Dolley Payne Todd Madison
1809-1817

Dolley Payne was born on May 20, 1768 to John and Mary Payne.

They were Quakers and lived a disciplined life. The Quakers always dressed in black and gray clothing that was very plain.

Dolley's father freed his slaves in 1783. After he sold the slaves they moved to Philadelphia.

In 1789, Dolley married John Todd Jr. John was a lawyer.

They had two children.

Mr. Todd and one of the children died of yellow fever.

In 1794, James Madison started courting Dolley Todd.

The were married on September 15, 1794. Since she married an Episcopalian, the Quakers removed her from the church.

James Madison became Secretary of State and he and Dolley moved to Washington, D.C.

Dolley gave elegant parties and she was called the "Queen of Washington City." She was also referred to as "Lady Presidentess.

Mrs. Madison had a green parrot as a pet while she was First Lady.

When James became president, Dolley was called "Lady President."

When the British were about to invade Washington in the War of 1812, President Madison told his wife to flee. Before she left the White House she took time to pack many of the country's valuables including a famous painting of Washington and the Declaration of Independence.

James Madison died in 1836.

Later Dolley was forced to sell their home, Montpelier, to pay off her son's gambling debts. She became very poor. The government later gave her a small pension to live on in her later years.

She died on July 12, 1849, at the age of 81.

Visit our site on U.S. Presidents

Books and Websites

Books

Smithsonian Presidents and First Ladiesby James Barber and Amy Pastan.
First Ladies: Women Who Called The White House Home (First Ladies) by Beatrice Gormeley.

Websites

http://www.firstladies.org/ National First Ladies Library
http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/list/058_flal.htmlLibrary of Congress, Images of the First Ladies

Comments and/or corrections should be sent to Jim at jim@anewadventure.org.