Yesterday we went to Montpelier, which is the plantation where James Madison lived, the 4th President of the United States and Father of the Constitution.
There were no pictures inside the house and we failed to get a good pictures of the front of the house...but when somebody come visits us - we will gladly take you there and hopefully get a better picture. I learned so much on the tour and feel so inspired by the stories of our founding fathers. James Madison and Thomas Jefferson were really good friends. The windows behind Coby were the original windows and designed by Jefferson - they work on pulleys so they can slide up and down.
Here we are standing up on the terrace of the house. The Montpelier Plantation mostly produced tobacco, but was also pretty self-sustaining. There were usually about 120 slaves that lived and worked on the plantation. James Madison despised slavery, but would have been unable to run a profitable plantation without his slaves. When writing the Constitution he made sure there would be amendements that would allow for the abolishment of slavery down the road.
Here is the view looking towards the Blue Ridge Mountains. When Madison looked out he dreamed of the day that the frontier would push past those mountains (which didn't really happen until after the Louisiana Purchase).
A life-size statue of James and Dolley Madison, out in the back yard where Dolley loved to entertain big groups of people. There plantation is very isolated and far away from any major cities...so when they received guests, they would stay for an extended visit.
Here Alayna and Benson are standing by replicas of a detached kitchen, a smokehouse, and the domestic slave quarters.
We were able to taste some food from that 18th century and grind salt and shave nutmeg.
This is called Mr. Madison's temple. In the middle is a trapdoor to a cellar. During the winter when the pond would freeze over they would cut blocks of ice and lower it down there.
There are several big archealogical dig sites and one for the kids as well. Alayna and Benson loved finding artifacts and washing them off and trying to figure out what they were. There were several pieces of a cup that we tried to put together like a puzzle.
The grounds were beautiful - especially with the fall colors.
This huge tree was a black walnut tree. The walnuts were all over the ground. Benson must have thrown a hundred of them.
Dolley had to sell the house after James died to pay off the gambling debts of her son. The Dupont family were the last to own the house and it was in their family for over 80 years before they willed it back to the Historical Society. The beautiful gardens reflect their influence.
We walked to the family cemetary and saw where many family members were buried...including James and Dolley.
After we left...we saw this little train station and decided to stop for a quick look. The train station/post office was built by the Dupont family in the early 1900's. There were two separate sides one for the white people, the other for the colored people.
Inside their was a display of different types of communication...and it said "Please Touch"!!! We loved typing out Morse Code messages to each other.
Typing telegrams...
And ringing each other up on the phone.
We sure enjoyed our beautiful fall day at Montpelier. I was so inspired by what I learned about James Madison and his role in the Constitution and later as our President.
