Historic Documents

What an experience? How many families have the opportunity to spend a week exploring a historic house? Today we help set up displays involving historical documents and items donated by the family back to Belle Grove. In the photo, Ian and Keri and Pat (a volunteer) look at a journal kept by the sister of President James Madison. We also arranged furniture, labeled items, worked on programs, typed welcome notes for the program and all the other things required to get ready for the registration on Friday.

We heard bad news about one of the paintings originally painted by Charles Peale Polk to hang in the parlor at Belle Grove. The original set included paintings of the Hites, President Madison and Thomas Jefferson. Madison because of his sister and Jefferson because of his contributions to designing the house and friendship with the Hites. All of the paintings have been purchased or donated back to Belle Grove except the one of Jefferson. We have been attempting to acquire it for several years now, but have just been informed that it has sold to a private collector. We had borrowed it back for the last reunion but that space is vacant now.