Sep 22, 2026 · 28 min · 9 segments
James Madison stepped off the New York stage on May 3rd, 1787 — 11 days before the Federal Convention was scheduled to open, and 22 days before it actually could. This is the story of those waiting…
was crowded past its capacity.
The General Assembly of Presbyterian ministers was gathering from across the country.
The Society of Cincinnati, the officers of the old Continental Army, was holding its general meeting in the city in the same weeks.
And now, delegates to a federal convention were trickling in on muddy spring roads, hunting for rooms.
They filled the taverns and the boarding houses around the statehouse.
Governor Edmund Randolph of Virginia and several others took rooms alongside Madison at Mrs. House's.
George Mason of Virginia settled in at the Indian Queen, the largest tavern in the city, and wrote home that he was being charged.
Twenty-five Pennsylvania currency per day, including our servants and horses, exclusive of club and liquors and extra charges.
74 men, all told, had been named by their states to this convention.
Only 55 of them ever took a seat, and on any given day the room held fewer still.
The states had appointed their delegates.
Its two men did not reach the city until July 23, John Langdon covering the expenses out of his own pocket.
George Washington had reached the city on May 13th, the day before the appointed opening.
Church bells rang.
Crowds lined the streets to see him.
He had planned to lodge at Mrs. House's with the other Virginians.
Robert Morris, the financier, insisted Washington stay at his mansion on Market Street instead, and Washington accepted.
The Society of the Cincinnati, his own officers, were meeting in Philadelphia that month, and he had begged off their gathering long in advance, pleading his retirement from public life.
Now here he was, in the same city, in the same weeks, attending to something else.
He had risked the most valuable thing he owned by coming at all, and having come, he could do nothing but wait and rest.
was crowded past its capacity.
The General Assembly of Presbyterian ministers was gathering from across the country.
The Society of Cincinnati, the officers of the old Continental Army, was holding its general meeting in the city in the same weeks.
And now, delegates to a federal convention were trickling in on muddy spring roads, hunting for rooms.
They filled the taverns and the boarding houses around the statehouse.
Governor Edmund Randolph of Virginia and several others took rooms alongside Madison at Mrs. House's.
George Mason of Virginia settled in at the Indian Queen, the largest tavern in the city, and wrote home that he was being charged.
Twenty-five Pennsylvania currency per day, including our servants and horses, exclusive of club and liquors and extra charges.
74 men, all told, had been named by their states to this convention.
Only 55 of them ever took a seat, and on any given day the room held fewer still.
The states had appointed their delegates.
Its two men did not reach the city until July 23, John Langdon covering the expenses out of his own pocket.
George Washington had reached the city on May 13th, the day before the appointed opening.
Church bells rang.
Crowds lined the streets to see him.
He had planned to lodge at Mrs. House's with the other Virginians.
Robert Morris, the financier, insisted Washington stay at his mansion on Market Street instead, and Washington accepted.
The Society of the Cincinnati, his own officers, were meeting in Philadelphia that month, and he had begged off their gathering long in advance, pleading his retirement from public life.
Now here he was, in the same city, in the same weeks, attending to something else.
He had risked the most valuable thing he owned by coming at all, and having come, he could do nothing but wait and rest.
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