Eleanor Conway Madison

Eleanor "Nelly" Rose Conway Madison (January 9, 1731 – February 11, 1829) was a prominent Virginia socialite and planter who was the mother of James Madison Jr., the 4th president of the United States and Lieutenant General William Taylor Madison.[1][2] She has been described as one of the strongest female influences in the life of James Madison Jr.,[3][4][5][6][7] and has been credited for her efforts to preserve the Montpelier estate.[8][9]

Nelly Conway Madison
Portrait by Charles Peale Polk, 1799
Born
Eleanor Rose Conway

(1731-01-09)January 9, 1731
Port Conway, Virginia, British America
DiedFebruary 11, 1829(1829-02-11) (aged 98)
Montpelier, Virginia, U.S.
Resting placeMadison Family Cemetery
SpouseJames Madison Sr.
Children12, including James Madison and William Madison
Parent(s)Francis Conway (father)
Rebecca Catlett Conway (mother)

Early life and family

Eleanor Rose Conway was born on January 9, 1731, in Port Conway, Virginia, the daughter of Francis Conway Sr., a wealthy planter and tobacco merchant (the area's namesake) and Rebecca Catlett Conway.[8][10][11][12] She grew up on the Belle Grove plantation and estate.[13]

She married James Madison Sr. on September 13th, 1749 at the age of 18.[14] They had twelve children:[15][10][16]

  • James Madison (March 16, 1751 – June 28, 1836)
  • Francis Taylor Madison (June 18, 1753 – April 5, 1800)
  • Ambrose Madison (January 27, 1755 – October 3, 1793)
  • Catlett Madison (February 10, 1758 – March 18, 1758)
  • Nelly Conway Madison (February 14, 1760 – December 24, 1802)
  • William Taylor Madison (May 5, 1762 – July 20, 1843)
  • Sarah Catlett Madison (August 17, 1764 – October 17, 1843)
  • Unnamed son (1766–1766), died one day after birth
  • Elizabeth Madison (February 6, 1768 – May 17, 1775)
  • unnamed stillborn son (July 12, 1770 – July 12, 1770)
  • Reuben Madison (September 19, 1771 – June 5, 1775)
  • Frances Taylor Madison (October 4, 1774 – October 4, 1823)

Married life
Portrait of Eleanor Conway Madison and her son, James Madison, by Charles Peale Polk

As an adult, Madison took charge of the early education of her children, educating them in reading, writing, and arithmetic.[17][18][16]

As the Madison children grew up, she played the role of active caregiver, often traveling to the homes of her family members who were sick or in need of support.[8] She was actively involved in the running of the Montpelier household and 2,650 acre estate, and her family owned over 100 enslaved persons and several indentured servants.[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]

During the American Revolution, while her husband served as chairman of the Orange County Committee of Safety and as a colonel in the Virginia militia, Nelly Madison supported a drive among the women of Virginia to raise funds and supplies for the Continental Army.[28] She corresponded with Martha Jefferson during this period.[29] Nationally, the Ladies Association raised $300,000 to buy linen shirts for Washington's army.[28]

Conway Madison was an avid reader and highly informed in public affairs and current events, and was described by Mary Cutts as a "lady of excellent education, strong mind, and good judgement."[8] During her son's presidency (1809 to 1817), Nelly received stipend for her healths, and her son and his wife Dolley both wrote to her.[30][31][32] Conway Madison was an active Episcopalian and admirer of preacher James Waddel.[33]

Following the death of her husband in 1801, Madison continued to reside in her own wing of Montpelier and maintained a close relationship with her son James and daughter-in-law Dolley.[4][34][6] She would often receive visitors in her semi-private wing on the south end of the residence and had her own household.[9][35][36][27]

Death

Conway Madison died on February 11, 1829, at the age of 98, and is buried at Montpelier.[8][10][37]

Historians have regarded Conway Madison as one of the strongest female influences in the life of President James Madison, and she has been credited for her efforts to preserve and enhance the Montpelier estate through various renovations.[8][9]

Legacy

Her descendants include Confederate Brigadier General James Edwin Slaughter (her great-grandson).[10][38]

Montpelier, the Madison family's estate, has been designated a National Historic Landmark.[9] Archeologists have restored her traditional sitting room in the house.[39]

Her will is in the permanent collection of the Library of Congress, and one of her portraits is on display in the National Portrait Gallery.[40][41] The two portraits of Conway Madison by Charles Peale Polk have been regarded as "masterpieces."[42][43]

Author William Judson Hampton wrote that her son James inherited his mother's "deep studious nature" and that she influenced his religious convictions and interest in religious liberty.[33]

