To James Madison from James Monroe, 17 [May 1811]
From James Monroe
17.th. [May 1811]
Mr Madison will be so kind as to inform me whether he went yesterday to the Fair,1 & if he did not, whether he intends to go this evening, as in that event he will go with him—and meet him at such time as he will appoint, at the door.2
J.M.
If he went yesterday, he will inform him, whether it was attended with any charge.
RC (NN: Monroe Papers [microfilm ed.], Misc. Papers and Undated Letters, reel 5). Month and year not indicated; conjectural month and year supplied based on evidence in n. 1.
1. On 14 Sept. 1804 the Washington city council and mayor Robert Brent established a framework for fairs to be held in the city twice yearly, in May and November, for three consecutive days beginning on “the first Wednesday” of the month. Fairs subsequently organized under the auspices of the Columbian Agricultural Society followed this pattern to the extent that they took place in May and November and commenced on Wednesday. The May 1811 fair was reportedly attended by JM and his cabinet, and may have been the one that Monroe, recently arrived in Washington to take up his duties as secretary of state, referred to here. If it followed the three-day format, it would have ended on Friday, 17 May. During the remaining years of JM’s presidency, November 1815 and May 1816 are the only other instances in which the seventeenth of the month fell on a Thursday or Friday, both JM and Monroe were in Washington, and the holding of a fair was not made extremely unlikely by war circumstances. No reports of fairs held in Washington in those months have been found, however, leaving May 1811 as the most likely date for this note (National Intelligencer, 5 Oct. 1804, 18 May 1810, 22 Nov. 1810, 16 May 1811, 26 Nov. 1811, 26 May 1812).
2. JM penciled his reply on the lower half of the page: “J M is to join Mr. Marshall this evening at 5 OC. at the door of the House where the fair is to be held. He will call by for Mr Monroe, a little before 5. OC.”