SUMMARY
Ambrose Madison was a merchant and planter. The grandfather of President James Madison, he was murdered by three enslaved people shortly after moving to the estate that would become Montpelier. Born in King and Queen County, he acquired land and dealt in large sums of money from a young age. His father-in-law, a surveyor, had long been interested in the Piedmont region of Virginia and acquired land in the part of Spotsylvania County that later became Orange County. In 1723 he gave 4,675 acres to his two sons-in-law, including Madison, who sent a team of mostly enslaved people west to clear the land and plant tobacco. In the spring of 1732 Madison and his family moved to the estate, which he called Mount Pleasant. A few months later, however, he fell ill and died. Three enslaved people were convicted of poisoning him and one was executed.