Dolley Madison, wife of fourth U.S. president James Madison, became known throughout the country for her often outlandish fashion statements and her ebullient personality. Interestingly, Dolley began life as a prim and proper Quaker girl in 18th-century rural Virginia. A series of sad events would lead Dolley to reinvent herself and begin fashion trends that would be emulated by American women in the 19th century.
Down on the FarmDolley Payne was born on May 20, 1768, at New Garden Quaker Settlement, North Carolina. Her parents, John and Mary Coles Payne, were visiting friends there at the time of Dolley's arrival. Mr. and Mrs. Payne, who were from Virginia, had eleven children. Dolley was their third child and eldest daughter. (Three of Dolley's siblings died in infancy.) When Dolley was a year old, her family returned to Virginia.
Strict Upbringing
Both Dolley's parents were devout Quakers. Mary Payne was a descendant of the first British Quakers to settle in the New World. John Payne had not been born a Quaker, but he quickly became one when he married his wife. Mr. and Mrs. Payne were clerks of the Cedar House Meeting. The Payne children were raised to follow Society of Friends doctrine to the letter. For example, Dolley and her sisters were forced to wear dull, gray, and shapeless dresses.
Marriage-- Quaker StyleIn 1790, at age 22, Dolley married John Todd, Jr., a successful Quaker lawyer. She really was not too keen on doing so, but she felt that such a marriage would please her father, who had recently been disowned by the Pine Street Meeting for having unpaid debts, which was the ultimate sin for a Quaker to commit. Todd had actually saved the Paynes from financial ruin. By this time, Dolley had experienced city life and was eager to explore the world outside the insular one she had grown up in. Nevertheless, Dolley tried to be a good wife and gave birth to two sons, John Payne Todd and William Temple Todd. Dolley's husband and second son died during a yellow fever outbreak, leaving her a widow at the age of 25.
The Reinvention of the Widow Todd
Following the deaths of John and William Temple Todd, Dolley took some time to reinvent herself. A great beauty with black hair, blue eyes, fair skin, a tall, buxom figure, and a flirtatious personality, Dolley was a popular young lady. Dolley was now living in Philadelphia, which would be where she would meet her second husband, James Madison, the Father of the Constitution. The two met in the spring of 1794. Dolley had begun to stop wearing traditional Quaker garb and was experimenting with "worldly" fashions. She and James married on September 15, 1794. This signified the end of Dolley's relationship with her inherited religion. James was an Episcopalian, and Dolley was expelled from the Society for marrying outside the faith. It was around this time that Dolley began wearing her trademark ostrich-feather turbans. She would don these at parties during her eight years as First Lady (1809-17) and beyond. When Dolley died on July 12, 1849, at the age of 82, she was one of the most fondly remembered First Ladies, and she remains so to this very day.
Source:
Harris, Bill. The First Ladies Fact Book, p. 59-84. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Inc., 2005.
