Dorothea Dandridge Payne Todd "Dolley" Madison was born (May 20, 1768 – July 12, 1849) was the wife of President James Madison, who served from 1809 until 1817. She also occasionally acted as what is now described as First Lady of the United States during the administration of Thomas Jefferson, fulfilling the ceremonial functions more usually associated with the President's wife, since Jefferson was a widower. It is disputed as to whether her true name is Dorothea or Dorothy, and her name has been widely misspelled as "Dolly".

She was born in New Garden, a Quaker community located in the area now known as Guilford County, North Carolina, on May 20, 1768. Her father was John Payne, a not-too-successful farmer and erstwhile starch manufacturer, and her mother was Mary Coles.http://www.whosyomama.com/gabroaddrick3/4/26495.htm Other accounts suggest she was born in the village of Payne's Tavern in Person County, North Carolina. Dolley Madison was born while her parents were in North Carolina, visiting her maternal grandparents. She had four brothers and three younger sisters. The Payne family lived in Hanover County, Virginia, where they were planters.

Dolley Madison was influenced by momentous events during her childhood, including the Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, Declaration of Independence, and battle at Valley Forge. In July 1783, John Payne freed his slaves and moved the family to Philadelphia to allow better educational opportunities for the children and to be more closely associated with their Quaker roots. Dolley spent her teenage years in Philadelphia, and attended Salem Academy in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

On January 7, 1790, in Philadelphia, she married John Todd, Jr. (1764-1793), a lawyer who was instrumental in keeping her father out of bankruptcy and who found Mary Payne a position as the manager of a boarding house. The couple had two sons, John Payne (February 29, 1792-1852) and William Temple (b./d. 1793). In 1793, a yellow fever epidemic broke out in Philadelphia. Her husband removed Dolley and John Payne out of the city to safety, while he returned to attend to the sick including his parents. John Todd, Jr. died on October 24, 1793 from yellow fever, and their youngest son William Temple also died in 1793 from yellow fever. Dolley and her other son, John Payne, were both also afflicted with yellow fever, but recovered.

In 1794, after returning to Philadelphia, her friend Aaron Burr, who was a frequent guest at the boarding house managed by Mary Payne, introduced her to James Madison. On September 15, 1794, Dolley Todd married James Madison, who was seventeen years older. The location of the wedding was a Virginia plantation owned by the bride's brother-in-law George Steptoe Washington, a nephew of the first president of the United States. The Madisons had no children but raised Dolley's son from her first marriage, John Payne Todd, whom they called Payne. Unfortunately, the child grew into a profligate young man addicted to gambling, a habit that resulted in his mother's eventual impoverishment.

During her husband's political life, Dolley Madison was noted as a gracious hostess, whose sassy, ebullient personality, love of feathered turbans, and passion for snuff (tobacco) seemed at odds with her Quaker upbringing. However, probably her most lasting achievement was her rescue of valuable treasures, including state papers and a Gilbert Stuart painting of President George Washington, from the White House before it was burned by the British army in 1814. She could not simply pull it off the wall; the frame was screwed onto the wall and she had a caretaker cut the painting out of the frame.

According to Margaret Truman's book, "First Ladies," Dolley Madison was enraged at how American soldiers fled rather than fought the oncoming British, and even slept with a sabre near her bedside should a British soldier show up in the middle of the night.

Dolley Madison remained a popular figure in Washington, D.C. long after her husband's presidency ended, and was the only private citizen (much less a woman) to be allowed to sit in on Congress, on the congressional floor, while it was in session.

Dolley died at the age of 81.

In 1999 a commemorative silver dollar was issued by the United States Mint. The First Spouse Program under the Presidential $1 Coin Act authorizes the United States Mint to issue 1/2 ounce $10 gold coins to honor the first spouses of the United States. Dolley Madison's coin will be released sometime in 2007.

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*The Dolley Madison Project - The life, legacy, and letters of Dolley Payne Madison *The Dolley Madison Digital Edition - The online correspondence of Dolley Payne Madison *Dolley Madison Letters - Digitized collection of letters from Dolley Madison - no login required * Allgor, Catherine, Parlor Politics: In Which the Ladies of Washington Help Build a City and a Government. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2000. * Allgor, Catherine, A Perfect Union: Dolley Madison and the Creation of the American Nation. New York: Henry Holt, 2005. * Arnett, Ethel Stephens, Mrs. James Madison; the incomparable Dolley. Greensboro, N.C.: Piedmont Press, 1972. * Zall, Paul M, Dolley Madison. Huntington, NY: Nova History Publications, 2001.