The Kortrights were longtime residents of the city. Through connections and trade, the family had been wealthy at one time. Elizabeth's father had not picked a side in the Revolutionary War (1775-1783), but the conflict altered the Kortrights' fortunes. For James and Elizabeth, though, it was a love match.
When James's term in the Continental Congress ended that October, the Monroes moved to Fredericksburg, oe Virginia. James opened a law office. The family lived there for about three years.
Over the next decades, James and Elizabeth juggled their family life around James's busy political life. Their first child, Elizabeth "Eliza" Kortright, was born in December 1786. A son, James Spence, was born in May 1799. He died of whooping cough when he was 16 months old. The youngest Monroe child, Maria Hester, was born in April 1802.
Whenever possible, the Monroes traveled with James when public duties called him away from home. They lived in Europe for a total of seven years. Beginning in 1794 and ending two and a half years later, James served as minister to France under President George Washington. Then, under President Thomas Jefferson, James served as minister to France, Great Britain, and Spain from 1803 to 1807. When not serving abroad, James was active in Virginia politics. During those times, the Monroes mostly resided at Oak Hill, near Leesburg, Virginia. James had inherited property there from his uncle in 1808. In the mid1820s, he oversaw the construction of an elegant home.
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Eye in the Sky
An interview with Joe Piotrowski
Airborne Animals
Humans have taken to the skies in balloons, gliders, and airplanes-but we're not alone among the clouds. Animals of all sorts have evolved to harness wind power.
TAKING OFF
The Wright brothers expected airplanes to “take off,” but even they might be amazed at the way the airline industry has become big business. In the past, it was expensive to send something by plane.
GROWTH OF AN INDUSTRY
After their historic flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright returned to Dayton, Ohio. They spent the next few years making adjustments and building additional versions of their powered aircraft in their bicycle shop.
WHY KITTY HAWK?
The Wright brothers searched carefully for the best place to test their gliders and flying machines. Their main concern was for good, steady winds. But they also hoped to find a remote location to allow them to perform tests away from the public eye.
Two Brothers From Ohio
Most people do not realize that the Wright brothers—Wilbur, born in 1867, and Orville, born in 1871—performed various scientific experiments before inventing their aircraft. For as long as anyone in their hometown of Dayton, Ohio, could remember, the Wright boys had worked on mechanical projects.
A Helping Hand
May 6, 1896. A group of people who had gathered beside the Potomac River, just south of the U.S. capital, grew quiet. Then, it erupted in cheers as a small, unmanned aircraft took to the skies and flew for more than half a mile. The flight came seven years before the Wright brothers’ first manned, powered flight. The inventor of the aircraft was Dr. Samuel Pierpont Langley.
THE IDEA MEN
People dreamed of flying thousands of years before the Wright brothers found success near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. These dreamers, such as Leonardo da Vinci, studied birds flying and imagined how humans might do the same—if only they had wings. Other men developed a more hands-on approach to the topic. Early inventors made wings of cloth, glue, and feathers and tied these creations to their arms in an attempt to imitate nature.
Da Vinci's 4 Designs
Have you ever wondered how a bird flies? Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) did. He thought that understanding how a bird flies would provide the key to human flight. So, what did da Vinci learn from birds?
Silken Wings
Seven hundred years before the Wright brothers began experimenting with human flight, the Chinese had already mastered its secrets—with kites.
