Читать книгу First Ladies For Dummies - Marcus A. Stadelmann, Marcus A. Stadelmann PhD - Страница 68

Dolley Payne (see Figure 4-4) was born on May 20, 1768, in Guilford County, North Carolina. Her parents, who were devout Quakers, had moved to North Carolina from Virginia to live in a Quaker settlement. They soon returned to Virginia, and Dolley grew up on the family’s plantation. In 1783, her father John Payne freed his enslaved people and sold his planation and Dolley, who was 15 years old, and the family moved to Philadelphia to start a starch business.

Dolley was well educated. She had attended various Quaker schools and had received private tutoring. Her grandmother taught her about the finer things in life, such as fine food and fancy clothing. After her parents’ business failed, the family started to run a boarding house, and Dolley became the cook. In 1790, she abided by her father’s dying wish and married a Quaker lawyer from Philadelphia, John Todd. She was happily married and had two children. However, in 1793, a yellow fever pandemic struck Philadelphia and killed her husband and one of her children. Dolley was now a widow with one young boy. As a widow, however, she inherited her husband’s property and was well off.

Source: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Reproduction number LC-USZ62-68175 (b&w film copy neg.)

FIGURE 4-4: Dolley Payne Todd Madison.

Dolley was a very eligible young widow, and soon several young men pursued her. Her acquaintances included Aaron Burr who had stayed in her family’s boarding house. It was Burr who, instead of pursuing Dolley himself, introduced her to James Madison, who was a member of the House of Representatives and was already known nationwide as one of the founding fathers, having written parts of the Constitution. He was 18 years older than Dolley, but the two hit it off, and James’s close friends, George and Martha Washington, immediately liked her. Dolley was friendly and fashionable and loved music and dancing. In other words, everybody liked her because she was fun to be around.

The two married on September 15, 1794. After James retired from Congress in 1797, the couple moved to Virginia where James owned a large plantation known as Montpelier.