Andrew Monroe of Scotland patented 1,106 acres in Westmoreland County about 1650. About 1752, Spence Monroe and Elizabeth Jones married and farmed 500 acres on Monroe Creek. James Monroe was born at Monroe Hall in Westmoreland County on April 28, 1758. In 1769, he enrolled at Rev. Archibald Campbell's Academy in Westmoreland County. About 1772, his mother, Elizabeth Jones Monroe, died. In 1774, he entered the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and that same year his father, Spence Monroe, died. In 1775, Monroe and other college students seized arms from the Governor's Palace.