References
  1. "The Life of James Madison". www.montpelier.org. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  2. Virginia Women: Their Lives and Times. University of Georgia Press. 2015. ISBN 978-0-8203-4263-4.
  3. Clark, Patricia P. (1958). "Madison Family Bible Records". The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. 66 (1): 80–84. ISSN 0042-6636.
  4. Wead, Doug (2005-03-15). The Raising of a President: The Mothers and Fathers of Our Nation's Leaders. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4165-1307-0.
  5. Stoddard, William O. (1887). James, Madison, James Monroe and John Quincy Adams. University Society.
  6. Gullan, Harold I. (2016-10-04). Cradles of Power: The Mothers and Fathers of the American Presidents. Skyhorse. ISBN 978-1-5107-0534-0.
  7. Gullan, Harold I. (2001). Faith of Our Mothers: The Stories of Presidential Mothers from Mary Washington to Barbara Bush. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8028-4926-7.
  8. "The Women of Montpelier". www.montpelier.org. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  9. "Madison's Montpelier | Montpelier Estate". Montpelier.org. Archived from the original on 2010-02-02. Retrieved 2010-02-07.
  10. "The National Society of Madison Family Descendants: Genealogy". www.jamesmadisonfamily.com. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  11. "James Madison: Life Before the Presidency | Miller Center". millercenter.org. 2016-10-04. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  12. Côté, Richard N. (2005). Strength and Honor: The Life of Dolley Madison. Corinthian Books. ISBN 978-1-929175-09-3.
  13. "1939 WPA Guide". Archived from the original on 2016-08-29. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
  14. Reeves, Matthew; Pasch, Christopher (2022-04-01). "Reading Between the Intersecting Lines: Building Intersectionality for a Widowed Planter in Mid-18th Century Piedmont Virginia". Archaeologies. 18 (1): 132–160. doi:10.1007/s11759-022-09437-2. ISSN 1935-3987.
  15. Grinnan, A. G (1897). "Record of General Wm. Madison's Family". The William and Mary Quarterly. 6 (2): 116–117. doi:10.2307/1915370. JSTOR 1915370.
  16. Hannings, Bud (2012-09-03). The War of 1812: A Complete Chronology with Biographies of 63 General Officers. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-6385-5.
  17. "1751 to 1773 | James Madison Timeline | Articles and Essays | James Madison Papers, 1723-1859 | Digital Collections | Library of Congress". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  18. Stagg, J. C. A. "James Madison (1751–1836)". Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  19. "Enslavement in the Shenandoah Valley". National Park Service. Retrieved 2022-06-04.
  20. "Archaeology for All". www.montpelier.org. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  21. "Image 1 of Nelly Madison, November 28, 1807. Copy of Nelly Madison's Will". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  22. "James Madison Papers: Series 7, Addenda, 1744-1845; 1979-1985 Addition; Part B, copies and abstracts; Photocopies; Indenture between Madison's parents, James and Nelly Madison, and Francis Cowherd, 1784 Aug. 19". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  23. "The Enslaved Community". James Madison's Montpelier. Montpelier Foundation. Archived from the original on September 30, 2011. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
  24. “Indenture, 22 September 1774,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/01-01-02-0035. [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, vol. 1, 16 March 1751 – 16 December 1779, ed. William T. Hutchinson and William M. E. Rachal. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1962, pp. 123–125.]
  25. “Bill of Sale for Orange County Lands, 19 August 1784 (Abstract),” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/01-08-02-0057. [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, vol. 8, 10 March 1784 – 28 March 1786, ed. Robert A. Rutland and William M. E. Rachal. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1973, p. 100.]
  26. Taylor, Elizabeth Dowling (2012-01-03). A Slave in the White House: Paul Jennings and the Madisons. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-10893-6.
  27. O'Neill, Patrick L. (2010). Virginia's Presidential Homes. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-8608-3.
  28. Kukla, John. Mr. Jefferson's Women, p. 118 (New York: Knopf Books, 2007).
  29. Hendricks, Nancy (2015-10-13). America's First Ladies: A Historical Encyclopedia and Primary Document Collection of the Remarkable Women of the White House: A Historical Encyclopedia and Primary Document Collection of the Remarkable Women of the White House. ABC-CLIO. pp. 23–24. ISBN 978-1-61069-883-2.
  30. "To his mother Nelly Conway Madison re: money for her and Dolley's health | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History". www.gilderlehrman.org. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  31. "Image 1 of James Madison to Nelly Conway Madison, August 8, 1814". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  32. "Founders Online: Assignment of Articles to Nelly Madison, [27 April] 1801". founders.archives.gov. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  33. Hampton, William Judson (1922). Our Presidents and Their Mothers. Cornhill Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-7222-8599-2.
  34. Shulman, Holly; Mattern, David (2002-12-15). Dolley Madison: Her Life, Letters, and Legacy. The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. ISBN 978-0-8239-5749-1.
  35. Ketcham, Ralph (2009). The Madisons at Montpelier: Reflections on the Founding Couple. University of Virginia Press.
  36. Hope Heacock, Christine. "Merrymaking at the Madisons: Feasting, Alcohol, and Political Strategy". College of William & Mary, Arts and Sciences.
  37. Broadwater, Jeff (2012). James Madison: A Son of Virginia and a Founder of the Nation. University of North Carolina Press. doi:10.5149/9780807869918_broadwater?turn_away=true&searchtext=%22nelly%20conway%20madison%22&searchuri=/action/dobasicsearch?query=%22nelly+conway+madison%22&ab_segments=0/basic_phrase_search/control&refreqid=fastly-default:a818ca944d172fd31d950fc339c3d7de. ISBN 978-0-8078-3530-2.
  38. Lineage Book of the Charter Members of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Daughters of the American Revolution. 1897.
  39. "Nelly Madison's Sitting Room". ArcGIS StoryMaps. 2020-05-29. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  40. "Nelly Madison, November 28, 1807. Copy of Nelly Madison's Will". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  41. "Eleanor Rose Conway Madison". npg.si.edu. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  42. Wertkin, Gerard C. (2004-08-02). Encyclopedia of American Folk Art. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-95615-8.
  43. Crown, Carol; Rivers, Cheryl; Wilson, Charles Reagan (2013-06-03). The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture: Volume 23: Folk Art. UNC Press Books. ISBN 978-1-4696-0799-3.

Further reading
  • Hampton, William Judson (1922). Our Presidents and Their Mothers; Chapter 4: Nelly Conway Madison. Cornhill Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-7222-8599-2.
  • Wead, Doug (2005). The Raising of a President: The Mothers and Fathers of Our Nation's Leaders. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4165-1307-0.
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