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Facts about James Madison
Born: March 16, 1751
Birthplace: Port Conway VA
College Attended: College of New Jersey, now Princeton University, Princeton NJ
Date of Graduation: September 23, 1771, Bachelor of Arts (completed four year course in three years)
Religion: Episcopalian
Ancestry: English
Occupation: Lawyer
Date and Place of Marriage: September 15, 1794, Harewood, Jefferson County VA
Age at Marriage: 43 years, 183 days
Years Married: 41 years, 286 days
Political Party: Democratic-Republican
State Represented: Virginia
Term of Office as President: March 4, 1809-March 3, 1817
Term Served: 8 years
Administration: 6th, 7th
Congresses: 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th
Age at Inauguration: 57 years, 353 days
Lived after Term: 19 years, 116 days
Occupation after Term: Retired
Date of Death: June 28, 1836
Age at Death: 85 years, 104 days
Place of Death: Montpelier VA
Burial Place: Family plot, Montpelier VA
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Parents
Father: James Madison
Born: March 27, 1723
Married: September 15, 1749
Occupation: Justice of the peace, verstryman, land owner, farmer
Died: February 27, 1801
Age at Death: 77 years, 337 days
Mother: Nelly Rose Conway Madison
Born: January 9, 1731
Died: February 11, 1829
Age at Death:

98 years, 35 days
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Brothers and Sisters (Children of James Madison and Nelly Rose Conway Madison)
  James Madison, Jr., 1751-1836
(James Madison was the oldest of twelve children)
  Francis Madison, 1753-1800
  Ambrose Madison, 1755-1793
  Catlett Madison, 1758-1758
  Nelly Conway Madison, 1760-1802
  William Madison, 1762-1843
  Sarah Catlett Madison, 1764-1843
  (Stillborn), 1766
  Elizabeth Madison, 1768-1775
  (Stillborn), 1770
  Reuben Madison, 1771-1775
  Frances Taylor Madison, 1774-1823
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Children
  None
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Dolley Madison
Name: Dolley (incorrectly “Dolly”) Dandridge Payne Todd Madison
Date of Birth: May 20, 1768
Birthplace: now Guilford County NC
Age at Marriage: 26 years, 118 days
Children by Madison: None
Mother: Mary Coles Payne
Father: John Payne
Father’s Occupation: Farmer, planter
Date of Death: July 12, 1849
Age at Death: 81 years, 53 days
Place of Death: Washington DC
Burial Place: Montpelier VA
Years Younger than the President: 17 years, 65 days
Years She Survived the President: 13 years, 14 days
  At the time of her marriage to Madison she was the widow of John Todd, by whom she had two sons, one of whom died in infancy.
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Other Important Dates in James Madison’s Life
1763-1767 Attended Donald Robertson’s school, King and Queen County, Virginia.
1767-1768 Private instruction from Rev. Thomas Martin.
1769-1772 Student at Princeton (graduated 1771), then took one-year post-graduate course.
17__
Admitted to the bar.
1772-1774 In ill health, continued studies at home.
December 1774 Member of “Committee of Safety.”
May 6, 1776 Delegate to Williamsburg convention which declared for independence and set up state government.
1776 Drafted Virginia guarantee of religious liberty and helped write state constitution.
1776-1777 Member of Virginia legislature.
1777 Elected to Virginia State Council.
January 14, 1778
 Member of executive council to direct Virginia’s activities in the Revolution.
December 14, 1779 Elected by Virginia legislature to Continental Congress.
1780-1783 Member of Continental Congress.
1784-1786 Member of Virginia legislature.
1786-1788
 Member of Continental Congress.
February-April, 1787 Attended Congress at New York.
May 2, 1787 Left for Federal Convention at Philadelphia where he proposed the “Virginia Plan.”
September 1787
 Began writing essays on constitutional government for The Federalist.
June 2, 1788 Member of Virginia Ratification Convention.
March 4, 1789 U.S. House of Representatives (from Virginia).
1794 Declined Washington’s invitation to join mission to France and position as Secretary of State.
1799-1800 Member of Virginia legislature.
1801-1809 Secretary of State under Jefferson.
March 4, 1809
 Inaugurated President of the United States (first term).
March 4, 1813 Inaugurated President of the United States (second term).
1817
 Retired to estate at Montpelier VA.
1826 Rector, University of Virginia.
1829 Delegate to Virginia Constitutional Convention.
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James Madison...
  was the third President born in Virginia. He grew up on the family estate, Montpelier, only one day’s travel from Thomas Jefferson.
  was the third President whose mother was alive when he was inaugurated.
  was the third President to marry a widow.
  stood only 5 feet, 4 inches and weighed less than 100 pounds.
  lobbied George Washington, then the hero of the Revolution, to join the Virginia delegation to the Constitutional Convention and support the new Constitution.
  was the first President to wear pants instead of knee breeches.
  wrote George Washington’s inaugural address, the House of Representatives’ congratulatory reply to the address, and Washington’s response to the House’s warm reply.
  was the first President who had been a Congressman.
  authored the Federalist Papers with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay under the pseudonyms of “A Citizen of New York” and “Publius” to support ratification of the Constitution in New York, among the most quoted works of early American history.
  was the first President to lead the nation in war.
  was the last surviving signer of the Constitution.
  lived to see the United States grow to a 25-state union stretching to the Mississippi River, with a new national character and a sense that they no longer had to worry about Great Britain’s military dominance.
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