Orange County VA

So we took advantage of a beautiful Presidents’ Day holiday this year, and went to Orange County, home of one US President and birthplace of another.

MONTEBELLO

Zachary Taylor, our 12th President, was born at this site in 1784. The house where he was born no longer stands, and the current Montebello farm is private and not open to the public. Taylor’s family lived in Kentucky, and they visited family in Virginia, and on their return trip, several people became ill, so they stopped here to recover before continuing on to Kentucky. It was during this time that the future president was born. President Taylor was a cousin of President James Madison, whose house is…

MONTPELIER

Just a few miles from President Zachary Taylor’s birthplace is Montpelier, the home of James Madison, the 4th President of the United States, and author of the US Constitution.
Approaching the front of Montpelier.
This is a beautiful house! Maybe even more impressive than Monticello!
This is the view from the front porch at Montpelier.
Gazebo with brick columns.
Entrance foyer
Parlor
Dining room
James Madison’s desk in his office
President Madison’s bed in his later years, when he was too weak to walk upstairs.
This is also the room that he died, June 28, 1836, six days short of July 4, the day that Presidents John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe all died on. He was last signer of the Constitution to die.
One of his nieces asked him “What is the matter?”
His last words were “Nothing more than a change of mind, my dear.”
James and Dolley Madison’s bedroom
This is the room where James Madison wrote the United States Constitution.
Actually, he carefully drafted a proposal to replace the failing Articles of Confederation. He took his proposal to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, and as discussions progressed, became know as the Virginia Plan, which was mostly adopted with a few changes based on ideas from other states. Virginia was the tenth state to ratify the new constitution in 1788, and the current United States form of government was launched!
Outbuildings, such as smoke houses and slave quarters
A pitcher honoring President Madison, misspelled “Maddison”.
President Madison was our shortest president. When I first started studying about the presidents, I read that he was 5’1″ tall, and when I reached that height in fourth grade I was very proud to be as tall as a president! Now, depending on whose research you read, President Madison’s height was anywhere from 5’1″ to 5’6″.
Graves of President James Madison and First Lady Dolley Madison.
Shortly up the road from Montpelier is this house, which was the home of freed slave George Gilmore, who built it in the 1860s.
Inside of George Gilmore’s house..

MONTPELIER STATION

Train depot at Montpelier.
Interesting scene here. Notice the signs above the doors. This is what life in the south was like during Jim Crow.
This is the room for the “colored” people.
This is the much larger room for Whites.

JAMES MADISON MUSEUM

In the town of Orange, there is this neat museum called James Madison Museum. It is basically a museum about the history of Orange County. This house, completed rebuilt inside the museum, is a typical Virginia house in the 1800s for Virginians who didn’t live in mansions like Mount Vernon, Monticello and Montpelier.
A horse-drawn Rockaway carriage from the 1880s.
1912 Ford Model T
President James Madison’s favorite chair
Bust of President James Madison
Everything in the picture belonged to President Zachary Taylor:
Bed, grandfather clock, general’s chest and chair.
Although born in Virginia, President Taylor grew up near Louisville, Kentucky.
He enlisted int he US Army in 1806 and eventually rose in the ranks to brigadier general. He fought in the War of 1812, Black Hawk War, second Seminole War, and finally the Mexican-American War, during which he emerged as a national hero for winning the Battle of Buena Vista even though outnumbered 4 to 1. As a national hero, he won the 1848 presidential nomination from the Whig Party, and then the presidency. He died in office in 1849, elevating Millard Fillmore to the presidency.
Slave’s clothing and other items.
The museum holds a pretty large collection of arrowheads, and Indian tools, as well as ancient rock drawings.
The town of Orange once had a very busy silk mill, and there are artifacts from that mill in the museum. This ball of silk would be spun into silk thread one mile long!

RAPIDAN VA

Driving through the countryside of Orange County, we passed through the little village of Rapidan, which spans the Rapidan River, and rests in both Orange and Culpeper Counties.
This is the Waddell Memorial Presbyterian Church, built in 1874 in the Carpenter Gothic style with board and batten siding.
This is the Rapidan Schoolhouse, built in 1887 for the rector’s eight children. It was later used as the town library.
The inside of the schoolhouse.

MITCHELLS VA

This is Mitchells Presbyterian Church in Mitchells, Virginia. This is the village where my father was born in 1925.
These are the graves of my grandparents.
These are the graves of my great-grandparents.

CULPEPER VA

This memorial park is located in the town of Culpeper.
Dedicated to Culpeper County natives who have served in the US military.
These stones honor my father’s five brothers who served in World War II.
Civil War battlefield at Brandy Station.
This battle on June 9, 1863, the largest cavalry battle of the entire Civil War, lasted for one day, as the Union forces slowed down (but did not stop) General Robert E. Lee’s progress toward Gettysburg, and the battle that would occur there on July 1-3.
We finished our day here at the Frost Cafe in the town of Culpeper.
They have the best fried chicken!