44 Facts About Dolley Madison

Dolley Todd Madison was the wife of James Madison, the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817.

Dolley Madison was noted for holding Washington social functions in which she invited members of both political parties, essentially spearheading the concept of bipartisan cooperation.

Dolley Madison's parents had married in 1761, uniting two prominent Virginian families.

Little is known about the family's life before 1793, when Dolley Madison was 25, because few documents have survived; Dolley Madison's earliest known letter dates to 1783.

Dolley Madison would become a fervent member of the faith.

Dolley Madison would later downplay her North Carolina birth, claiming herself to be a Virginian born when visiting an uncle in North Carolina.

Dolley Madison grew up on the farm, working the land with the rest of her family.

Dolley Madison was given a strict Quaker upbringing and education, which Cote describes her as "chafing" under.

Dolley Madison grew close to her extended family in the area.

Dolley Madison had three younger sisters and four brothers, two of whom were younger.

Dolley Madison's father did not participate in the American Revolutionary War, as his faith practiced pacifism, and Allgor writes that Madison was seemingly little affected by it.

When Dolley Madison was 15, Payne moved his family to Philadelphia, at the time the second largest American city.

Dolley Madison met Eliza Collins and Dorothea Abrahams in Philadelphia, with whom she became lifelong friends.

Dolley Madison grew into a young woman who Cote writes was described "as one of the fairest of the fair".

Dolley Madison was hit particularly hard, losing her husband, son William, mother-in-law, and father-in-law.

Aaron Burr, who had once stayed at the boarding house of Dolley Madison's mother, assisted her in these efforts, offering legal advice.

In 1797, after eight years in the House of Representatives, James Dolley Madison retired from politics.

Dolley Madison returned with his family to Montpelier, the Madison family plantation in Orange County, Virginia.

When Thomas Jefferson was elected as the third president of the United States in 1800, he asked James Dolley Madison to serve as his secretary of state.

Dolley Madison worked with the architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe to furnish the White House, the first official residence built for the president of the United States.

Dolley Madison sometimes served as widower Jefferson's hostess for official ceremonial functions.

Dolley Madison would become a crucial part of the Washington social circle, befriending the wives of numerous diplomats like Sarah Martinez de Yrujo, wife of the ambassador of Spain, and Marie-Angelique Turreau, the wife of the French ambassador.

Dolley Madison's charm precipitated a diplomatic crisis, called the Merry Affair, after Jefferson escorted Madison to the dining room instead of the wife of Anthony Merry, English diplomat to the US, in a major faux pas.

Dolley Madison was elected the fourth President of the United States, serving two terms from 1809 to 1817, and Madison became the official White House hostess.

Dolley Madison had often been the unofficial hostess at the White House during Jefferson's presidency.

Dolley Madison helped to define the official functions, decorated the Executive Mansion, and welcomed visitors in her drawing room.

Dolley Madison was renowned for her social graces and hospitality, and contributed to her husband's popularity as president.

Dolley Madison was the only First Lady given an honorary seat on the floor of Congress, and the first American to respond to a telegraph message.

Dolley Madison was moved to this because Mr Barker started to roll it up for greater convenience for carrying.

Dolley Madison hurried away in her waiting carriage, along with other families fleeing the city.

Congress authorized $55,000 as payment for editing and publishing seven volumes of the Dolley Madison papers, including his unique notes on the 1787 convention.

Dolley Madison took Paul Jennings with her as a butler, and he was forced to leave his wife and children in Virginia.

Dolley Madison tried to raise money by selling the rest of the president's papers, but was unable to find a buyer.

Dolley Madison instead sold him to an insurance agent for $200 in 1846.

Dolley Madison sold Montpelier, its remaining enslaved people, and the furnishings to pay off outstanding debts.

In 1845, Dolley Madison was baptized into St John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square in Washington, DC.

On February 28,1844, Dolley Madison was with President John Tyler while aboard the USS Princeton when a "Peacemaker" cannon exploded in the process of being fired.

Dolley Madison was photographed on at least two occasions, making her the earliest First Lady to have a surviving photograph, with four daguerreotypes known to survive as of 2021.

Dolley Madison died at her home in Washington in 1849, at the age of 81.

Dolley Madison was first buried in the Congressional Cemetery, Washington, DC, but later was re-interred at Montpelier next to her husband.

Dolley Madison was buried in an air-tight Fisk metallic burial case with a glass window plate for viewing the face of the deceased.

Dolley Madison was a member of the inaugural class of Virginia Women in History in 2000.

Dolley Madison was referred to as "Mistress Dolly" in an essay from Munsey's Magazine in 1896.

Consistently, Dolley Madison has ranked among the six-most highly regarded first ladies in these surveys.