Memorial and Biographical History of Dallas County, Texas. Page: 34 of 1,110
vii, 9-1011 p. incl. ill., ports. : ports. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this book.
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V, -PRSINSl .LJI...... AE
^^ AMEAMES MONROE, the fifth
' i , l*. President of the United
^...1.' EStates, I8I7-'25, was born
in Westmoreland County
Virginia, April 28, I758.
. .a \ He was a son of Spence
11 A Monroe, and a descendant
*1~ nof a Scottish cavalier family.
Like all his predecessors
thus far in the Presidential
chair, he enjoyed all
A] 1the advantages of education
which the country
could then afford. He was
early sent to a fine classical
school, and at the age of sixteen
entered William and Mary College..
In 1776, when he had been in college but
two years, the Declaration of Independence
was adopted, and our feeble militia, without
arms, amunition or clothing, were struggling
against the trained armies of England.
James Monroe left college, hastened to
General Washington's headquarters at New
York and enrolled himself as a cadet in the
army.
At Trenton Lieutenant Monroe so distinguished
himself, receiving a wound in his
shoulder, that he was promoted to a Captaincy.
Upon recovering from his wound,
he was invited to act as aide to Lord Sterling,
and in that capacity he took an active
part in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown
and Monmouth. At Germantownhe stood by the side of Lafayette when the
French Marquis received his wound. General
Washington, who had formed a high
idea of young Monroe's ability, sent him to
Virginia to raise a new regiment, of which
he was to be Colonel; but so exhausted was
Virginia at that time that the effort proved
unsuccessful. He, however, received his
commission.
Finding no opportunity to enter the army
as a commissioned officer, he returned to his
original plan of studying. law, and entered
the office of Thomas Jefferson, who was
then Governor of Virginia.
He developed
a very noble character, frank, manly and
sincere. Mr. Jefferson said of him:
"James Monroe is so perfectly honest
that if his soul were turned inside out there
would not be found a spot on it."
In 1782 he was elected to the Assembly
of Virginia, and was also appointed a member
of the Executive Council. The next
year he was chosen delegate to the Continental
Congress for a term of three years.
He was present at Annapolis when Washington
surrendered his commission of Commander-in-chief.
With Washington, Jefferson and Madison
he felt deeply the inefficiency of the old
Articles of Confederation, and urged the
formation of a new Constitution, which
should invest the Central Government with
something like national power. Influenced
by these views, he introduced a resolution
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Lewis Publishing Company. Memorial and Biographical History of Dallas County, Texas., book, 1892; Chicago, Illinois. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth20932/m1/34/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dallas Public Library.