James Monroe was born on April 28, 1758 in Westmoreland County, Virginia. He was one of five children of Spence Monroe and Elizabeth Jones who were both natives of Virginia.
His father, Spence Monroe, traced his ancestry back to King Edward III of England. James's great-grandfather had fought at the side of Charles I in the English Civil Wars before being taken prisoner and exiled to Virginia in 1649. His mother, Elizabeth Jones Monroe, was of Welsh heritage and an educated woman for her times.
The Monroes lived on a small farm and young James walked several miles each day to attend the school of Parson Campbell, who taught him the stern moral code that he followed throughout his life. Campbell was a Scotsman who taught a small group of boys each year. These students studied Latin, mathematics, science, literature, and the Romance languages. John Marshall, one of Monroe's childhood friends and classmates, later became the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Monroe's life changed forever when his father died early in 1774, orphaning the five children. According to Spence Monroe's will, James and his brother Andrew shared ownership of the farm after their father's death. Records indicate that they sold the property in October of 1783.
- 1774 Entered the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia
Elizabeth's brother, Judge Joseph Jones, took over the care and education of the Monroe children when Spence died. Jones, a well-respected Virginia attorney, immediately encouraged James to enter the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, the second oldest college in the colonies. James Monroe at 16 was admitted into the college division in the fall of 1774, residing in the Wren Building with other young men from around the colony. For two years Monroe studied law under the watchful eye of George Wythe, one of the most acclaimed lawyers in the colonies. Monroe would have finished his studies as scheduled, but they were interrupted by political events in and around the city. A great revolution was approaching and the winds of war were upon the brash young men at "The College."
The participation of Monroe's father and grandfather ten years earlier in the "Westmoreland Resolves," also known as "the Leedstown Resolves," made the young man mistrust the rule of the Crown, and schooled him in the ways of civil disobedience. Young Monroe's suspicion of the royal government, plus the fervor of his fellow students, helped sway his course of action on June 24, 1775. Finding it difficult to concentrate on his studies, he left college to go to war.
