Dolley Madison

By: Adison Brabazon

Dolley Madison

What is the first thing you think about when you hear the name Dolley Madison? Perhaps you think of her husband James Madison, our 4^th president. Or the time she saved George Washington’s painting from the White House. You may even think about the time that she escaped with President Tyler from a cannon fire. All these thoughts are good, but when I think of her I think of much, much more. 

Quaker Friends MeetinghouseJohn Tobiason - National Park Service [Public domain] 

Dolley Madison grew up as a Quaker in a house of seven siblings, three sisters and four brothers. (I think that this is incredible, for I can barely handle two siblings.) She was born on May 20^th, 1768. By the time she was seven, her father had failed a company and was banned from all Quaker meetings. I cannot imagine being seven years old and being told I can’t go to church anymore. Getting back on the subject... She eventually married a Quaker and a lawyer named John Todd in 1790. After Todd had passed away, she married James Madison, a non-Quaker and politician. Eventually James passed. In 1845 Dolley joined St. John's Church in Washington D.C. While growing up, she was a Quaker, so she did not believe in slave ownership. James Madison, however, was a slaveowner. Dolley didn’t agree with him 100%, but she still respected his opinions. I admire how she was open to new ideas and new beliefs; she must have been a very faithful person to be able to know what she stood for, and to not judge others for their own beliefs and cultures.

Dolley MadisonGilbert Stuart / Public domainThrough Dolley Madison’s life, she had been on one good rollercoaster ride. Dolley had been married twice and widowed both times. I can’t even imagine the sadness she felt when both her husbands died before her. She and her first husband, John Todd, had two sons, John Payne Todd and William Temple Todd. On the rollercoaster ride, this is all going up, then guess what happens next… You have the fast descent. Yellow fever had broken out in 1793 and killed nearly 5019 people in nearly four months. Dolley, however, was not meant to die. Even though Dolley did not die, family members had, such as her husband, her son William, and her mother and father-in-law. Not to mention, her father had died a year before in 1792. Dolley in mourning for her family members not only needed to support her son, but she also had to go through coverture law and other legal systems that limited women’s rights. This was probably the second hardest time she ever went through. Before she married James (a year after the deaths), she had become in a very low financial state. I admire her for her courage to not give up in this very tight spot, where everything was taken away from her except her son. 

As everyone’s story goes, Dolley then had a very good thing happen, and therefore went up on the rollercoaster of life. Dolley met James Madison through a college friend of James’s, Aaron Burr. They eventually got married in the year of 1794. James was not a Quaker as mentioned, but he was a very good politician. In 1797, James had decided to retire from politics, so he moved his family to his family plantation in Virginia. Low and behold, Thomas Jefferson was elected president in 1800 (eighteen hundred) and asked Madison to be his secretary.  When James took the position going back into politics, he moved his family to Washington D.C. In D.C. Dolley believed that being a good hostess was a must. Dolley’s idea encouraged another move to a bigger house in D.C. With Dolley’s growing popularity, she decorated the White House with Benjamin Latrobe, and she became a very good White House hostess for Jefferson and his guests. Moreover, she was considered a great benefit to have in social affairs. I think that Dolley Madison was a very accomplished person. I strive to be as accomplished as her. 

In 1809 Madison was elected president, and he ended up serving two terms. During this time Dolley was presented with the title of Official White House Hostess. She helped to define all social functions. With this title she also was given the chance to decorate the executive mansion. Personally, I think that she had great taste. She, in the past 17 years, had been known for her hospitality and social graces. As these titles and privileges were earned, she gained more and more popularity. This popularity, in some case, most likely helped Madison be elected twice. After these long eight years as president, James decided it was time to retire for good. I can imagine Dolley’s relief after the stress of two terms in the White House with a really stressful job. So, in April of 1817, James retired and moved back to the plantation in Virginia. After 19 years of retirement, James died. After his funeral Dolley stayed in Virginia for another year. In this year she published and copied James’s papers and then sold them to congress for $55,000. After she left, the Madison Family Plantation was left to her son John Payne Todd. John just happened to be an alcoholic and was unable to manage the plantation correctly, and therefore it failed. As Dolley was living with her sister and brother-in-law, she sold the plantation to pay off Todd’s debts. This is one of the very admirable things that she did, that I admire. 

Madison Family PlantationCarole J. Buckwalter / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) 

In Dolley’s last years, she was in complete poverty. She tried to sell more of James’s notes, but ended up not finding any buyers, when finally in 1848, Congress bought the last of the papers for $22,000. She eventually died comfortably in her home on July 12, 1849 at the age of 81 years old. After her death, in WWII, there was a liberty ship named after her in remembrance, called the “SS Dolley Madison.”

George Washington (Lansdowne portrait)Gilbert Stuart / Public domain In conclusion, Dolley Madison had many good character traits, such as courage, loyalty, faithfulness, and accomplishment. All these traits I strive to earn. She was very accomplished, as in, she could be needed for something and then be able to go and do it. Her courage was found in saving presidents' lives, as in, saving George Washington’s painting and then escaping a cannon fire with President Tyler.  She was also very loyal to her family, as you could probably tell. Her faith is probably the thing that she had her entire life, and she was amazing for having such great faith and such strong opinions.  Dolley is my hero for everything, from saving the presidents to her financial situation, she never gave up. And because of that I would love to be just like her today or tomorrow, or even in years to come.