MONROE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

JAMES MONROE   

(1758-1831)

Monroe County was named for the fifth president of the United States. A native of Virginia, James Monroe served in the American Revolution. He was a member of the Continental Congress from 1783-1786 and practiced law in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He served as U. S. senator (1790-94), U.S. minister to France (1794-96), and governor of Virginia (1799-1802). He acted as one of the negotiators of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. From 1803-1807 he was U.S. minister to England. Again he was governor of Virginia in 1811. Monroe served the U.S. as Secretary of State (1811-17), Secretary of War (1814-181 5) and President (181 7-25). Some of his greatest achievements as President were the acquisition of Florida (1819), the legislation of the Missouri Compromise (1820), and the promulgation of the famous Monroe Doctrine (1823). He was elected to the American Hall of Fame in 1930.

JOHN FORSYTH   

(1780-1841)

The city of Forsyth was named in honor of John Forsyth who was an eminent American political leader born in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He graduated from Princeton in 1799 and was admitted to the bar in 1802. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives (181 3-18) and the Senate (1819-19). From 1819-1823, Forsyth was U.S. minister to Spain and gained the Spanish king’s ratification of the treaty of 1819 ceding Florida to the United States. Again he served the U.S. House of Representatives from 1823-1827. During the period from 1827-1829 he was governor of Georgia. His career continued as he once more entered the U.S. Senate from

1829-1834. A final political service was from 1834-1841 as Secretary of State.