Madison and Jefferson’s Northeast Adventures in 1791
On the evening of Thursday, May 15, 2025, guests gathered at 1 E. Congress Street in the Canfield Casino to welcome a rather unexpected visitor back to Saratoga Springs: President James Madison himself.
Through the powerful one-man performance of Kyle Jenks, the Saratoga Springs History Museum audience was transported to the year 1791, when Congressman James Madison and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson set off on what might be called the Founding Fathers’ version of a road trip—undertaken, as Madison put it, for “health, recreation, and curiosity.”
What followed was an hour of immersive historical storytelling that blended humor, political insight, personal reflection, and plenty of local connections to Saratoga, Lake George, and the surrounding region.
A President Steps Onto the Stage
The evening began with an introduction by Museum Director James Parillo, who shared the impressive background of performer Kyle Jenks. A seasoned historical interpreter and playwright, Jenks has:
Developed original characters for 18th-century living history,
Written and performed historical dramas such as Drums Along the Mohawk and Opposites Attract: The One, the Few, and the Many,
Appeared on the History Channel, American Heroes Channel, Mysteries at the Museum, and Legends & Lies,
And performed professionally as James Madison at institutions including the National Constitution Center, Federal Hall, and the New-York Historical Society.
For this performance, Jenks didn’t simply talk about Madison—he became Madison. From the moment he walked to the front of the room and greeted the crowd as if it were 1817, not 2025, the audience was firmly in the early American republic.
Setting the Stage: 1791 and a Nation in Flux
Speaking in character, “Madison” reminded guests where the young nation stood in 1791:
The capital had recently moved from New York City to Philadelphia, with plans to eventually relocate to a new city on the Potomac—Washington, D.C., which then was mostly swamp and vision.
George Washington was serving as the first President.
Thomas Jefferson was Secretary of State; Alexander Hamilton was Secretary of the Treasury.
The country was still staggering under massive war debt from the Revolutionary War.
Hamilton’s controversial financial plan and the creation of a national bank had just been introduced—and fiercely opposed by Madison and Jefferson, who believed the bank violated the Constitution they had fought so hard to ratify. Out of these debates, the first American political parties began to form: Hamilton’s Federalists, and the emerging Democratic-Republicans led by Jefferson and Madison.
Amid this tension, with newspapers filled with anonymous attacks, Cabinet drama, and growing partisanship, Madison and Jefferson did something delightfully human:
They left town.
“Health, Recreation, and Curiosity”: A 900-Mile Journey
Madison shared that both he and Jefferson struggled with health issues—his own recurring “bilious fits” and Jefferson’s debilitating migraines. Between sessions of Congress, Madison wrote to his brother that he longed for a journey undertaken simply for “health, recreation, and curiosity.”
Only Jefferson ultimately joined him, and together they embarked on a 900-mile trip over the course of one month, traveling by sloop, carriage, and even birch-bark canoe.
Their route led them north from New York City:
Up the Hudson River with Captain Cooper,
Through Poughkeepsie, where Madison recalled Hamilton’s intense efforts to win over a New York convention that was initially 40–6 against the Constitution,
On to Hudson and then Albany, where they were hosted by General Philip Schuyler, a staunch Federalist who graciously welcomed his Republican guests despite recent political disappointment.
Madison delighted the audience with a story of how Schuyler’s son John later received them at the family’s country estate in what is now Schuylerville—just a short distance from many of the very places the audience knows today.
Saratoga, “Burgoyne’s Misfortune,” and Local Ground
For Saratoga-area guests, some of the most fascinating moments of the evening came as Madison described his and Jefferson’s visit to the Saratoga Battlefield in 1791.
Guided by John Schuyler, they:
Visited Stark’s Knob,
Walked the field of grounded arms,
Stood at the surrender site where British General Burgoyne handed over his sword,
And viewed the crossing point where the defeated British were ferried away.
Jefferson later referred to Saratoga as “the place of Burgoyne’s misfortune”, recognizing it as a turning point of the American Revolution. Madison reminded the audience that the French alliance, crucial to eventual victory, was encouraged by the outcome of Saratoga.
Hearing these events described in the first person, by “Madison” himself and in the very region where they took place, gave the evening a special resonance.
