Welcome home Mr. President

By David Maurer

Published: September 14, 2008

James Madison could not have had a more loving caregiver during the last years of his life as he struggled with illness and physical debilities.

Such was Dolley Madison’s devotion to her bedridden husband that she rarely left his side. In March 1832 she sent her friend Frances Lear a letter in which she wrote, “I never leave him, more than a few minuts [sic] at a time, and have not left the enclosure around our house for the last eight months.”

But on the morning of June 28, 1836, the former first lady had a pressing errand to run. She left Madison in the care of a favorite niece and his manservant, Paul Jennings.

When the niece noticed her uncle was having trouble swallowing during breakfast she asked, “Uncle Jimmy, what is the matter?”

The father of the Constitution looked at her, smiled faintly and said, “Nothing more than a change of mind, my dear.”

With those words the last living founding father died.

The fourth president’s final words also could describe what has started to take place at his beloved home, Montpelier. At 11 a.m. Wednesday, a celebration will take place at the Orange County mansion to commemorate the completion of its five-year architectural restoration. Fittingly, the event takes place on Constitution Day.

The keynote speaker will be John G. Roberts Jr., chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine also will speak, as will Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. PBS news anchor Jim Lehrer will serve as master of ceremonies.

The

celebration will serve as a birthday party of sorts for Montpelier. Its new life will focus on education and reflection on the Constitution and the man who did so much to create it.

“This is a rebirth of Montpelier,” said Michael C. Quinn, president of the Montpelier Foundation. “More importantly, it is for us a rebirth of James Madison.

“He’s the genius who gave our nation its Constitution. And our Constitution is what defines us as Americans, and it is what we live under every single day. So our hope is that it’s a rebirth not only of Madison, but of our appreciation of and commitment to the values of the Constitution.

“The restoration is central to the Montpelier experience, because the house is the crown jewel. It is our most authentic and most important artifact of James and Dolley Madison. In fact, there is no other place in the nation that is associated with James Madison.”

The $24 million restoration freed the mansion from an encasement of added-on rooms and renovations. It has been returned as much as was architecturally possible to the home the Madisons knew.

Those familiar with the estate will likely note a new atmosphere and embracing aura. Many will sense that aura not only within the rooms of the mansion, but throughout the 2,650 acres of pasture and woodland that surround it.

For the first time guests can stand in the second-floor library where Madison pored through countless books on the history of civilization and government to find out why all prior democracies had failed. And it’s believed it was in this room during the winter of 1786-87 that he created the framework of the Constitution.

“Being able to stand in Madison’s library couldn’t have happened before when the house was the way it was,” said Jennifer Gullette, media manager for Montpelier. “It’s a powerful experience to now be able to stand in the room where the Constitution was essentially born.

“I have seen people in tears in this room. It’s very moving. It’s easy for me to picture Madison gazing out these windows westward toward the Blue Ridge Mountains while thinking about our future.”

On a recent morning, Montpelier head guide Arnie Hughes invited a group of visitors into the library. He painted a vivid picture of a small, frail man, who, during the course of several months, wrestled with profound questions concerning the workings of politics, government and human nature.

“This is a sacred place,” Hughes said as bright sunlight streamed into the room and illuminated what is thought to be an ink stain on the hardwood flooring that dates back to Madison’s time. “You can feel the history of our nation flowing through this room.”

Several of the visitors nodded their heads in agreement. For a few seconds, no one spoke as each realized he was standing at a hallowed epicenter of human history.

In a near-magical way, what had simply been a grandiose house has become a shrine.

The duPont family, which had done so much to preserve Montpelier and willed it to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1984, has not been forgotten.

The William duPont Gallery, adjoining the new Visitors Center, helps tell that part of the estate’s history. But the mansion itself is now solely the Madisons, which was Marion duPont Scott’s wish when she deeded Montpelier to the National Trust.

“The restoration was done simply to return James Madison to Montpelier, and, by extension, to return Madison to the American people,” Quinn said. “When the million-plus visitors a year go to the National Archives in Washington they go there to stand in the presence of the three iconic documents of America — the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

“Those last two documents are more the product of Madison’s mind than of anyone else. And yet he’s largely forgotten. The ideas he brought to the formation of our nation, the insights into politics, government, human nature and nation building, are still important because they define us as a people.

