Author: Hilarie M. Hicks

Charity was listed on James Madison Sr.’s personal property tax records for three years (1782-1784), after which time she disappears from the historical record.

Demas was born September 12, 1777. James Madison Sr. gave Demas – along with mother Eliza and his brothers and sisters – to his daughter Nelly when she married Isaac Hite.

In 1803, Jason escorted 11-year-old John Payne Todd from Montpelier to his boarding school in Alexandria, and then delivered horses to William Thornton in Washington.

Reuben, a weaver, appears in James Madison Sr.’s tax records in the 1780s. In 1795-96, he had a 3-month bout of rheumatism that prevented him from weaving.

Born July 26, 1782, Katey was an infant when James Madison Sr. gave her, her mother Truelove, and her brother and sisters to his newlywed daughter and son-in-law.

Pamela Barbour, enslaved by Nelly Madison, married Frank Taliaferro and had two children, Solomon and Judy. After Nelly’s death, Pamela was able to choose her next enslaver.

Anthony, age 17, escaped from Montpelier on June 14, 1786. He was captured a year later, escaped the next day, and was last known to be heading toward Philadelphia.

“Gabriel & Daughter” appear on an 1845 list of enslaved people drawn up by Dolley Madison’s son, John Payne Todd. The name of Gabriel’s daughter is unknown to us.

York was mentioned in James Madison Sr.’s records beginning in 1768, and continuing through the 1780s. He was issued a pair of size 6 shoes on November 2, 1787.

Benjamin McDaniel, who often worked as a courier, traveled over 50 miles to Dr. Henkal’s in New Market in June 1843, carrying a pass signed by Dolley Madison.