Back home: Remains of U.S. President James Monroe's daughter will be reburied beside him
The Catholic Diocese of Richmond announced May 23 that the body of Eliza Monroe Hay had arrived two days earlier at Washington Dulles International Airport. Plans to reinter her near Monroe's crypt at Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery have not been finalized, but the diocese said it will take place this fall.
The discovery of Monroe Hay's grave in Paris' Père Lachaise Cemetery was the culmination of the Bringing Eliza Home Project, an effort led by Barbara Vorndick of Fluvanna County and a member of the diocese. Vorndick spent six years combing through historical records and finally discovered documents mapping Monroe Hay's grave in Paris.
In a statement issued by the diocese, Vorndick called the project a 'fascinating, enriching journey.' She credited her faith for guiding her, adding that it was after sending emails to France that a parish archivist there found a document of Monroe Hay's funeral Mass.
'Through the long hours and years of research, I came to feel God's presence in a very real way,' Vorndick said in the statement. 'When I wondered if I would ever find the documents that I needed, He was there, whispering in my ear – suddenly dropping ideas into my mind.'
Eliza Monroe Hay, who lived from 1786 until 1840, served as White House hostess in place of her ill mother< Elizabeth Monroe. James Monroe, a Virginia native and the nation's fifth president, served two terms from 1817 to 1825 and is best known for his 'Monroe Doctrine' that closed off the Western Hemisphere to European colonization.
The family spent many years in France when Monroe was the American minister to France during the French Revolution.
After her husband's and mother's deaths two days apart in 1830, and her father's death the following year, Monroe Hay moved back to France. According to the 2013 book, 'First Ladies' Fact Book' by Laura Ross and Bill Harris, Monroe Hay converted to Catholicism and lived in a convent until her death.
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The reinternment of Monroe Hay's remains to Richmond is not the first reburial in the Monroe family.
After his death in 1831 in New York City, James Monroe was originally buried in New York's Marble Cemetery. Twenty-seven years later, in 1858, his body was exhumed and brought to Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond and is part of what is now known as President's Circle because four years later, John Tyler, the nation's 10th president was buried next to him.
Monroe's tomb is recognizable for the Gothic Revival-style cast-iron cage that encloses his sarcophagus.
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Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI.
This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: President James Monroe's daughter will be reburied beside him in Richmond
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