Dolley Madison

Source

• Born: 20 May 1768
• Birthplace: Piedmont, North Carolina
• Died: 12 July 1849
• Best Known As: Socialite First Lady of the United States, 1809-1817

Dolley Madison was the wife of James Madison, the fourth president of the United States. She is known as the woman who turned the new nation's capital at Washington, D. C. from a dull swamp into a high-society social scene. Aaron Burr introduced the young widow to Madison, who was 17 years her senior, and Dolley married Madison in 1794. During the presidency of the widowed Thomas Jefferson, Dolley served as the official White House hostess while her husband served as Secretary of State. Madison won the presidency in 1808 and Dolley created the role of First Lady as social hostess and trend-setter, furnishing the president's quarters for the first time and hosting weekly parties of politicians and citizens. In 1814 British soldiers invaded Washington D. C. and overran the capital while President Madison was out of town. Before the soldiers burned the president's house, Dolley was able to salvage wagonloads of valuables, including Gilbert Stuart's now-famous portrait of George Washington; her courage under fire made her a national hero. When Madison left office the couple retired to Montpelier, their plantation in Virginia. After Madison's death in 1836, Dolley moved back to Washington and recaptured her role as the premier Washington hostess.

• Born: May 20, 1768, Guilford County, N.C.
• Wife of James Madison, 4th President
• Died: July 12, 1849, Washington, D.C.

Born Dorothea Payne, Dolley (also spelled Dolly) Madison grew up on a plantation in Virginia. In 1783 her father freed his slaves, sold his plantation, and started a factory in Philadelphia. Dolley Payne was married to John Todd, a Philadelphia lawyer, in 1789. Four years later Todd and their newborn son died of yellow fever. Dolley and her oldest son survived.

Dolley remained in Philadelphia. After a four-month courtship, she married James Madison in 1794. He was 17 years older than his bride, but they maintained a close and loving relationship for 42 years. While James Madison was shy and industrious, Dolley was outgoing and loved to entertain. She was noted for her beautiful gowns and elaborate makeup and hairstyling.

When Thomas Jefferson appointed Madison his secretary of state in 1801, the couple moved from Madison's Virginia plantation to Washington, D.C., where Dolley soon became the center of the Jefferson administration's social life. Both Jefferson and Aaron Burr were widowers, and Dolley was asked, as the wife of the senior department secretary, to preside over Presidential dinners and receptions. Her friendship with President Jefferson made her an unofficial First Lady in his administration. In 1809, when her husband became President, Dolley Madison simply continued with her duties as Washington's hostess.

Dolley Madison insisted on formal etiquette at all state functions. Beginning in May 1809 she held an informal Wednesday evening “salon” that was open not only to Washington officials but also to the general public. In August 1814, during the War of 1812, British troops captured the capital and burned many of its buildings. Dolley Madison managed to safeguard historical paintings, the White House silver, velvet curtains, a clock, and important state papers from the White House before fleeing to Virginia. After the British withdrew, the Madisons returned to Washington, where they lived in the Octagon House, which was loaned to them by the French government, until the White House could be rebuilt.

After Madison's retirement from the Presidency, the couple lived for 20 years at their plantation, Montpelier. After her husband's death in 1836, Dolley returned to Washington, where she lived for 13 years until her death.

See also First Lady; Madison, James

Sources

• Elizabeth L. Dean, Dolly Madison: The Nation's Hostess (Boston: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1928)

Madison, Dolley, 1768–1849, wife of President James Madison, b. Guilford co., N.C. Born Dolley Payne of Quaker parents, she was brought up in simplicity and was married (1790) to a Quaker, John Todd, who died in the yellow fever epidemic of 1793. She left the Friends to marry Madison in 1794. In later years as official White House hostess for President Jefferson (who was a widower) and for her husband, both in the White House and at Montpelier, she was noted for the magnificence of her entertaining as well as for charm, tact, and grace.

Bibliography

See her memoirs and letters (1886, repr. 1971); biographies by E. S. Arnett (1972) and C. Allgor (2006).

1768–1849.

First Lady of the United States (1809–1817) as the wife of President James Madison. She earlier served as White House hostess for the widowed Thomas Jefferson. During the British invasion of Washington, D.C. (1814), she carried government papers and a portrait of George Washington to safety.

The wife of President James Madison. Dolley Madison was known for her wit and her grace as a hostess. She is also remembered for her calmness in the face of the British invasion of Washington, D.C., in the War of 1812. She saved many documents stored in the White House, along with a portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart.

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