Dolley Madison

@Miscellaneous, Life Achievements and Facts

Dolley Madison was the wife of James Madison, the President of the United States from 1809 to 1817.

May 20, 1768

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Biography

Personal Details

  • Birthday: May 20, 1768
  • Died on: July 12, 1849
  • Nationality: American
  • Famous: Humanitarian, Democrats, Miscellaneous, First Ladies
  • Ideologies: Democrats
  • Nick names: Dolly
  • Spouses: James Madison 1794-1836, John Todd 1790-1793

Dolley Madison born at

Guilford County

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Birth Place

She first went into the wedlock with John Todd, a lawyer by profession belonging to the Quaker faith, in January 1790 in Philadelphia. The couple was blessed with two sons, John Payne and William Temple.

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Personal Life

Tragedy struck her life when yellow fever epidemic broke out in Philadelphia in 1793 - that took more than 5000 lives - killed her husband and younger son.

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Personal Life

Distraught by the incident which had left her a helpless widow at the age of twenty-five with a son to support, she took to residing at a rooming house where Aaron Burr, a friend and fellow student of James Madison resided.

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Personal Life

Dolley Madison was born as Dolley Payne to John Payne Jr and Mary Coles Payne in New Garden, North Carolina. While her mother was a Quaker, her father was a non-Quaker. However, young Payne was raised in the Quaker faith.

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Childhood & Early Life

One of the eight children born to the couple, she spent most of her childhood in Virginia, near her mother’s family where the couple along with their children shifted when she was merely a year old. She spent her growing years at the comfort of her parents’ plantation in rural eastern Virginia.

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Childhood & Early Life

Her father owned slaves, which was against the Quaker faith which he had eventually adopted. As such, following the American Revolutionary War in 1783, he unfettered all his slaves.

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Childhood & Early Life

The family relocated to Philadelphia where her father started off a business, which eventually failed. Despite being raised in a strict disciplinarian society, she had a bustling and happy personality with a warm heart.

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Childhood & Early Life

She faced tragedy early in life, with the death of her first husband and second child in 1793. However, she did not let the emotional turmoil disrupt her usual happy personality and as such became famous in Philadelphia as a young, attractive and charming widow.

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Later Life

No sooner she caught the attention of Congressman, James Madison, who was bowled over her charming self and proposed marriage to her. The two eventually tied the knot in 1794. The marriage led her to give up on her Quaker faith as he was a non-Quaker and belonged to the Episcopalian background.

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Later Life

Post marriage, Madison retired from politics in 1797 after eight years of being in the House of Representatives. However, the hiatus taken from politics did not last long as in 1800, after the appointment of Thomas Jefferson as the third President of the United States, he was called upon to chair the position of Secretary of State under latter’s presidency.

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Later Life

The family relocated to Washington, where her husband served as the Secretary of State and she served as the de facto hostess at state dinners. Since Jefferson was a widower, she served as his First Lady in official functions during his Presidency.

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Later Life

Additionally, she contributed in the beautification and development of the white House, the official residence of the United States’ President. She worked closely with architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe in the process.

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Later Life

She was the first ‘First Lady’ to establish the idea that a First Lady should serve as the mother of the nation.

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Trivia