James Madison | |
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8th President of the College of William & Mary |
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In office 1776–1812 |
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Preceded by | John Camm |
Succeeded by | John Bracken |
Personal details | |
Born | August 27, 1749 |
Died | March 6, 1812 | (aged 62)
Alma mater | College of William & Mary |
James Madison (August 27, 1749 – March 6, 1812) was the first bishop of the Diocese of Virginia of The Episcopal Church in the United States, one of the first bishops to be consecrated to the new church after the American Revolution. He also served as the eighth president of the College of William and Mary.
Born in Port Republic, in Augusta County, near Staunton, Virginia, he was the son of John and Agatha (née Strother) Madison. He was educated at home and at a private school in Maryland, before attending the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia where he graduated with high honors in 1771. On July 29, 1772, he received the gold medal given as a prize for classical learning by the Royal Governor of Virginia, Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt, who is better known in Virginia as "Lord Botetourt".
He read law with George Wythe, and was admitted to the bar, though he did not practice law.
Madison taught philosophy and mathematics at the college from 1773 to 1775, when he went to England to be ordained a priest of the Church of England. He returned to the Colony of Virginia, and was serving as an instructor at William and Mary as the hostilities which led to the American Revolutionary War broke out.