BGuthrie Photos: VA -- Montpelier Station -- James Madison's Montpelier (Gilmore Farm)

VA -- Montpelier Station -- James Madison's Montpelier (Gilmore Farm):

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1. MONTGF_060812_03.JPG: Gilmore Farm George Gilmore, born a slave on the Montpelier plantation about 1810, was freed with the Federal occupation of Orange County in 1865. With his wife Poly and three children, he established a small farmstead near the plantation where he had been enslaved. Over time, they purchased 16 acres of land from Dr. James A. Madison, grand-nephew of the President. Three generations of the Gilmore family lived here prior to its sale in 1920. Today, the cabin and farm illustrate the history of the African-American transformation from slavery to freedom, and document their hard-won success in purchasing land, building their own home, and establishing new lives after emancipation. Gilmore Farm, ca. 1880 The layout of the Gilmores' 16-acre farm has been reconstructed based on the 1880 agricultural census, 1937 aerial photography, and recent archaeological surveys. In 1880, the Gilmores owned one horse, one milk cow, five pigs, and 11 chickens. They farmed 12 acres, planting two acres in corn, which produced 40 bushels that year, and three acres in wheat, which produced six bushels. The remaining seven acres were probably planted in vegetables and fruit for the family and fodder for their livestock. The farm provided for the family's basic needs, but little more. In 2002, Montpelier archaeologists discovered a series of cobblestone surfaces in the yard. Confederate Army artifacts were found with them suggesting the cobblestone surfaces may have been constructed by the Confederate Army as part of the 1863-1864 winter camp. A camp hut may have served as the Gilmore family's first home after emancipation, since they built their cabin in the spring of 1873. 1920s photograph of Gilmore Farm At the time of this photograph, George and Polly Gilmore had died and their son William occupied the farm with his family. He made several improvements, enlarging the home with a one-room frame addition, planting an orchard, and keeping bee hives. As citizens and landowners, George and Polly were able to pass on the achievements of their hard work to their children, enabling them to build more successful lives. Glass beads, buttons, straight pins and safety pins recovered by archaeologists in excavations under the cabin These items had fallen through the florboards of the cabin during the first 30 years of the Gilmore occupation. They corroborate family tradition that Polly Gilmore worked as a seamstress and dressmaker. Earning cash to purchase necessary supplies was the responsibility of every member of the family, whether male or female, young or old. Gilmore Cabin, 2001 Gilmore family descendants have kept their connection with the family homestead. In 2001, they volunteered their time to help Montpelier archaeologists conduct excavations inside the cabin, helping to recover the hundreds of beads, pins, buttons, and other items that had slipped between the floorboards of the cabin.
2. MONTGF_060812_05.JPG: Gilmore Farm
3. MONTGF_060812_61.JPG: Gilmore Farm George Gilmore was born into slavery at Montpelier about 1810. Like millions of African Americans throughout the South, Gilmore made the transition to freedom after the Civil War. Many emancipated slaves worked on the same plantation where they once labored. Gilmore, his wife Polly and five children lived in this cabin built by family members in 1873 and farmed the surrounding fields. In 1901 George Gilmore obtained the deed for 16 acres from Dr. James A. Madison. After Gilmore's death in 1905 the property remained in the family until 1920. Archaeological and architectural investigations have resulted in the restoration of this rare example of a surviving freed family's cabin.
4. MONTGF_060812_62.JPG: Three Friends, Three Presidents Three of the first five Presidents of the United States made their homes in central Virginia. Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and James Monroe's Ash Lawn-Highland are just outside Charlottesville. James Madison's Montpelier stands in neighboring Orange County. During Jefferson's Presidency, Madison served as Secretary of State while Monroe negotiated the Louisiana Purchase as Minister to France. Under Madison, Monroe served as Secretary of State and Secretary of War. Like their political lives, these men's social and personal lives were intertwined. Jefferson hoped to surround himself with his friends in central Virginia. Madison and Monroe were the core of Jefferson's "society to our taste." James Monroe's Ash Lawn-Highland: A 535-acre estate, Ash Lawn-Highland was the Monroes' primary residence from 1799 until 1823. The original Monroe house features tours and exhibits on early nineteenth-century culture. Plantation life is explored through the original smokehouse and overseer's house, at the reconstructed slave quarters, and in the fields, where cattle and sheep graze and peacocks roam. Summer Music Festival. James Madison's Montpelier: Montpelier helped shape James Madison's character and his vision for the new republic. A visit to Montpelier is an unusual opportunity to learn about the father of the Constitution and to see historic preservation in action. Montpelier is the focus of major archaeological and architectural research. Visitors enjoy the 2700-acre estate and gardens, and a guided tour of the mansion. Thomas Jefferson's Monticello: Montecello, meaning "little mountain," was designed and built by Jefferson over a period of 40 years. One of our country's foremost architectural masterpieces, Monticello remains a testimony to its creator's ingenuity and diverse interests. The main house and gardens reflect the innovative character of their designer, while Mulberry Row offers insights into plantation industries and workers, both slave and free.
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AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
Wikipedia Description: Montpelier (James Madison)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Montpelier was the estate of James Madison, fourth President of the United States. It is four miles south of Orange, Virginia and covers some 2,750 acres.

The land, in the Piedmont of Virginia, was acquired by James Madison's grandfather, Ambrose Madison, and his brother-in-law Thomas Chew, in 1723. Ambrose and his family moved to the plantation, then known as Mount Pleasant, in 1732. When Ambrose died only six months later, poisoned, it was said, by three slaves, his wife Frances managed the estate; in time she was assisted by their only son, James, later Colonel Madison. Colonel Madison's first-born son, also James, was born in 1751 at his mother's family estate in Port Conway, but soon moved to Montpelier. He spent his first years here, before moving to a new house built by his father half a mile away. This new house forms the heart of the main house at Montpelier today. Built around 1764, with two stories of brick in Flemish bond, and a low, hipped roof with chimney stacks at both ends.

James, Junior inherited Montpelier after his father's death in 1801 and retired there after his second term as president came to an end in 1817. In 1797, after his first retirement from politics, he added a thirty-foot extension and a Tuscan portico. Single-story flat-roofed extensions were built at either end of the house and a Drawing Room was created out of two of the existing rooms in around 1810. James Madison died in 1836 and is buried in the family cemetery at Montpelier. His widow, Dolley Madison, moved back to Washington, D.C. after his death and sold the estate in 1844.

Montpelier was permanently staffed by an enslaved African population which fluctuated in size but averaged approximately 100 during James Madison's tenure as owner.

After some renovations in the later 1800s (c. 1855 and c. 1880), the house was acquired in 1901 by William and Annie Rogers duPont of the du Pont family. The du ...More...
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Same Subject: Click on this link to see coverage of items having the same subject: [History 1800s (excl wars)] [National Trust for Historic Preservation]
2006 photos: Trips this year: Florida (two separate trips including Lotusphere and taking care of mom), three weeks out west (including Yellowstone), Williamsburg, San Diego (comic book convention), and Georgia. Equipment this year: I was using all six Fuji cameras at various times -- an S602Zoom, two S7000s,a S5200, an S9000, and an S9100. The majority of pictures this year were taken with the S9000. I have to say, the S7000s was the best camera I've used up to this point.. Number of photos taken this year: 183,000.
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