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University Microfilms 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 A Xerox Education Company Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. MASTERS THESIS M-3985 HUNT, Katharine Conover THE WHITE HOUSE FURNISHINGS OF THE MADISON ADMINISTRATION, 1809-1817. University of Delaware (Winterthur Program), M.A., 1971 History, modern University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan © 1972 KATHARINE CONOVER HUNT ALL RIGHTS RESERVED THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE WHITE HOUSE FURNISHINGS 0? ' THE MADISON ADMINISTRATION ISO9 - 1&17 Dy Katharine Conover Hunt A thesis subratted to the Faculty of the University of Delaware in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Early American Culture. May, 1971 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PLEASE NOTE: Some pages may have indistinct print. Filmed as received. University Microfilms, A Xerox Education Company Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Preface The early furnishings of the White House have traditionally been a subject of interest to historians. In the literature treating the domestic arrangements of the first five Presidents, however, the administration of James Madison has received little scholarly attention. It is the purpose of this study to examine the furniture used during the Madisons1 eight years in the White House, Itf09-ltfl7. In 1907» Esther Singleton1s The Story of the White House presented an introduction to the problem of Madison furnishings.'1' In 1959, Robert L. Raley published Ben­ jamin Latrobers lbl09 designs for the oval drawing room 2 furniture. Finally, in 1965, Margaret Brown Klapthor presented "Benjamin Latrobe and Dolley Madison Decorate the White House, 1S09-1S11," a thorough examination of the decoration of Mrs. Madison1s parlor, and the drawing room.^ To date, the lSll-1317 period remains virtually unexplored. The present examination of the Madisons1 White House furnishings will begin with a chapter devoted to i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ii the problem of Madison taste. Chapter II treats the fur­ nishings purchased for the Executive Mansion between 1309 and 1314, when the British burned the building. Chapter III discusses the Madisonsf furnishings from 1314 until the retirement of James Madison in 1317- Chapter IV offers an introduction to the problem of authenticating extant Madison furnishings, and outlines the method used to select objects for the Catalogue. The writer would like to thank the individuals who have so generously given their assistance with this project. Mrs. Caroline Holmes Bivins has spent several years studying the history of Madison furnishings. Her ex­ tensive research has located many objects scattered from Florida to New York state and v/est to California. With­ out her enthusiastic interest, and her copious notes, this study would have been impossible. Mrs. Margaret Brown Klapthor, Associate Curator, and the staff of the Division of Political History at the Smithsonian Institution, have provided valuable informa­ tion about nearly every aspect of the problem. Mrs. Klapthor brought the Treasury accounts to the attention of the writer. My advisor, John A. H. Sweeney, has offered help­ ful advice about every part of the manuscript. Thanks are Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. iii due to the staffs of the Manuscript Reading Room at the Library of Congress, and the Manuscript Division at the Alderman Library, University of Virginia, for help with the numerous manuscripts under their care. The staff at Independence National Historical Park was generous with both information and documents relating to the Todd and Payne families. William Moore, Director, Greensboro (North Carolina) Historical Museum, gave me an opportunity to study the Kunkel Collection. The staffs of the Legis­ lative, Judicial, and Diplomatic Records Division at National Archives, and the Washington National Records Center, Suitland, Maryland, located many obscure documents. James Bear, Curator of Monticello, was helpful with the Monticello Archives. William Hachal, Editor, The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, gave valuable informa­ tion about the Papers of James Madison project. My thanks to the staff of The Henry Francis duPont Winterthur Museum, for their continued interest and assistance. Finally, my deep appreciation to the museums and private owners who allowed me to examine their Madison furniture.. Wherever possible, the original spelling and cap­ italization have been preserved in the-text. ‘All abbrevia­ tions are followed by a period. Raised letters have been dropped, and are followed by a period. The now obsolete "sf” has been changed to "ss." It is generally agreed that Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. iv the correct spelling of Mrs. Madison’s name is "Dolley.”^ Some books and manuscript collections use the designation . "Dolly,” "Dorothy," or "Dorothea." The writer has con­ tinued the spelling employed by a particular author or collection. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. V Notes to the Preface ^2 vols. (New York: The McClure Company), 1907, pp. 55-39* et. passim. (Hereafter, Singleton). 2 "Interior Designs by Benjamin Henry Latrobe for the President’s House," Antiques. LXXV (June, 1959), 563- 571. (Hereafter, Haley). 3 United States National Museum Bulletin 241: Con­ tributions from The Museum' of History and Technology, ’Paper 1 5 5 -lb4 . (’HereaYt'er, Klapthor)'.' u ^In his comprehensive biography of James Madison, Irving Brant wrote: "That name— the only one she ever owned, knew or used during eighty-one years— was too plain to suit early biographers. So, just as Eleanor Rose v/as invented for Madison’s mother Nelly, Dolley had to be Dorothea or Dorothy. The ’e’ was then knocked out and the triumph of convention was complete." See James Madison. 6 vols. (Indianapolis and New York: The Bobbs-Merrill Company), 1941-1961, III, p. 401. (Hereafter, Brant). Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table of Contents Preface. .............................. i Introduction ....................................... 1 Chapter I. The Problem of Madison Taste .......... 9 II. The Pre-fire I/hite House, 1809-1814 • • . .25 III. The Post-fire i/hite House, 1814-1817 . .54 Introduction to the Catalogue: Problems Involved in Authenticating Madison Furnishings .91 Catalogue......................................... 120 Bibliography................... 198 Appendices..................... 208 vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Introduction In 1907, Esther Singleton complained: No nation has been so niggardly in its provision for the expenses to which* its Chief Magistrate is put in upholding the dignity and hospitality of the White House than the United States. She was correct. The Executive Mansion is the most im­ portant "house" in the country; in many respects, it is the most interesting. The White House is both private and public, personal and official. Like the building itself, the furnishings of the White House serve a double function. In one respect they reflect the