James Madison

Born:  March 16, 1751 in Port Conway, Virginia

Died:  June 28, 1836 in Montpelier Mansion, Orange County, VA                            

-Delegate from Virginia
-Vice Presidents:

     George Clinton

     Elbridge Gerry

-Hailed as the "Father of the Constitution"

-Key champion & author of the United States Bill of Rights

-1771 - Studied under private tutors and graduated from Princeton

-1774 - Member of the Committee of Safety from Orange County

-1776 - Delegate in the Williamsburg VA convention

           - Member of the First General Assembly of Virginia
-1778 - Unanimously elected a member of the Executive Council
-1780-1783 - Member of the Continental Congress

-1787-1788 - Member of the Continental Congress

-1787 - Delegate in the Federal Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia

-Elected to the First Congress

-1789-1797 - Re-elected to the 2nd and 3rd Congresses and re-elected as a Republican to the 4th Congress

-1794 - Declined the mission to France, tendered by President Washington and also the position of Secretary of State tendered that year

-1799 - Again a member of the Virginia Assembly from Orange County

-1801 - Appointed by President Jefferson as Secretary of State. Started those duties May 2 and served until March 4, 1809

- Elected the fourth President of the United States in 1808

-Re-elected in 1812 (Served as President from March 4, 1809-March 3, 1817)

-1817 - Retired to his estate, "Montpelier", in Orange County, Virginia

-1826 - After the death of Jefferson, followed Jefferson as the second President of the University of Virginia

-1829 - Delegate in the Virginia Constitutional Convention

-1836 - Died in the Montpelier Mansion in Orange County, Virginia

-Internment in the private family cemetary on the grounds of Montpelier

President's Park in South Dakota in 2005

Madison's gravestone at Montpelier

Thomas Jefferson

Born: April 13, 1743 in Shadwell, VA

Died:  July 4, 1826 in Charlottesville, VA                                                              

-Delegate from Virginia
-Vice Presidents:
     -Aaron Burr
     -George Clinton

-1762 - Attended William & Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia
-1767 - Studied law and was admitted to the bar and commenced practice
-1769-1775 - Member of the Colonial House of Burgesses
-Prominent in pre-Revolutionary movements
-1775-1776, 1783-1784 -Member of Continental Congress
-1776 - Chariman of the committee that drew up the Declaration of Independence and made the first draft
-Signer of the Declaration of Independence; resigned after and returned to Monticello
-1779-1781 - Governor of Virginia
-1782 - Member of the State House of Delegates
-1784 - Minister Plenipotentiary to France
-1785 - Sole Minister to the King of France for three years
-1789-1793 - Secretary of State in George Washington's cabinet
-1797-1801 - Vice President under President John Adams
-1801 - Elected third President of the United States by the House on the 36th ballot
-1803 - The United States under Jefferson bought the Louisiana Territory from France, doubling the size of the United States
-1804-1806 - Sent Lewis and Clark to explore the new west
-1805 - Re-elected to the Presidency and served from March 4, 1801 to March 3, 1809
-1819 - Retired to Monticello and active in founding the University of Virginia at Charlottesville
-1826 - Died July 4th (a couple hours before John Adams died)  Internment in the grounds of Monticello

Jefferson Memorial in Washington D.C.

President's Park in South Dakota 2005

Mount Rushmore 2005

(2nd from the left)

Seated at the table (wax museum in South Dakota 2005)

I LOVE this picture!!

John Adams

Born:  October 19, 1735 in Braintree, Mass.                                                 
Died:  July 4, 1826 in Quincy, Mass.

-Delegate from Massachusetts
-Vice President - Thomas Jefferson

-1755 - Graduated from Harvard; studied law
-1758 - Admitted to the bar and practiced in Suffolk County
-Joined the Sons of Liberty and argued against the Stamp Act
-1768 - Elected to represent Boston in general court
-1774-1777- Member of the Continental Congress
-Signed the Decleration of Independence
-Proposed George Washington for General of the American Army
-Became a member of the Board of War, but resigned to accept appointment as commissioner to the Court of France
-1782 - Minister Plenipotentiary to Holland
-1785-1788- First Minister to England
-1788 - Elected as the 1st Vice President with Geoge Washington as President
-1792 - Re-elected and served from April 21, 1789 to March 3, 1797
-1797 - Elected second President of the United States and served from March 4, 1797 to March 3, 1801
-First President to live in the White House
-1820 - Delegate to the constitutional convention in Massachusetts
-1826 - Died July 4th in Quincy, Mass.
-Internment under the old First Congregational Church, now called the United First Parish Church.

Pictures from South Dakota 2005:

President's Park in 2005

George Washington

-Born:  February 22, 1732 in Wakefield, Virginia

-Died:  December 14, 1799 in Mt. Vernon, Virginia                                      

-Delegate from Virginia
-Vice President - John Adams

-1752 - Appointed General of a military district in Virginia as a Major
-1753 - Sent to conduct business with the French Army in Ohio Valley
-1754 - Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and served in the French & Indian War
-1755 - Becomes top aide-de-camp to General Braddock; appointed Commander in Chief of Virginia forces
-1758 - Resigned his commission.
-1759 - Returned to the management of his estate at Mt. Vernon.
-1760-1774 - Served as Justice of the Peace
-1758-1774 - Member of the Virginia House of Burgesses
-1774 - Delegate to the Williamsburg Convention
-1774-1775 - Member of the 1st and 2nd Continental Congresses
-1775 (June 15th) - Unanimously chosen as Commander in Chief of all forces raised or to be raised
-Commanded the continental armies throughout the War for Independence
-1783 (December 23) - Resigned his commission and returned to Mt. Vernon
-1787 - Delegate and President of the Federal Convention in Philadelphia
-1789 - Unanimously elected first President of the United States; inaugurated April 30th
-1792-1797 - Re-elected in 1792 and served until March 3, 1797, declining renomination
-1798 - Again appointed as Lieutenant General and Commander of the U.S. Army on July 3rd
-Served until his death December 14th, 1799, in Mt. Vernon, Virginia
-Internment in the vault at Mount Vernon

Pictures from my 8th grade class trip to Washington DC in 1990:

                          The Backside of Mount Vernon        
              

George Washington's Tomb
  (Taken with an old camera)

Pictures of George Washington from a trip to South Dakota in 2005:

            In a wax museum

President's Park

(My mom was trying to get out of the way! lol)

Mount Rushmore (Far left)

Getting Started

I am new to this whole blogging thing, so here goes.....

A co-worker has been writing in blogs since I met him over a year and a half ago, even probably before that, and I never got it.  I never got why someone would need to login to a computer and tell the whole world, or whoever is reading it at least, everything that he is doing.  Then it hit me....he had moved here from another state and was keeping his friends and family updated on his everyday happenings. 

Well, today at work, it hit me!  I am infatuated with past Presidents and where they are buried.  Every day at lunch, or even when I get home, I get on the computer, google, and look at people's sites that deal with this topic.  I have been to 4 or 5 Presidential gravesites and want to get to as many as I possibly can in my lifetime.

I think my infatuation with history and the Presidency started way back from the class trip I took in 8th grade.  A bunch of us went to Washington DC for a week to see the sights and learn a little on the side.  The classmates and I had a ball!!!  If I can get the pictures to come out ok, I will post some of them.

A few years ago, I started writing a write-up for each President in order (name, VP, birthdate, date of death, Party affiliation, and a synopsis of what happened during each of their terms).  I am going to start typing that on here and if I have pictures or a story to go along with any of them, I will add them to it.

This won't be for everyone, but it's something that I enjoy researching and I hope it's informative to whoever reads this as well.....