“And these are things we literally have to teach to our children, because they’re not something you know intuitively. Our goal is that Montpelier will be a monument to Madison and the Constitution. And, more importantly, a place of education where people learn about the ideas and founding principles that made our country the world’s first successful democracy.”

The Center for the Constitution has been established to help achieve that goal. Constitutional scholars and distinguished professors come there to share their knowledge with current stewards of the Constitution, such as teachers and policymakers.

“The center is a very important component of everything that’s happening here at Montpelier,” Gullette said. “Right now we’re mainly working with school teachers, but we’ve also worked with state Supreme Court justices and later this year we’re doing a seminar on the Constitution for members of the Virginia General Assembly.

“We bring them in for weekend seminars, and they stay right here on the property in little cottages we’ve renovated. They basically learn about the Constitution, the process behind its development and Madison’s thinking concerning it.

“At the end of the day when all the visitors and workers are gone they’re free to walk the same ground Madison walked. I think that’s when the magic really happens.”

Although the restoration of the mansion is complete, much work remains. Visitors shouldn’t expect to see any furnishings in the house for another year to 18 months.

The delay is due to the time it will take for the walls to completely dry. Because of the attention to authenticity, the 90 tons of plaster used on the walls consists of the same ingredients as the original plaster — sand, water, limestone and horsehair.

As much attention will be given to furnishing the house as was given to the restoration.

“We’ve made some giant steps, but we still have more work to do to bring James and Dolley back,” said Quinn, who before coming to Montpelier nearly nine years ago was deputy director of Mount Vernon. “We intend to furnish the mansion in a way that truly does bring back their very unique sense of themselves, their style, their furnishings and their decor.

“We also intend to bring back more of the plantation that Madison created. We have just scratched the surface in finding and recovering the grounds of Montpelier.

“This includes the walks, paths, kitchen, smokehouses and homes of the slaves who literally ran Montpelier for Madison. We want all of that to be part of the history.”

This inclusive approach to history will be evident Wednesday. During the ceremony Madison Iler Wing, a Madison family descendant, and Raleigh Marshall, a descendent of Paul Jennings, who was a Montpelier slave, will read the Preamble to the Constitution.

Across the road from Montpelier is the Gilmore Cabin. It, too, has been restored with the same care and attention to historic accuracy as the mansion was.

The cabin was built by George Gilmore, a former slave at Montpelier. The structure and farm provide a glimpse of what life had been like after emancipation for Gilmore, his wife, Polly, and their five children.

Next in line for restoration is the circa-1915 railroad depot near the new entrance to Montpelier. It will present a picture of unvarnished reality.

“The depot is part of that very exciting dynamic period of the establishment of the railroad,” Quinn said. “It also contains a very negative story, which is seen in the separated ‘colored’ and ‘white’ waiting rooms.

“We will restore that because telling our country’s history accurately is our mission. That story, going back to Madison’s time, is one that isn’t perfect. It’s a huge contradiction between Madison espousing the ideals of the Constitution and Madison owning slaves.

“At the same time, Madison established an ideal for our nation that he himself knew he fell short of. What I’ve always thought our founders did was set forth ideals that far surpassed them.

“I think what that has done for us as a nation is create a sense of obligation to live up to those ideals. If you look at the last two centuries in American history, we have accomplished more in expanding individual rights and enfranchising every member of our society than any comparable 200 years in world history anywhere.

“We should be proud of that. A lot of thinkers and people of action helped us build the kind of system we have today. We really do understand that there are inalienable rights all people are entitled to, and properly constituted government is what ensures we have those rights.”

Although Montpelier will officially begin its new life on Wednesday, the effect of the new focus is already being felt. According to Gullette the number of visitors is up 24 percent from last year, and those numbers are expected to continue to grow.

“We have recruited some of the finest craftsmen in the nation for this job, and they have poured themselves into it,” Quinn said. “They have given the best of their minds, their hands and their work.

“We also have many very generous donors who have made this possible. We’ve been very fortunate that Madison’s Montpelier has inspired that kind of dedication, generosity and commitment.

“Constitution Day will be our day to literally step onto the national stage, define who we are to the American people and welcome them. We’re really looking forward to doing that.”

There is no admission to Montpelier on Wednesday for the restoration celebration. Gates open at 9 a.m., with the ceremony starting at 11 a.m. To learn more go to www. Montpelier.org or call (540) 672-2728.