Montpelier is a late 18th-century

Federal-style Federal-style architecture is the name for the classical architecture built in the United States following the American Revolution between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was influenced heavily by the works of And ...

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...

in Clear Spring in Washington County,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Montpelier was the residence of

John Thomson Mason John Thomson Mason (15 March 1765 – 10 December 1824) was an American lawyer and Attorney General of Maryland in 1806. Early life Mason was born on 15 March 1765 at Chopawamsic (plantation), Chopawamsic in Stafford County, Virginia. He wa ...

(15 March 1765–10 December 1824), a prominent American

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

and

Attorney General of Maryland The Attorney General of the State of Maryland is the chief legal officer of the State of Maryland in the United States and is elected by the people every four years with no term limits. To run for the office a person must be a citizen of and qual ...

in 1806. Montpelier is located at 13448 Broadfording Road in Clear Spring.

History

Montpelier is a two-story brick mansion built around 1770 by Colonel Richard Barnes. In 1800, Colonel Richard and John Barnes were the largest slaveholders in Washington County with 89 enslaved people. In Richard Barnes's 1804 will, he freed all his enslaved people two years after his death. Among these were famous

African Methodist Episcopal The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Methodist denomination based in the United States. It adheres to Wesleyan–Arminian theology and has a connexional polity. It cooperates with other Methodist ...

minister, Thomas Henry.

acquired the property and resided there. President

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

visited Montpelier to urge Mason to accept an appointment as

United States Attorney General The United States attorney general is the head of the United States Department of Justice and serves as the chief law enforcement officer of the Federal government of the United States, federal government. The attorney general acts as the princi ...

. Mason's son John Thomson Mason, Jr. was born at Montpelier on 9 May 1815. Mason died on 10 December 1824 and was interred at Montpelier, with his wife, where they remain to this day. Much of the Montpelier estate surrounding the mansion remains in historical preservation.

References

{{Virginia Masons Houses completed in 1770 Mason family residences Houses in Washington County, Maryland Federal architecture in Maryland Plantation houses in Maryland 1770 establishments in Maryland