George Madison

Infobox Governor
name= George Madison


caption=
order= 6^th
office= Governor of Kentucky
term_start= August 5, 1816
term_end= October 14, 1816
lieutenant=
predecessor= Isaac Shelby
successor= Gabriel Slaughter
birth_date= June 1763
birth_place= Augusta County, Virginia
death_date= death date|1816|10|14|mf=y
death_place= Paris, Kentucky
spouse= Jane Smith
profession= Soldier & public official
party= Democratic- Republican
religion=Presbyteriancite web |url=http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=3d04c895ddf56010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e449a0ca9e3f1010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD |title=Kentucky Governor George Madison |publisher=National Governors Association |accessdate=2007-03-09]
footnotes=

George Madison (June 1763 – October 14, 1816) was the sixth Governor of Kentucky.

Biography

Madison was born in Augusta County, Virginia, in an area now located in Rockingham County. He was a son of John and Agatha (Strother) Madison; his brothers included the Reverend James Madison and Captain Thomas Madison. He was a second cousin to United States President James Madison. George Madison fought as a private during the Revolutionary War. He married Jane Smith of Botetourt County, Virginia, with whom he had five children; she died in 1811.

Madison moved to Kentucky with his brother Gabriel and settled near Harrodsburg, possibly as early as 1783. ["Kentucky's Governors", p. 20.] While serving with the Kentucky militia, he was wounded twice in actions with Indians in 1791 and 1792. Madison entered politics in 1796, when he was appointed state auditor of public accounts by Governor Isaac Shelby. He held the post for 20 consecutive years before being elected governor.

In 1800, Madison became a trustee of the Kentucky Seminary in Franklin County. On December 5, 1806, he served on the grand jury which refused to indict Aaron Burr. He was appointed director of the Bank of Kentucky later that year. During the War of 1812, Madison was a second major in the 1st Rifle Regiment of Kentucky Volunteers. He was captured at the Battle of Frenchtown, held as a prisoner of war in Quebec, and exchanged a year later. Madison returned to Kentucky following his release and was honored at a public dinner on September 6, 1814.

He gave up the office of auditor of public accounts due to failing health from tuberculosis, but became a candidate for governor following popular public demand. James Johnson, the other candidate for office, withdrew from the race out of admiration for Madison, who was elected without opposition. Madison traveled to Blue Lick Springs for his health soon after the election, but was too weak to travel back to Frankfort for the inauguration. A Boubon County justice of the peace administered the oath of office on August 5, 1816 at the springs.

His only official act of office was the appointment of Colonel Charles S. Todd as secretary of state. Madison became the first Kentucky governor to die in office on October 14, 1816. He is buried in Frankfort Cemetery.

Notes

References

* "George Madison" by James F. Hopkins, "Kentucky's Governors: Updated Edition" (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky), 2001.
* Eli Smith, "A Funeral Sermon on the Death of Governor Madison" (Frankfort: Gerard & Kendall), 1817.

Further reading

*cite book |last=Lewis |first=William Terrell |title=Genealogy of the Lewis Family in America: From the Middle of the Seventeenth Century Down to the Present Time |publisher=Courier-Journal Job Printing Company |year=1893 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=fu4wAAAAMAAJ |accessdate=2008-01-10 |pages=p. 397

External links

* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6864680 Find-A-Grave profile for George Madison]
* [http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/franklin/madison.g.txt Biography from Historical Sketches of Kentucky]

ee also

*History of Kentucky