James Monroe, 5th US President

Notes:

After a preliminary course in the local schools, and some tutoring by William Douglas, James entered William and Mary College in 1776. When the Revolutionary War broke out, he joined Washington near New York City where he began serving as a Lieutenant. He was among the soldiers who rowed across the Delaware with Washington. He was wounded at Harlem Heights and was promoted to Captain upon his recovery. Later, as a Major, he served as volunteer aide on the staff of Samuel Sterling. He finished the war as a Lieutenant Colonel in a Virginia unit.

Although he was eager to follow a military career, he was unable to obtain a permanent command when the war ended. He studied law under the supervision of Thomas Jefferson and was admitted to the bar and practiced in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he served as town councilman, his first public office. He served in official positions for nearly 50 years.

In 1782, at the age of 24, he was elected a member of the Virginia State Assembly. He served as a member of the Continental Congress 1783-1786. He was elected to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of William Grayson. He was reelected in 1791 and resigned in 1794.

He was appointed United States Minister Plenipotentiary to France by President Washington and served until 1796. He was elected Governor of Virginia 1799-1802, and was again appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to France by President Jefferson and served from 12 Jan to 12 Jul 1803. He was appointed to the same post in England and served from 1803 to 1807. He also served as Minister to Spain. He was again elected as Governor of Virginia in 1811 but President Madison appointed him to his Cabinet as Secretary of State and Secretary of War (at the same time) and he served from 1811 to 1817. He was then elected President of the United States for two terms from 1817 to 1825.

While Minister to France under President Washington, he was ridiculed and recalled by Washington. Under President Jefferson, he returned to France with the treaty for the purchase of Louisiana. He was also discredited as Minister to England.

He gained prestige when, as Secretary of War under President Madison, he ordered the forces assembled at New Orleans in the War of 1812.

He was keenly interested in military matters. He enjoyed horseback riding and travel. While a member of Congress, he made a trip on the Great Lakes and down the Ohio River, inspecting posts occupied by British troops and studying the natural resources of the country and the attitude of Indians toward Americans. A connoisseur of art, he purchased for the White House the best Paris afforded.

He was inaugurated as fifth President of the United States on 4 Mar 1817 and served eight years. His administration was known as the "Era of Good Feeling", but in reality it was full of plots and disagreements, one example being the Missouri Compromise. However, during his presidency, legislation of great constructive value was enacted, and Florida was purchased from Spain.

During his second term as President, in 1823, a discussion arose over the possibility of Spain's regaining possession of Florida and in a message to Congress he said: "We should consider any attempt on their part (a foreign power) to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety..." and also further, "The American Continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintained, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers." Thus was born the famous Monroe Doctrine which has been at the foundation of US policy in the new world ever since.

He retired from the White House to his farm at Oak Hill, Virginia. He died poor in New York City at the home of his daughter on 4 Jul 1831. He was first buried in New York City, but was later re-interred in Richmond, Virginia.

Oak Hill, erected in 1820 by President Monroe, was designed by Thomas Jefferson and the plans were completed by James Hoban, designer and builder of the White House and supervising architect for the Capitol.

President Monroe employed william Benton, an Englishman, to superintend the construction of the mansion under Hoban's supervision and to manage the extensive farming operations of the estate. It is said that Benton served the President "in the triple capacity of steward, counselor, and friend."

James' will was dated 1831 and proved in 1847.

**********
The following is from "Clan Munro" compiled by Alan McNie, published in Jedburgh, Scotland. It is from the chapter entitled "Some Clan Notables".

