever will deliver the said horse to me in Williamsburg , or to Col. James Madison in Orange ,...
109Session of Virginia Council of State, 23 January 1778 (Madison Papers)
The Governor with the Advice of the Council, issued the following Warrants upon the Treasurer for the Bounty of the Draughts to be made in the Several Counties agreeable to Act of Assembly for filling up the fifteen Virginia Regiments. A Warrant for one hundred & three pounds ten Shillings payable to William Moore Esquire on account of Orange Draughts. The General Assembly having empowered the...
110Editorial Note (Madison Papers)
When JM returned to Virginia in 1772, after three years at the College of New Jersey, the colony was in the throes of a religious revival. Baptist preachers, usually zealous but unlettered, itinerated through the province paying little heed to the statutes regulating the holding of religious services. This disregard of law was compounded by derogatory attacks on the Established Church. As...
111Indenture, 22 September 1774 (Madison Papers)
This Indenture made the twenty Second day of September in the year of our [Lord] one thousand Seven hundred and Seventy four Between James Madison of the County of Orange and Nelly his wife of the one part and James Madison Junior of the said County of the other part Witnesseth that the said James Madison and Nelly his wife for and in Consideration of the Sum of Thirty pounds Current money of...
112Proclamation Ordering Embargo, 30 November 1779 (Madison Papers)
Whereas the exportation of provisions from this state will be attended with manifest injury to the United States, by supplying the enemy, and by rendering it difficult for the publick agents and contractors to procure supplies for the American troops, and will moreover give encouragement to engrossers and monopolizers to prosecute their baneful practices, I have therefore thought fit, by and...
113Committee’s Proposed Article on Religion, [27–28 May 1776] (Madison Papers)
When the committee laid its amended draft of George Mason’s proposed Declaration of Rights before the Convention on 27 May, that body ordered it “to be committed to a committee of the whole Convention” and “ Resolved , that this Convention will on Wednesday next [29 May], resolve itself into a committee on the said declaration; and that, in the mean time, the same be printed, for the perusal...
114Session of Virginia Council of State, 7 April 1778 (Madison Papers)
present His Excellency Dudley Digges James Madison & David Jameson Bolling Stark Esquires The Board taking into Consideration the Cases of the several Criminals Sentenced by the general court to be executed & it appearing from the unanimous recommendation of the Judges, the grounds of which were explained to the Board by the Honourable John Blair one of the Judges, that Frederick Rampendall &...
115Commonplace Book, 1759–1772 (Madison Papers)
This manuscript volume is in part a copybook and in part a notebook, all written by JM in his youth with the exception of the final six lines. On the one hand, there are nearly accurate transcriptions of poetry from two magazines, and, on the other, notes upon selections from three fairly difficult books, supplemented by JM’s comments and other interpolations. At the top of the first page of...
116Article on Religion Adopted by Convention, [12 June 1776] (Madison Papers)
16. That religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator , and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and therefore, all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that it is the mutual duty of all to practise Christian forbearance, love, and charity, towards each other.
117Session of Virginia Council of State, 1 May 1778 (Madison Papers)
present His Excellency; John Page James Madison & David Jameson Bolling Stark Esquires The Governor laid before the Board a Letter from Colonel Muter informing him that Phillips the noted Traitor has again made an Insurection in Princess Anne County at the head of fifty men; Whereupon they do Advise his Excellency to order one hundred men from the Militia of Nansemond to act in Conjunction...