Close Friends Make Closer Neighbors

     

James Madison, revolutionary leader and fourth president of the United States, was born in King George County, Virginia. James Madison and Thomas Jefferson probably met in early May 1776 while serving as members of the Virginia House of Delegates. Before the year was over, both men chose the paths which led to their famous futures: Jefferson, at age 33, went to Philadelphia to become the author of the Declaration of Independence. Madison, at age 25, stayed in Williamsburg to become a member of the convention which drafted Virginia's first constitution. Their friendship became warmer in 1779, however, during Jefferson's tenure as Governor of Virginia, when Madison served as a member of his official advisory council. By the early 1780's, as their new country emerged from the chaos of revolution, their close personal ties and political collaboration were cemented.

They shared a love of the Virginia countryside; the fertile lands of the Piedmont offered both men the opportunities to study and discuss practical and financial questions of gardening, agriculture and forestry. Both kept careful records of local temperatures and rainfall while they exchanged seeds and farming tips. Jefferson asked Madison and another good friend, James Monroe, to move near Monticello in order to build "a society to our taste." Monroe did take up residence nearby at Ash Lawn-Highland.

      

     





     
     As classically educated men, both found the Greeks and Romans to be not only sources of information on principles' of government but also as an inspiration for the architecture of their homes. Both Montpelier and Monticello show classical influences: Montpelier's graceful Garden Temple, for example, resembles Jefferson's sketches for his garden buildings. The two often discussed house plans and sent sketches in their letters; they shared the services of local craftsmen as well. During the first renovations of Montpelier, Madison ordered nails from Jefferson's nailery. James Madison reassured his dying friend and reconfirmed the quality of their intertwined lives in his last letter to Jefferson:

"You cannot look back to the long period of our private friendship and political harmony, with more affecting recollections that I do. If they are a source of pleasure to you, what ought they not to be to me? ... Wishing and hoping that you may yet live to increase the debt which our country owes you, and to witness the increasing gratitude, which alone can pay it, I offer you the fullest return of affectionate assurances."