Frances Madison

• General Notes
  • Robert Allen states [Madison Family Genealogy Forum - December 10, 2003 at 21:05:1]:
    
    I am now in a position to state authoratively that Ambrose Madison did not have any more children that the three that are commonly known, James Madison, father of the President, Frances Madison and Elizabeth Madison.
    
    There is a letter from Edmund Pendleton, attorney (later Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals of Virginia) to James Madison (father of the President) dated January 15, 1762 that is lodged in the Gilder Lehrman Collection of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of the New York Historical Society, item # GLC00099.017. I have a copy of the original letter. I cannot write the entire letter due to reproduction restrictions from the Gilder Lehrman Institute. I will quote the essential portion that serves as authority that Ambrose Madison only had three children, James Madison and the two daughters, Frances and Elizabeth.
    
    "... I am of the opinion that on the marriage of one of the children of Mr. Ambrose Maddison the estate lent his wife til that time should have been divided according to the Act of Distributions, the law the testator refers to, that is one third of the slaves to the wife for life & one third of the personal estate as her absolute property. The other two thirds of the slaves descended to the son he paying his sisters each a third of the value thereof as appraised, and the two thirds of the personal estate was to be equally divided between all the children. At the death of the mother her slaves descended to the son without his paying anything for them. Then in my opinion the estate should have been divided, but it seems it was not for at the time appointed the mother took a fourth part only and the residue slaves as well as personal estate was equally divided between the three children and now the mother is dead intestate...."