Madison, Taylor descendants honor ancestors on Fathers Day

By William Sorensen
Review Correpondent

Descendants of two of America’s founding fathers, James Madison and Zachary Taylor, honored their ancestors at a Father’s Day celebration and meeting at the James Madison Museum.
According to James Madison Museum Memorial Foundation President Helen Marie Taylor, celebrating the legacy of James Madison as the Father of the Constitution is a way to understand the important role he played in the formation of a new America.
A featured guest at the meeting was a British descendant of the Madison family, John Maddison. Maddison made the transatlantic trip from England to Orange after being contacted by the National Society of Madison Family Descendants.
What Maddison said he’ll remember about his experience in Orange was the warm reception he received and the hospitality he was shown by community. Maddison said he’s already making plans for another visit.
The meeting served to reunite friends and far flung and sometimes distant relatives, and to organize descendant activities and museum events.
But also on Sunday, those who attended celebrated their common ancestor with the unveiling of a very special portrait of Madison, painted by William Dunlap.
The portrait is one of only five painted of Madison during his life.
Dunlap’s painting of James Madison has been a part of Helen Marie Taylor’s private collection for a number of years. But now, for the first time, it hangs on public display in the museum with other important exhibits which tell the story of Madison’s life and his contribution to the nation.