Munroe, James (1758-1831) Monroe entered US Senate in 1790. He was a critic of Washington and helped organise the Republican party in opposition. He became President in 1816 and sought to maintain a large peacetime army. In his presidency, Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Maine and Missouri joined the Union. In 1819 Spain ceded Florida. In the Monroe Doctrine he showed his desire for America's independence, disapproving of European intervention and affirming America's intention of not interfering in the internal affairs of other nations and stating the America's were not to be considered open to further European colonization.
**********
**********
«i»The Capture of the Hessians at Trenton [the painting] by John Trumbull dramatizes the scene of the wounded Lt. James Monroe, who had been injured in the final stages of the Battle of Trenton. Lt. Monroe had been hit by a musket ball, severing an artery. The doctor who is tending him is the same man who had ordered Washington's troops off of his property as they advanced towards Trenton. When Dr. Riker realized they were not the British, but Americans, he volunteered to join them thinking he would be of some help later. Little did anyone know that Dr. Riker would clamp off the severed artery of Lt. Monroe, saving the life of this valiant patriot and future president.«/i»

("Capture of the Hessians at Trenton" - Eagle Flyer - Spring 2011 - Editor: Margaret Bardin)
**********

Ref: Clan Munro files - Cones, Mona
- Monroe, Ruby Lucille
- Stroud, Anna Margaret
- Monroe, James Harrison
- Johnson, Monroe

References:

(1) Clan Munro files - Phillips, Robert Lee Munro - "Mr. President: 5" - article from the Courier-Journal

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

Birth:
Monroe Hall on Monroes Creek

Died:
James died at the home of his daughter in New York.

Buried:
Hollywood Cemetery

James married Elizabeth Kortright on 16 Feb 1786 in New York, New York Co., New York, USA. Elizabeth (daughter of Lawrence Kortright) was born on 30 Jun 1768 in New York, New York Co., New York, USA; died on 23 Sep 1830 in Oak Hill, Albemarle Co., Virginia, USA; was buried in Richmond, Richmond (city), Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Elizabeth (or Eliza) lived in France while her father was minister there. (One reference says she was born in France.) She was eduacted in France and was called "LaBelle Americaine" and the Heiress of "Ashfield". She named her daughter after her classmate, Hortense de Beauharnais, who married Napoleon's brother, Louis Bonapart in 1802. Louis and Hortense were later crowned King and Queen of Holland.

Elizabeth later returned to France where she became a Catholic and died in a Paris Convent. She is buried in the cemetery of Pere la Chaise in Paris.

One reference gives her birth year as 1786 and another says she was born in Paris, France. Her sister, Maria was born in Paris while her father was minister to the Court of St. James in France, but Elizabeth was born before her father was appointed.

Ref: Clan Munro files - Stroud, Anna Margaret
- Monroe, James Harrison

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

Buried:
Pere La Chaise

Elizabeth married Judge George Hay on 17 Oct 1808 in , Albemarle Co., Virginia, USA. George (son of Anthony Hay and Elizabeth Davenport) was born on 15 Dec 1765 in Williamsburg, Williamsburg (City), Virginia, USA; died on 21 Sep 1830 in Richmond, Richmond (city), Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

James Spence was the only son of President James Monroe. James Spence died in infancy, extinguishing the President's male line.

James Spence was born when his father was serving as Governor of Virginia. His death came at a difficult time for his father because just prior to this, Gabriel Prosser, leader of a slave revolt, had been captured along with 35 others and all of Richmond gathered at the Governor's Mansion when Prosser was brought before Monroe. Prosser was tried 30 Apr 1804, found guilty and hanged.

James was unable to attend the erection of a headstone over his son's grave. He asked John Clarke to attend to this, directing that it bear only the initials "J.S.M."

Ref: Clan Munro files - Monroe, James Harrison
- Johnson, Monroe
- J.S. Monroe notes

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

Notes:

Maria was married in the East Room of the White House to her maternal first cousin, Samuel Lawrence Gouverneur. She was the first daughter of a President to be married in the White House.

One reference gives Maria's birthplace as Fredericksburg, Virginia, but she was born in Paris while her father was serving as a minister to France. Another reference says she died in "Oak Hill", Loudoun County, Virginia.

