First Ladies
Rescue of the Papers of State During the Burning of Washington
In August 1814, British forces occupying the Chesapeake Bay began to sail up the Patuxent River in Maryland. Fearing an attack on the capital, Secretary of State James Monroe offered to scout the British position and report back to President James Madison. Monroe, accompanied by cavalry, left Washington and rode into southern Maryland. On August 19 and 20 the British landed troops at
White House Vegetable Gardens
John Adams, the first resident of the White House, wanted a vegetable garden plowed and fertilized with the goal of planting in the spring of 1800. By the time the ground was ready for planting, Adams had returned to private life after Thomas Jefferson’s victory in the 1800 presidential election. President Jefferson inherited a construction site when he came into office an
