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Maddens of Culpeper: 'We Were Always Free'
Date published: 2/16/2005
Members of the Madden family of Culpeper County were never slaves. Their local history began in 1758 with Sarah Madden, the first free person of color born in the family. She was free because her Irish mother was free. Nothing is known about her father. Sarah and her mother were indentured servants. Sarah eventually served James Madison of Montpelier and earned her freedom after almost four decades. As a free woman, she did laundry, made dresses, sold eggs—anything to keep her family going when free blacks barely survived and free women of color were even poorer. Her son Willis Madden became a shrewd businessman. He operated Madden’s Tavern 30 years before the Civil War, at a time when blacks could not sell liquor or get a license to do so. Willis got around the law by offering free whiskey to his “friends.” If these friends chose to reimburse him, then so be it. Willis was a respected businessman and “the wealthiest free Negro in his area,” wrote his great-grandson T.O. Madden Jr. (pictured above). Willis appeared in court and received letters addressed to him as “Sir”—both unheard of in pre-Civil War days. T.O. discovered many of his ancestors’ documents in a trunk he found at the former tavern near Stevensburg. He wrote a book in 1992 called “We Were Always Free: The Maddens of Culpeper County.” T.O. was a farmer and historian who lived in the family home. He earned fame, in Newsweek and National Geographic, through his books, and fortune through the sale of property. He must have been as spirited as his ancestors. When T.O. Madden Jr. was 83, he became a “frequent flier,” taking trips to Ireland, France, Australia and throughout the United States.
Date published: 2/16/2005
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