1. The elder Madison was probably instrumental in circulating the Orange and Culpeper County petitions which possibly JM laid before the House on 4 Nov. 1784 as protests against the injustice of the 1779 law governing land patents. The petitions called for clear instruction so that titles could be obtained on the basis of previous surveys and for ways to prevent “the collusions and illegal practices between the principal surveyors and their deputies” (JHDV description begins Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia; Begun and Held at the Capitol, in the City of Williamsburg. Beginning in 1780, the portion after the semicolon reads, Begun and Held in the Town of Richmond. In the County of Henrico. The journal for each session has its own title page and is individually paginated. The edition used is the one in which the journals for 1777–1786 are brought together in two volumes, with each journal published in Richmond in either 1827 or 1828 and often called the “Thomas W. White reprint.” description ends , Oct. 1784, p. 11). The Committee on Propositions and Grievances held these requests reasonable and ordered a bill written. What apparently happened was that Harry Innes, who was elected the Kentucky district attorney, persuaded the delegates a revision was unwise. The law had indeed bedeviled absentee landowners while creating a harvest for Kentucky lawyers. For a brief explanation of the Madison family investment in Kentucky lands, see Ralph Ketcham, James Madison: A Biography (New York, 1971), pp. 145–46.

2. The House of Delegates passed, 47 to 32, a resolution calling for “a moderate tax or contribution, annually, for the support of the christian religion,” on Nov. 11 (JHDV description begins Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia; Begun and Held at the Capitol, in the City of Williamsburg. Beginning in 1780, the portion after the semicolon reads, Begun and Held in the Town of Richmond. In the County of Henrico. The journal for each session has its own title page and is individually paginated. The edition used is the one in which the journals for 1777–1786 are brought together in two volumes, with each journal published in Richmond in either 1827 or 1828 and often called the “Thomas W. White reprint.” description ends , Oct. 1784, p. 19). JM was in the minority that opposed the proposed “General assessment” bill that was carried over to the Oct. 1785 session.

3. A resolution passed by the House of Delegates held “That for the more convenient administration of justice throughout this Commonwealth, circuit courts ought to be established” (JHDV description begins Journal of the House of Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia; Begun and Held at the Capitol, in the City of Williamsburg. Beginning in 1780, the portion after the semicolon reads, Begun and Held in the Town of Richmond. In the County of Henrico. The journal for each session has its own title page and is individually paginated. The edition used is the one in which the journals for 1777–1786 are brought together in two volumes, with each journal published in Richmond in either 1827 or 1828 and often called the “Thomas W. White reprint.” description ends , Oct. 1784, p. 43). JM was appointed chairman of the committee charged with preparing the Assize Court bill of 2 Dec. 1784, which passed despite a strong undercurrent of opposition.