James Monroe

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James Monroe (April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) lived in Charlottesville after serving in the Revolutionary War. Monroe was the fifth president of the United States of America from 1817 to 1825.[1]

Friends with Thomas Jefferson, Monroe had moved to Charlottesville to study law under Jefferson (1780 to 1783). Following his presidency, Monroe lived at Monroe Hill, which is now Brown College at Monroe Hill, on the grounds of the University of Virginia.[2]

In 2016, the nonprofit organization that operates his estate changed the name back to Highland, its name when Monroe lived there (a subsequent owner had at one point renamed it to Ash Lawn-Highland). Monroe had lived there from 1799 to 1823, selling the house as he exited the presidency.[3]

Dr. Charles Everett served as a physician and private secretary for Monroe.

Time in Charlottesville and Albemarle County

Monroe's first purchase of real estate in the area was made in 1790, when he bought Lots 17 and 18 (as well as the accompanying Stone House situated thereupon) from George Nicholas. At the same time, Monroe purchased from Nicholas (who already owned over 2,000 acres in different sections across Albemarle County) the farm on which the university now stands. Monroe made Stone House his first residence until he was ready to move into the farm with his furniture and family. It was not until nearly 20 years after Nicholas' death that James Morrison, his executor, gave title to the heirs of his vendees. Perhaps due to Monroe's nationwide fame or to the property already having changed hands several times, no deed was ever recorded for the land purchased by Monroe.

While on the site that would become the University of Virginia, Monroe lived at what is now Monroe Hill. In 1793, he purchased land on the east side of Carter Mountain, in the process becoming a closer neighbor of Thomas Jefferson (Monroe did not receive the deed for this property until 1827). Part of this land Monroe had bought from Jefferson and the other part from William C. Carter, with the house Monroe built upon the property being named Highland. There he lived until the end of his presidency, when all of his lands within the county (amounting to between 4,000 and 5,000 acres in total) were transferred to the United States Bank in payment of his debts.

At the expiration of his second term, Monroe moved to Oak Hill, a farm he had purchased in Loudoun County. The College of William and Mary manages his Highland property today.

Family and descendants

Monroe was married to Elizabeth, the daughter of a captain in the British army named Lawrence Kortright, and had two children with her named Eliza and Maria. Eliza was married to George Hay, the United States Attorney for the district of Virginia, at Monroe's Highland property in 1808. Maria married Samuel L. Governeur of New York in Washington, D.C. while Monroe was president.

Monroe had an elder brother named Andrew who, in 1781, purchased a farm near Batesville, where he lived for the next four years. In 1816, he was residing on a farm which Monroe had purchased on Limestone, below Milton. Andrew died in 1828. One of his sons, Augustine G. was admitted to the Albemarle bar in 1815. Another son, James, born within the county, served as an officer in the United States army, acting as Monroe's private secretary. James married a daughter of James Douglass (an adopted son of Reverend William Douglass) of Ducking Hole, Louisa County and settled in New York City, where he became active in political affairs and was appointed a member of the Peace Convention in 1861.

Joseph Jones, another brother of Monroe, became a member of the Albemarle bar and married Elizabeth, the daughter of James Kerr. In 1811, Joseph was appointed the Commonwealth's Attorney as successor to Judge Dabney Carr, being succeeded himself by William F. Gordon the following year. In 1812, Joseph's daughter Harriet was married to Edward Blair Cabell in Charlottesville, with the couple then moving to Keytesville, Missouri. Joseph lated moved to Missouri himself, where he died in Franklin County in 1824.[4]

Community History Series

In 1973, the Jefferson Cable Corporation filmed a brief documentary narrated by Bernard Chamberlain describing the history of James Monroe.

<vimeo>52416526</vimeo>

In 1974, Bernard Chamberlain hosted Jane Ikenberry in this conversation about Ash Lawn-Highland, the home of James Monroe, the 5th President of the United States.

<vimeo>65089858</vimeo>

References

  1. Web. James Monroe, Wikipedia, retrieved October 30, 2012.
  2. Web. James Monroe, Wikipedia, retrieved October 30, 2012.
  3. Web. Monroe’s home restores its original name: Highland, Staff Reports, Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises, April 23, 2016, retrieved April 25, 2016.
  4. Web. Albemarle County in Virginia, C.J. Carrier Company, 1901

External links