James Madison's Montpelier Estate 
Cedar of Lebanon

This tree was dated to at least 15 years prior to James Madison's death in 1836. President Madison was known to have planted four Cedar of Lebanon trees on the grounds of Montpelier.

At the entrance to the Montpelier garden is the largest of several Cedars of Lebanon, this one certainly planted during James Madison’s lifetime. This statement is based on data collected from another cedar of Lebanon on the grounds which fell from the weight of ice on it during a 1995 ice storm. That tree had a circumference one inch larger than our subject tree and was found to have 173 annual rings on one side of the trunk. Subtracting 173 from 1995 suggests that the two trees in this account were planted in the early 1820s or about fifteen years before Madison’s death. A wafer cut from the fallen tree was sent to Dr. Jay Stipes at Virginia Tech for further study. A local tradition said that the three largest cedars of Lebanon were a gift from France to James Madison presented by Lafayette during his visit to Montpelier in 1824.

We have now secured a very limited amount of this wood from a private owner. This is the tree came down in an ice storm in the Winter of 1995, as mentioned above.