Madden's Tavern

Madden's Tavern is located south of this site and was completed circa 1852. Willis Madden, a free black man, owned and operated the log structure. Madden also built a general store, a blacksmith and wheelwright shop, and drover's rest on the property. He was born to Sarah Madden, a bi-racial woman who was an indentured servant to James Madison Sr., President James Madison's father., Because Madden's mother was free, under the law her children were also free. In 1835, Martin and Martha Slaughter sold him land where the Tavern sits today. The Tavern included a total of 87 acres at the original crossroads of Old Fredericksburg Road and Peola-Mills-Kellysville Road., Madden erected the four-room main building, which was divided into two sections. The family lived in half of the house and kept the other half for the public. The upstairs was usually occupied by travelers as a sleeping room, and the tavern was located downstairs. The tavern was a natural stopping place for coaches, wagon trains, and individual travelers going east to Fredericksburg or west to the Blue Ridge Mountains through Culpeper, Orange, or Madison. Here they found food, drink, and rest., The Civil War would devastate Culpeper County and Madden's Tavern was no exception. In August 1862, Confederate and Union forces skirmished along the road from Madden's Tavern to Kelly's Ford on the Rappahannock River. In 1863, the Union Army visited the property and carried away horses and feed and damaged the property. After the Civil War, a person who had not borne arms against the United States was entitled to an indemnity for any damages sustained and property carried away or destroyed. Madden filed an indemnity and in 1873, he was allowed $879.00., Madden's Tavern, however, never recovered from the devastation caused to the Culpeper countryside and people during the Civil War. After the Civil War, Willis Madden continued to farm the land, but the tavern never reopened. He died on December 1, 1879, and is buried in the family Oak Grove cemetery., (captions> , Willis Madden Virginia Landmarks of Black Hitory , Maddens Tavern - Courtesy National Register Collection, photograph by Ann Miller