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Title
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Madison, Dolley (1768-1849)
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Madison, Dolley Todd (1768-1849)
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Payne, Dolley (1768-1849)
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birthday
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1768-05-20
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Birthplace
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New Garden, NC
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Death Date
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1849-07-12
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Biographical Text
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Dolley Madison was First Lady of the United States from 1809 to 1817 during the presidency of her husband James Madison. Her parents, Mary Coles and John Payne Jr., belonged to wealthy Virginian families, though multiple failed business endeavors led the family to face financial hardship while Madison was a teenager. For much of her early life, Madison lived in Philadelphia. Here she would marry James Madison, following him to Washington when he was appointed to be Thomas Jefferson’s secretary of state in 1800. Throughout James Madison’s career as both secretary of state and president, Dolley Madison took on a prominent social role, taking on the title “official White House hostess.” Madison’s diplomatic skills allowed for the creation of bipartisan social functions, as meetings between parties typically resulted in violence prior to that point. She also served as hostess for most social events and helped furnish the White House. Her contributions earned her an honorary seat in Congress, a role which no other First Lady has held. She was credited with saving a copy of the Lansdowne portrait of George Washington during the 1814 burning of Washington, though it was later revealed that she had instructed enslaved servant Paul Jennings to retrieve it. After James Madison’s presidential term ended in 1817, the couple moved to Montpelier, though Madison would return to Washington as a widower in 1837.
Madison was married to lawyer John Todd from 1790 until his death in 1793. The two were parents to sons John Payne and William Temple. In 1794, mutual friend Aaron Burr introduced Madison to then-Congress member James Madison, who she married later the same year. After struggling in poverty for nearly a decade due to her son’s neglect of the family plantation, Madison died at age 81.
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Contributor
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Raisch, Elly
