Before the White House, James Monroe Practiced Law in Fredericksburg

Before the White House, James Monroe Practiced Law in Fredericksburg

Nearly a century ago, Monroe’s great-granddaughter saved the Charles Street property where he worked as a young lawyer. Today it houses a museum and research collection.

By John L. Williams
The Spotsylvania Gazette

FREDERICKSBURG — My wife, Arlene, and I spent part of Sunday afternoon, Nov. 8, at the James Monroe Museum and Memorial Library on Charles Street. The visit took us to a place where a familiar name from American history has a local address. Decades before he became the nation’s fifth president, Monroe practiced law on this property in downtown Fredericksburg.

A family collection finds a home

The museum owes its existence to Monroe’s great-granddaughter, Rose de Chine Gouverneur Hoes. When she learned that the property Monroe owned as a young lawyer from 1786 to 1788 could be cleared to expand a neighboring gas station, she bought it. In 1927, she opened the museum there, displaying books, documents, furniture and clothing passed down through the family.

Her son, Laurence Gouverneur Hoes, spent decades expanding the collection and the museum. The family gave the museum to the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1964. Today, the University of Mary Washington administers it, and the museum is approaching its centennial in 2027.

A president’s desk and a daughter’s piano

Two pieces in the collection tell very different stories. One is a Louis XVI writing desk believed to be the one Monroe used to write what became known as the Monroe Doctrine. The other is an 1810 Astor pianoforte that was a favorite of his younger daughter, Maria Hester. The collection also includes jewelry that belonged to Elizabeth Monroe and a military furlough Monroe signed as a Continental Army officer at Valley Forge.

There’s a reason Memorial Library is part of the name. Books and documents were among the items the Monroe family preserved, and researchers can arrange access to the collection by contacting the curator at least two weeks ahead.

The story of the museum begins with a local decision. Rose saw that a piece of her family’s history could disappear from Charles Street and decided to save it. Almost 100 years later, Fredericksburg still has a place where visitors can follow Monroe’s story from his days as a young Virginia lawyer to the presidency and see what his family chose to keep along the way.

If you go
The James Monroe Museum and Memorial Library is at 908 Charles Street in downtown Fredericksburg. The University of Mary Washington lists hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Museum visitor information⁠

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