Lake George, Lake Champlain, and the Natural World
From Saratoga’s battlefields, Madison and Jefferson continued on to Lake George and Lake Champlain, traveling by canoe. This section of the performance was rich with Jeffersonian observation—delivered through Madison’s voice.
We heard how Jefferson:
Wrote a letter to his daughter Polly on a piece of birch bark because they had brought so little paper,
Carefully cataloged the flora and fauna,
Noted the clarity of Lake George, which both he and Madison later agreed was “the most beautiful water” they had ever seen,
Recorded species such as trout, perch, and bass—and even rattlesnakes along the shoreline,
Compared the depths, water levels, and fish populations of Lake George and Lake Champlain, noting how the lakes drained northward into the St. Lawrence.
Their trip was not just political escape; it doubled as a scientific and geographic survey of the Northeast.
From Maple Sugar to Census Counts: A Nation in the Making
Madison’s storytelling also touched on the broader purpose and unexpected side quests of the journey:
Jefferson studied the destructive Hessian fly, a crop pest harming fields from Virginia to the northern states, as part of his role in the American Philosophical Society.
The pair paid close attention to how the 1790 Census was being conducted, since population counts would determine representation in Congress.
In Hudson, they observed the commerce of salted herring and wine exports.
Jefferson developed a deeper interest in using sugar maples as a homegrown alternative to West Indian cane sugar, hoping to reduce reliance on foreign plantations. Later on the trip, at a nursery in Flushing, New York, he ordered 60 maple trees and seeds to plant at Monticello.
History came alive not as a string of dates, but as a series of ideas, experiments, and personal impressions carried along rivers, over roads, and through taverns ranked (in classic Jefferson fashion) as “good, middling, or poor.”
Encounters, Rebellions, and a Changing Republic
The performance also guided the audience through:
Memories of Shea’s Rebellion near Springfield, Massachusetts—a rural uprising that convinced many founders that a stronger federal government was needed.
An intense overnight crossing on Long Island Sound that left Madison ill but impressed by the skill of the ship’s captain.
A poignant moment on the southern shore of Long Island, where Jefferson paused their journey to document the fading language of a small Indigenous group, the Unquog. With only three speakers left, Jefferson recorded around 200 words, hoping to preserve something of their language for posterity.
These stories underscored the fact that this was not just a pleasure trip—it was a journey through a fragile, rapidly changing new nation.
Madison the Man: Faith, Love, and a Life Beyond Office
In the latter part of the evening, the performance shifted into a more intimate conversation. During the Q&A, “Madison” answered questions about:
His health and fears as a young man that he would not live long,
His work with Jefferson on the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom,
The tension between established churches and expanding religious liberty,
And his long, affectionate marriage to Dolley Madison.
The story of how Madison met Dolley—then Dolley Payne Todd, a young widow in Philadelphia who had lost her husband and child to yellow fever—was told with warmth and humor. Guests learned:
Dolley was a Quaker, and marrying outside the faith meant she would be “read out of meeting” (essentially shunned).
Madison courted her with the help of mutual introductions, including one by Aaron Burr.
He wrote her frequent letters while she recovered from both yellow fever and later malaria.
Despite the cost to her religious standing, Dolley eventually accepted his proposal, and the two built a partnership that shaped Washington social and political life for decades.
Madison also modestly addressed a question about being called the “Father of the Constitution,” insisting that the document was “the work of many heads and many hands,” the product of 55 delegates working over months in Philadelphia.
History, Alive in the Room
By the time the applause filled the room at the end of the night, guests had journeyed:
From Philadelphia to Saratoga,
From Lake George to Lake Champlain,
From debates over banks and constitutions to birch-bark notes, maple sugar experiments, Native languages, and quiet moments of personal doubt and resilience.
“Madison and Jefferson’s Northeast Adventures in 1791” was more than a lecture—it was living history, performed with nuance, scholarship, and charm, and deeply connected to the landscapes and stories of upstate New York.
We’re grateful to Kyle Jenks for bringing James Madison so vividly to life, and to everyone who joined us for this free evening of history, reflection, and storytelling.
Stay tuned for more programs at the Saratoga Springs History Museum as we continue to explore the past in ways that feel immediate, personal, and very much alive.