James Monroe; William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Vol. 4, No. 4; 1896 Transcribed by Kathy Merrill for the USGenWeb Archives Special Collections Project ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net *********************************************************************** James Monroe Lyon G. Tyler William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Vol. 4, No. 4. (Apr., 1896), pp. 272-275. JAMES MONROE(1). BY THE EDITOR With all the biographers of James Monroe, so distinguished for the solidity of his judgment and the eveness of his character, there has been a decided want of information respecting his ancestry. A little investigation, however, in the Maryland records __________________________________________________________________________ (1) See JULY QUARTERLY, 1895, p 39; Richmond Dispatch, January 2, 1896. Page 273. and in those of Westmoreland and King George counties, Virginia, relieves the matter of much of its difficulty. We learn from the first of these sources that the original residence of the immigrant ancestor, Andrew Monroe, was in Maryland, where he first commanded a pinnace in the service of Cuthbert Fenwick, general agent for Lord Baltimore. When Richard Ingle declared for the parliament, Monroe took sides against Lord Baltimore's government, and eventually, like Nathaniel Pope, ancestor of President Washington, Dr. Thomas Gerrard, and other leading Marylanders, fled over the Potomac to a settlement under the Virginia authority, at the mouth of Appomattox Creek, now called Mattox Creek, in Westmoreland county. Ship captains were men of much consequence in those days, and the social rank of Monroe was above the average. He died in 1668, leaving issue, according to the deed-books in Westmoreland county: Susannah, Elizabeth, Andrew, George, and William. Of these, Andrew married Ellinor, the daughter of Patrick Spens, who died about 1689. This Andrew was a justice of the peace, and had the rank of captain in the militia. His issue was: Spens, Susannah, Andrew, and Elizabeth. Spens died without issue in 1725. His father, Captain Andrew Monroe, died in 1714. So far there is no difficulty; there is a reference forward and a reference back in the records, and the chain is complete. I have not been able, however, to find the will of the third Andrew Monroe, and the evidence becomes presumptive. The will of Captain Spence Monroe was proved in 1774, and mentions sons James and Spence, and daughter Elizabeth, who married William Buckner. There was another brother, who was either pretermitted in the will, or overlooked by me in my notes, Joseph Jones Monroe. Both James and Andrew were at William and Mary College, although Andrew is not mentioned in the published cataloge, which is only a partial one(1). There can be hardly any doubt that Spence Monroe was a son of the third Andrew, but it is not directly proved as yet that he was. As to the statement of Hugh Blair Grigsby that Spence Monroe was a "carpenter", there is proof that he was a "joiner". I found last summer, in the records of King George county, ad- joining Westmoreland, the following: "James Walker, son of Major William Walker, late of Stafford, binds himself to Spence Monroe to ______________________________________________________________ (1) The papers announced the death, at Milton, Virginia, December 2, 1726, of Andrew Monroe, brother of the President, and who left William and Mary College to enter the navy. Page 274. learn the trade of a joiner"(1). The entry bears date March 7, 1765. I do not believe that there is much difference between a "joiner" and a "carpenter", and Mr. Grigsby's statement is, therefore, confirmed. But the inference which he draws from this fact, that James Monroe was of low social scale, is not correct. His father and his ancestors were justices and officers in the militia, had respectable estates, and owned many slaves. It must be remembered that Virginia was settled chiefly by the people of the English cities, in which the dignity of the trades was stoutly maintained. The gentlemen of the counties in England apprenticed their sons to the grocers, the weavers, and the tailors, and they did not for that cease to be gentlemen. A premium was put upon the trades by inhibiting the right of voting or of office holding to any but a member of one of the merchant guilds. I have found that many of the old leading Virginians apprenticed their sons to some tradesman, and merchandizing was very popular. The carpenter's trade was especially honorable. No family was more honorable or more influential than the Cary family, of Elizabeth City and Warwick counties; and yet both the father and the grandfather of Colonel Archibald Cary, of the Revolution, called themselves "carpenters", as well as "gentlemen." They, no doubt, served first as apprentices, as the custom required a regular probation of five years; but afterwards they performed the part of directors and contractors, leaving the manual labor to slaves. As the landed character of Virginia increased, the merchants and the tradesmen fell in the public estimation; but this opinion of their inferiority was not prevalent in the seventeenth century, or in the first half of the eighteenth century. Spence Monroe married Elizabeth, the sister of Hon. Joseph Jones a distinguished member of the General Court of Virginia, and of the Continental Congress, whose letters have been recently published by Mr. Worthington C. Ford. Joseph Jones was the younger brother of James Jones, who is styled in a deed, "undertaker in architecture". James Jones also kept an ordinary in King George, which is wife, Esther, ran after his death. Esther Jones married, 2dly, William Tyler, of Westmoreland county, and in her will, proved in May, 1770, she mentions sons, William Tyler, James Tyler; daughter, Blanche Tyler; brother, Joseph Jones. Joseph Morton was guardian of Joseph Jones in _______________________________________________________________________ (1) In 1743 Spence Monroe apprenticed himself to Robert Walker, of King George, joiner. Page 275. 1774; in 1754 Jones became Deputy Attorney for the king. He made a deed in 1758, which was signed also by his wife, Mary. In April, 1759, he made a deed of gift to his "sister, Eliza- beth Monroe, wife of Spence Monroe, of Westmoreland county". These are the facts from the records, but it is also true that, however respectable, the Monroes never held the same state in society as the Lees, Washingtons, Alelrtons, Ashtons, and a few other great families of Westmoreland and King George counties - a fact which is shown by the absence of intermarriages and the inferiority of their estates and offices compared with these powerful neighbors. The following is the account against James Monroe, when a student at William and Mary College, as it stands in the Bursar's book. 1775 Mr. James Monroe Dr. March 25 To the Table for Board from 20th June, 113* 9 18 7 1/2 1776 March 25 To Do for do 1 year, 123 13 " " 26 To Stock, due by him for Balae contra,- 42 6 10 *The figures in this column refer to the Journal; the other three columns mean pounds, shillings and pence. 1774 Contra To Jo Jones Esq aforesaid Cr. June 20 By Cash for Advd Board 103 6 10 1775 January 19 By ditto Do 111 3 8 7 1/2 ____ ___ ___ ______ 9 18 7 1/2 Sept. By Cash, 122 6 10 1776 March 25 By Balance, 126 6 10 ___ ___ 13