The Maryland State House, seat of Maryland government, stood at the center of the state's planning for the War of 1812, both locally and in coordination with President Madison's administration in Washington, D.C. Near constant fear of British invasion led Governor Levin Winder (1757-1819) to order the removal of the state's historical records from the State House for relocation to various sites from 1813 to 1815. Throughout the war, Major William Barney, son of Commodore Joshua Barney, used the State House dome as a lookout to monitor the movement of British ships coming up the Chesapeake Bay.