Montpelier Estate, Orange County, Virginia - Philatelic Photographs on Waymarking.com

Montpelier was the home of James Madison, fourth President of the United States. Madison was known as the “Father of the Constitution,” because his “Virginia Plan” was largely adopted as the framework for the U.S. Constitution at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. In 2001, the U.S. Postal Service marked the 250th anniversary of James Madison’s birth with this commemorative postage stamp.

James Madison’s grandfather, Ambrose, acquired land in the Virginia Piedmont region in 1723 and established a plantation which he named Mount Pleasant. The plantation passed to his son James Madison Sr. (the president’s father) who had a new house (the current one) built in the early 1760s. James Madison Jr. lived in the house as a young boy and on and off during his career in politics. (At some point, the name Mount Pleasant gave way to Montpelier.) Eventually, Madison retired to Montpelier after his second term as President in 1817 and lived there until his death in 1836.

Dolley Madison, James Madison’s widow, apparently preferred the hustle and bustle of city life and moved back to Washington D.C. in 1837 where she remained until her death in 1849. Unable to maintain Montpelier, she sold it in 1844. The property changed hands several times throughout the nineteenth century until it was finally purchased by William du Pont of the wealthy Du Pont family in 1901.

During the Du Pont’s tenure, the mansion was expanded to nearly twice its original size and the exterior was covered with stucco. The resulting yellow monstrosity bore little resemblance to the house where James Madison lived. In 1984, the heirs of William du Pont bequeathed Montpelier to the National Trust for Historic Preservation who, after a five-year restoration effort, have returned the mansion to its 1820 appearance.

Stamp Issuing Country: United States Date of Issue: 18-Oct-2001 Denomination: 34c Color: green & black Stamp Type: Single Stamp Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]

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Date Logged Log User Rating   12/30/2017 chrissyml visited it