Last week on NPR, there was a segment on Brookeville, Maryland, whose claim to fame is that it served as the seat of government for the United States for one day in August 1814. Next August 26 will be the 200th anniversary of Brookeville becoming the “Capital for a day.” You may know the story.
It was during the War of 1812 (two years into it, in fact), and the British were coming. They were not stopped at the battle of Bladensburg, Maryland, and British forces were en route to Washington, DC, where they planned to burn the capitol building and the White House (it was known as the “Executive Mansion” back then). Naturally, this created quite a panic including (but by no means limited to) James Madison, the President, needing to find a safe and secure place to retreat . President Madison issued a few orders in order to tidy things up, such as instructing a cabinet member to hide a copy of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence (he took them to his farm in Prince George’s County) and putting a safe box with a good bit of the US treasury into the back of a buggy. There was also the question of where to go. This presented a bit of a dilemma, as Madison needed to find a place within a day’s buggy ride of Washington where he knew for certain he would be welcomed and where he and his en rourage (there were 20 soldiers with the President) would be safe. They could not call ahead or make a reservation somewhere. A number of places were considered including Leesburg, Virginia, and Frederick and Rockville, Maryland. But who to trust? A lot of people are your friend when you are President and things are going well, but what about when things go south and you may find yourself caught in a crossfire, or be on the wrong side in a battle that appears certain to be lost?
Dolly Madison was a Quaker and the Madisons knew, or at least were acquainted with, several of the families in the Sandy Spring area. The Quakers, adhering to their views on non-violence, had not supported the Revolutionary War - or any war in general (although there were individual exceptions including Nathaniel Greene, the logistics genius who pulled the Continental Army’s cookies out of the fire). In other words, most members of Society of Friends were political opponents of the policies that Madison supported. But when the President was finally ready, it was Brookeville and the Quaker community that became his final destination. Not because Brookeville is where he would find people who would agree with him, but because he knew that, regardless of their beliefs, the Quakers would open their doors as they would open their doors to all war-time refugees, to all who needed a safe place, to all.
They first came to the house of Richard Thomas, whom the Madison’s knew. Richard Thomas had married Deborah Brooke, whose grandfather had given the land for the Sandy Spring Meeting House and had been one of the largest landowners in Montgomery County. Richard was a builder and, in fact, three years later, would build the sublime brick Meeting House in Sandy Spring (as well as “Norwood,” the beautiful Flemish bonded brick house just east of Sandy Spring Friends School, andseveral other remarkable homes in our area). The President did not stay with the Thomases because the house was already full of Washingtonians and others who had fled in front of the British army. So they went across the street and knocked on Caleb Bentley’s door. Caleb Bentley was an engraver whose wife, Henrietta Thomas, was close friends with Dolly. The Bentleys made room by giving the President Henrietta’s bedroom.
The next day, the President received word that the British had decided to sail to Baltimore to capture Fort McHenry (thanks to Francis Scott Key we all know how this turned out). With the British gone, it was deemed safe for a return to Washington (the White House was not inhabitable, but the Madison’s would eventually stay at the near-by Octagon House). So, Brookeville returned to being a Quaker village and the rest, as they say, is history.