In this letter, dated August 23, 1814, Dolley Madison writes her sister Lucy Todd from the White House describing her preparations to flee Washington, D.C., during the War of 1812. The original manuscript letter is lost, but Madison sent this transcript of it to her biographer, Margaret Bayard Smith, in 1836. Madison uses “XXX” to denote ellipses.
In this letter to her son, John Payne Todd, dated July 17, 1845, Dolley Madison expresses frustration that her slave Paul Jennings, whom she had hired out to President James K. Polk, had taken leave without returning on time.
In her will, dated February 1, 1841, Dolley Madison arranges for the disbursement of her property among family and friends.
In this letter to Robert G. L. De Peyster, dated February 11, 1848, Dolley Madison defends her role in saving Gilbert Stuart’s 1796 portrait of George Washington from British troops approaching the White House in 1814.