Ref: Clan Munro files - Stroud, Anna Margaret
- Monroe, James Harrison

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

Maria married Samuel Lawrence Gouverneur on 9 Mar 1820 in Washington, , District of Columbia, USA. Samuel (son of Nicholas Gouverneur and Hester Kortright) was born in 1799; died in 1867 in Richmond, Richmond (city), Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Hortense was Nicholas' second wife.

Ref: Clan Munro files - Stroud, Anna Margaret

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

Hortense married Nicholas Lloyd Rogers on 5 Jul 1829. Nicholas (son of Nicholas Rogers and Eleanor Buchanan) was born in 1787; died on 12 Nov 1860 in Orchard Hill, Kent Co., Maryland, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Ref: Clan Munro files - Stroud, Anna Margaret
- Monroe, James Harrison

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

(Medical):James was a deaf mute.

Died:
James died in Spring Grove Asylum near Baltimore, Maryland.

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Ref: Clan Munro files - Stroud, Anna Margaret
- Monroe, James Harrison

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

Elizabeth married Dr. Henry Lee Heiskell on 9 Jun 1842. Henry (son of John Heiskell and Ann Sowers) was born in 1799 in Winchester, Winchester (City), Virginia, USA; died on 12 Aug 1855; was buried in Washington, , District of Columbia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Elizabeth married Monroe Bibby in 1856. Monroe was born about 1822; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Elizabeth married Dr. Grafton D. Spurrier in 1860. Grafton was born about 1822; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Samuel served as a Second Lieutenant in the 4th U.S. Artillery in the Mexican War. He was brevetted to First Lieutenant for gallantry at Contreras and Churubusco.

He was appointed by President Buchanan as U.S. Consul at Foo Chow, China, where he served from Jun 1850 to Dec 1861. He served as a delegate from Maryland to the Convention of Liberal Republicans which nominated Horace Greeley for the Presidency, supporting the nominee in his campaign against Grant through his newspaper, "The Maryland Herald", published in Frederick.

He died in Washington, D.C. at the age of 54, the last male of his line to bear the name of Gouverneur.

One reference gives Samuel's birth year as 1828 another gives 1820. One reference gives his wife's death year as 1913.

Ref: Clan Munro files - Stroud, Anna Margaret
- Monroe, James Harrison

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

Samuel married Marian Campbell on 5 Mar 1855. Marian (daughter of James Campbell and Mary Hazard) was born in 1821 in Jamaica, Queens Co., New York, USA; died on 12 Mar 1914 in Washington, , District of Columbia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Ref: Clan Munro files - Stroud, Anna Margaret
Monroe, James Harrison

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

Birth:
Estimate: This birth date is an estimate based on the birth dates of nearest relatives or contemporaries, or based on other clues such as christening date, marriage date, birth order, etc.

Family/Spouse: John Joseph Sessoms. John (son of Sessoms) was born est 1810; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Rev. Charles Wilmer. Charles was born about 1828; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Ref: Clan Munro files - Stroud, Anna Margaret
- Monroe, James Harrison

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

Birth:
Estimate: This birth date is an estimate based on the birth dates of nearest relatives or contemporaries, or based on other clues such as christening date, marriage date, birth order, etc.

Family/Spouse: Richard Hardesty. Richard was born about 1830; died in 1871. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Hortense married William Cousins (or Cozens), Jr. He lived in Dinwiddie, Browns, Edgecombe, and Halifax Counties, North Carolina

"Burke's Presidential Families of the United Sattes of America", Henry's "Genealogies of the Families of the Presidents", and Zorn's "The Descendents of the Presidents of the United States of America" and other references all indicate that Hortense died unmarried.

Ref: Clan Munro files - Monroe, James Harrison

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

Birth:
Estimate: This birth date is an estimate based on the birth dates of nearest relatives or contemporaries, or based on other clues such as christening date, marriage date, birth order, etc.

Family/Spouse: William Cousins, Jr.. William was born about 1832; died in in Of, Halifax Co., North Carolina. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

James served as one of "Mosby's men" in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. He was a lawyer and once ran for mayor of Baltimore, Maryland.

