Compiled by Dan Preston, Editor, The Papers of James Monroe
1758 (April 28): Born at Monroe Hall, Westmoreland County, Virginia
1774: Entered the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia
1776: Became an officer in the Continental Army, during the American Revolution
1777: Wounded in the shoulder at the Battle of Trenton
1777: Made an Aide to General William Alexander, Lord Stirling
1780: Appointed Military Commissioner from Virginia by Governor Thomas Jefferson
1780: Law student under the tutelage of Governor Jefferson
1782: Chosen to the Virginia General Assembly and its Executive Council
1783: Member of the Confederation Congress of the United States (for 3 years)
1786: Married Elizabeth Kortright of New York
1786: Moved from New York to Fredericksburg, Virginia
1786: First child, Eliza, was born
1787: Admitted to practice before the Court of Chancery, Court of Appeals and the General Court; chosen to Fredericksburg’s Common Council and as a trustee of the Fredericksburg Academy
1787: Chosen again to the Virginia General Assembly
1788: Chosen to represent Spotsylvania County, Virginia at the Virginia Convention to consider ratification of the new U.S. Constitution
1789: Moved from Fredericksburg to Albemarle County, Virginia
1790: Became a U.S. Senator
1791: Member of the commission for revising the laws of Virginia
1794: Commissioned Minister to France by President George Washington (3 years in France)
1799: Chosen Governor of Virginia and chosen twice more, holding office until 1802
1799: Moved to Highland, his farm in Albemarle County, Virginia
1799: Second child, James Spence, was born
1800: Baby James Spence died
1802: Third child, Maria Hester, was born
1803: Commissioned Minister to France, Spain and England under President Thomas Jefferson
1803: With Robert Livingston, negotiated with the French for the Louisiana Purchase
1804: Went from London to Madrid to negotiate for the purchase of Florida
1806: Commissioned to negotiate a treaty of friendship with England
1807: Returned with his family to the United States
1810: Chosen for a third time to the Virginia Assembly
1811: Appointed Secretary of State by President James Madison (served until 1817)
1814: Appointed Secretary of War by President Madison during the War of 1812 (served until 1815)
1817: Elected fifth President of the United States, inaugurated on March 4th
1819: Florida ceded to the United States
1820: Missouri admitted to the Union under the “Missouri Compromise”
1821: Inaugurated for a second term as President, March 5th
1823: Message delivered to Congress containing the “Monroe Doctrine”
1824: The Marquis de Lafayette received at the White House during his Triumphal Tour of America
1825: Retired from the Presidency and moved to Oak Hill farm near Leesburg, Virginia
1827: Elected to the Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia
1829: Member and President of the Virginia Constitutional Convention in Richmond, Virginia
1830: Elizabeth Monroe died at Oak Hill
1830: Moves to daughter Maria’s home in New York
1831: Died at 63 Prince Street, New York City, on the 4th of July, and buried in New York City Marble Cemetery
1858: Re-interred at Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia
