Montpelier

Wednesday, November 4
Bruce and I drove out to Montpelier along a beautiful, winding road. Montpelier was the home of James and Dolley Madison. Madison is known as the Father of the Constitution and we got to tour the house and see his library where he wrote it. This is my way of learning history! We had an excellent tour guide. I never knew Madison was so little, my height (5' 4") and about 20# less! He was friends with Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe who were both over 6' tall! A lot of the period furniture is on display as well as clothing, dishes, jewelry, etc.
The slave culture was also fascinating. As many as 110 slaves worked at Montpelier during Madison's time, some in the home, many in the fields. They were very skilled at what they did and were sometimes hired out for $2.00 a day. The owners got the $2.00, not the slaves. If you want to know more about the place, go to www.montpelier.org. I don't know how to add pictures to this yet.