Ref: Clan Munro files - Stroud, Anna Margaret
- Monroe, James Harrison

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

James married Esther Fairfax Minor on 26 Feb 1867 in Leesburg, Loudoun Co., Virginia, USA. Esther (daughter of John Minor and Louisa Fairfax) was born in 1847; died on 18 Jul 1873 in Baltimore, Baltimore (city), Maryland, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

James married Mary Woodland Deringer after 1873 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia Co., Pennsylvania, USA. Mary (daughter of Bronaugh Deringer and Estalena Woodland) was born about 1846; died in 1941 in Baltimore, Baltimore (city), Maryland, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Henry was educated at Rock Hill College in Ellicott city, Maryland and at the U>S. Naval Academy.

He was in the mercantile business in Saint Louis and Yazoo City, Mississippi 1869-1876. He served as a sergeant in the U.S. Signal Corps from 1876 until that service was transferred to the Agriculture Department as the U.S. Weather Bureau in 1888. He became Professor of Meteorology at the U.S. Weather Bureau in 1913.

Ref: Clan Munro files - Stroud, Anna Margaret
- Monroe, James Harrison

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

Henry married Emma Leona on 16 Oct 1878. Emma was born about 1852; died in 1890. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Henry married Henrietta Brent on 12 Oct 1892. Henrietta was born about 1852; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Ref: Clan Munro files - Stroud, Anna Margaret

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

Sydney married Abbie Townsend in 1882. Abbie was born about 1855; died in 1884. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Sydney married Doralyn Miller after 1884. Doralyn was born about 1855; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Ref: Clan Munro files - Stroud, Anna Margaret

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

Birth:
Estimate: This birth date is an estimate based on the birth dates of nearest relatives or contemporaries, or based on other clues such as christening date, marriage date, birth order, etc.

Notes:

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

Birth:
Estimate: This birth date is an estimate based on the birth dates of nearest relatives or contemporaries, or based on other clues such as christening date, marriage date, birth order, etc.

Notes:

Ruth married Dr. William Crawford Johnson. They were married by Rev. Osborne Ingle and Rev. John H. Elliott.

One reference gives her death date as 28 Jul 1949.

Her husband, William, graduated A.B. at Princeton University in 1875, M.A. at Princeton University in 1878, M.D. at the University of Pennsylvania in 1878. He practiced medicine in Frederick from March 1878 until his death. He was Health Officer of Frederick for several years; physician to Frederick County jail for one term; an incorporator of the Frederick County Medical society and, at times, President and Treasurer of that organization. He served as Vice President of the Staff of the Frederick City Hospital and was for many years a member of the Staff of the Nurses Training School of Frederick City Hospital. He was the Attending Physician to the Convent and Academy of the Visitation for 27 years. The Academy displays a plaque in his honor. He also served as Attending Physician to the School for the Deaf and Dumb for 35 years, to the Frederick Home for the Aged for 36 years, and to the All Saints Orphanage for 40 years.

He spent some of his spare time as a genealogist.

Ref: Clan Munro files - Stroud, Anna Margaret
- Ruth Monroe Gouverneur notes
- William Crawford Johnson notes

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

Buried:
Mount Olivet Cemetery

Ruth married William Crawford Johnson on 6 Dec 1882 in Washington, , District of Columbia, USA. William (son of George Johnson and Emily Crawford) was born on 17 Jul 1856 in Frederick, Frederick Co., Maryland, USA; died on 28 Dec 1943 in Frederick, Frederick Co., Maryland, USA; was buried in Frederick, Frederick Co., Maryland, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Ref: Clan Munro files - Stroud, Anna Margaret
- Monroe, James Harrison

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

Notes:

Ref: Clan Munro files - Stroud, Anna Margaret
- Monroe, James Harrison

Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA

Rose married Roswell Randall Hoes on 5 Dec 1888 in Washington, , District of Columbia, USA. Roswell was born in 1850; died in 1921. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]