Dolley Madison

Dolley Madison is best known as the wife of the 4^th President of the United States, James Madison, who served from 1809 to 1817.

In 1790, Dolley married John Todd, a Quaker lawyer in Philadelphia. The couple had two sons, John Payne and William Temple.

In August 1793, a yellow fever epidemic broke out in Philadelphia. More than 4,000 people died over the spring and summer months. By mid-September, thousands had fled the city. Dolley’s husband John and son William died of yellow fever on the same day. She was a widow at the age of 25, with her young son Payne to support.

It was not long before she met the man who would become her second husband. James Madison was a delegate to the Continental Congress, which met in Philadelphia. In 1794, Madison asked his friend Aaron Burr to introduce him to Dolley, who was well known and liked in the city’s social circles. Madison was 43, a lifelong bachelor 17 years older than Dolley. Several months later, Dolley accepted his proposal of marriage. They were married on September 15, 1794, and remained in Philadelphia for the next three years. Since James Madison was not a Quaker, Dolley had to relinquish her religious affiliation in order to marry him.

Dolley Madison made her presence felt in Washington. Since President Thomas Jefferson was a widower, he frequently called on the smart and vivacious Dolley to serve as his First Lady at official functions. James Madison was a long time friend of Jefferson's and his Secretary of State. Dolley also contributed to the development and decoration of the White House, the First official presidential residence in the new United States.

In 1808, the Democratic-Republican caucus nominated James Madison to succeed Jefferson. He won two terms in office, serving from 1809 to 1817. Dolley’s weekly gatherings contributed to her husband’s popularity as president and provided a social setting for politicking.

An important event in the building of Dolley’s character occurred during the War of 1812. As the British army neared Washington in 1814, Dolley Madison ordered the White House staff to save a portrait of George Washington from the flames. Dolley Madison fled the city, crossing the Potomac into Virginia. A few days later, she returned to the city, where she continued to host parties, maintaining the social energy of the badly damaged capital.

In 1817, James Madison retired from public life, and he and Dolley returned to the Montpelier plantation in Virginia. They remained in Virginia until James Madison’s death on June 28, 1836.

Dolley’s financial situation had been weakened by the exploits of her son, Payne Todd. In 1830, Todd went to debtors’ prison in Philadelphia. The Madisons sold land and mortgaged half of the Montpelier plantation to pay his debts.

After James Madison’s death, Dolley spent the year organizing and copying her husband’s papers. Congress authorized $55,000 as payment for editing and publishing seven volumes of the Madison papers. Dolley’s son and her sister Anna stayed with her during this time.

In the fall of 1837, Dolley Madison returned to Washington, moving into a house on Lafayette Square. She left Todd in charge of Montpelier, but it quickly became apparent that his alcoholism made him unable to maintain the plantation. Dolley first attempted to sell the remainder of James Madison’s papers to help support her son. Unable to find a buyer, she sold Montpelier and its remaining slaves.

Dolley Madison died at her home in Washington in 1849. She was 81. Initially buried at the Congressional Cemetery, she was later re-interred at Montpelier, where she lies next to her husband.