Jacob

Little is known about Jacob, but he appears to have driven President James Madison’s coach, at least for a brief time. He is mentioned in a letter from architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe to President Madison on July 19, 1811. While Latrobe oversaw the construction of the Capitol Building, he also assisted the Madisons purchase furnishings and other items they needed while living at the White House, including a coach. In 1811, the coach became damaged while Jacob drove it. Madison tasked Latrobe with procuring a refund from the man who sold the president the coach, Peter Harvie. According to Latrobe, Harvie refused on the grounds that “he can prove by many witnesses that Jacob was drunk when he took away the carriage, & [is] a man wholly unfit to take charge of it.”¹ It is unknown if Jacob was free or enslaved, but referring to servants by only their first name was common when discussing enslaved individuals, which suggests this may have been his status.² Little else is known about Jacob at this time. 

Thank you to the Papers of James Madison, to Hilarie M. Hicks, Senior Research Historian, James Madison's Montpelier, and to Holly Shulman, editor of the Dolley Madison Digital Edition, for providing research assistance with this biography.