Changing Scholarship: Reconsidering Eliza Monroe’s Birthplace

A recent review of a previously unknown manuscript has prompted a reconsideration of earlier scholarship regarding the birthplace of Eliza Monroe Hay. Her birth in early December 1786 had originally been understood to have occurred in Fredericksburg, but evidence now supports that she was instead born in King George County, likely at the farm of James Monroe’s maternal uncle, Judge Joseph Jones.

James Monroe met Elizabeth Kortright in New York during his service in Congress in 1785. They married in February the following year. Following the completion of his third Congressional term, Monroe proposed to move to Virginia with the intent of establishing a law practice, but vacillated between Richmond or Fredericksburg.[1] He was aided in this decision by Joseph Jones, a paternalistic figure to him, who counseled him regarding the saturated nature of the legal field and high cost of living in Richmond.[2] Alternatively, and in favor of Fredericksburg, Jones offered assistance in obtaining cases for Monroe’s practice and the use of a recently acquired house there.[3] Jones initially did not intend the house to be used as a residence for himself, but planned to either sell it quickly for profit or allow his nephew to use it for convenience.[4] Monroe accepted the offer and relocated to Virginia in late October, visiting Mount Vernon for several days en route.[5] Washington recorded in his diary of 25 October that “Mr. Maddison and Colo. Monroe & his Lady set out after breakfast for Fredericksburgh” where Jones “…rec’d [them] with great kindness at his house…”, likely at his primary residence of Spring Hill in neighboring King George County.[6] James and Elizabeth Monroe welcomed their first child, Eliza, in early December 1786, and took up residence at 301 Caroline Street in Fredericksburg in late January or early February of 1787.

Monroe’s surviving outgoing correspondence for the 4-month period between leaving New York and settling in Fredericksburg is markedly sparse, with only 4 documents currently extant. It is likely that both he and Elizabeth maintained additional communications with colleagues, friends, and family, but those documents have either not survived or not been made public. This void in the record necessitates a close reading of additional correspondence to fully understand the specifics of the Monroes’ residence during this time period, with clues scattered throughout several documents.

The first significant source is a letter written from Joseph Jones to Monroe, dated 7 December 1786.[7] In it, Jones explains that he had previously allowed his stepson, John Dawson, to take temporary occupation of the Fredericksburg house but had not expected him to remain quite so long as to the present. He and Dawson arranged for renovations on an adjacent kitchen building, currently occupied by unnamed tenants, to make it into more habitable quarters for Dawson’s use. His transition there would allow the Monroes to take up residence in the main house with Dawson, a bachelor, joining them for meals. This letter also serves as the record of birth for Eliza Monroe, with Jones conveying to Elizabeth “…joy of her safe delivery…”. While the precipitating letter has not survived, it is likely that Monroe had communicated the news of Eliza’s birth in it earlier that week. Regardless, this letter makes it clear that the house at 301 Caroline Street was not available to the Monroes at the time of Eliza’s birth.

The second significant clue is found in a previously unidentified letter from Monroe to John Francis Mercer, dated February 1787.[8] The letter served to reinvigorate a previously flagging correspondence between the two friends, and allowed Monroe to update Mercer on the current state of his young family.[9] Writing from Fredericksburg, rather than Spring Hill as his previous letters had been, Monroe shared that they “…have been settled here about two weeks.”[10] This further substantiates his later statement to Thomas Jefferson that he had moved his family “…into this town [Fredericksburg]…during the course of the winter” rather than having been established there in October.[11] James Madison, traveling through Fredericksburg in mid-January, “…regretted when at Fredericksburg that I should be so near without seeing you both, but it was impossible without culpable delay & wd have been otherwise inconvenient.”[12] A visit to Caroline Street was unlikely to have been either a significant delay or inconvenient, but a visit to Spring Hill, which entailed a ferry ride and 12 miles of muddy winter roads, certainly would have been. Additionally, the Monroes did not begin commissioning and purchasing furniture until early February 1787, as they would have had no need of it during their interim residency at Spring Hill.[13]

This shift in scholarship, while subtle, highlights the importance of remaining mindful of and receptive to continued clarifications within the historic record.

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[1] James Monroe to Thomas Jefferson, 19 January 1786 (Jefferson Papers, Library of Congress), Papers of James Monroe, 2: 263); Joseph Jones to James Monroe, 9 February 1786 (Monroe Papers, Library of Congress), Papers of James Monroe, 2: 276; James Monroe to Joseph Jones, 2 March 1786 (James Monroe Museum, Fredericksburg, Virginia), Papers of James Monroe, 2: 279

[2] Joseph Jones to James Monroe, January 1786 (James Monroe Museum, Fredericksburg, Virginia), Papers of James Monroe, 2: 270

[3] Joseph Jones to James Monroe, 27 February 1786 (Monroe Papers, Library of Congress), Papers of James Monroe, 2: 277; Joseph Jones to James Monroe, 14 March 1786 (Monroe Papers, Library of Congress), Papers of James Monroe, 2: 281

[4] Joseph Jones to James Monroe, 25 March 1786 (James Monroe Museum, Fredericksburg, Virginia), Papers of James Monroe 2: 286

[5] Joseph Jones to James Monroe, 30 April 1786 (Monroe Papers, Library of Congress), Papers of James Monroe, 2: 289; James Monroe to James Madison, 7 October 1786 (Monroe Papers, New York Public Library), Papers of James Monroe, 2: 362; Diary entry: 23 October 1786 (The Diaries of George Washington, ed. Donald Jackson and Dorothy Twohig [1979], 5: 56)

[6] Diary entry: 25 October 1786 (The Diaries of George Washington, ed. Donald Jackson and Dorothy Twohig [1979], 5: 57); James Monroe to John Francis Mercer, February 1787 (Miscellaneous Manuscripts Collection, 1668-1996, American Philosophical Society)

[7] Joseph Jones to James Monroe, 7 December 1786 (Monroe Papers, Library of Congress), Papers of James Monroe, 2: 367

[8] James Monroe to John Francis Mercer, February 1787 (Miscellaneous Manuscripts Collection, 1668-1996, American Philosophical Society)

[9] John Francis Mercer to James Monroe, December 1786 (James Monroe Papers, Special Collections Research Center, William & Mary Libraries), Papers of James Monroe, 2: 370

[10] James Monroe to James Madison, November 1786 (Sol Feinstone Collection, David Library of the American Revolution, on deposit at the American Philosophical Society), Madison Papers 17: 511; James Monroe to James Madison, 16 December 1786 (Madison Papers, Library of Congress), Papers of James Monroe, 2: 368; James Monroe to John Francis Mercer, February 1787 (Miscellaneous Manuscripts Collection, 1668-1996, American Philosophical Society)

[11] James Monroe to Thomas Jefferson, 27 July 1787 (Jefferson Papers, Library of Congress), Papers of James Monroe, 2: 390

[12] James Madison to James Monroe, 11 February 1787 (Madison Papers, Library of Congress), Papers of James Monroe, 2: 374

[13] James Monroe to James Madison, 6 February 1787 (Monroe Papers, New York Public Library), Papers of James Monroe, 2: 373; James Madison to James Monroe, 25 February 1787 (Madison Papers, Library of Congress), Papers of James Monroe, 2: 374