Madison came to Austin as a
freedman in the early 1860s, and by 1863 had opened a shoemaking business An active Unionist, in 1867 Madison was president of the Austin chapter of the
Union League. He was an active participant in
Reconstruction, and served as an assistant at the Texas Constitutional Convention of 1868–69. In 1870 he served as a captain of an all-black unit in the Sixth Regiment of the
Texas State Guard. == Political positions ==