In Montpelier 1817-1837
On April 6, 1817, a month after his retirement from the presidency, Dolley and James Madison returned to the Montpelier plantation in Orange County, Virginia.
In 1830, Dolley Madison's son by her first marriage, Payne Todd, who had never found a career, went to debtors prison in Philadelphia. The Madisons sold land in Kentucky and mortgaged half of the Montpelier plantation to pay his debts.
James Madison died at Montpelier on June 28, 1836. Dolley remained at Montpelier for a year. One of her nieces, Anna Payne, came to live with her, and Todd also came for a lengthy stay. During this time, Dolley Madison organized and copied her husband's papers. Congress authorized $55,000 as payment for editing and publishing seven volumes of the Madison papers, including his unique notes on the 1787 convention.
In the fall of 1837, Dolley Madison returned to Washington, charging Todd with the care of the plantation. She moved with her niece Anna Payne into a house located on Lafayette Square. It was bought by her sister Anna and her husband Richard Cutts. Madison took Paul Jennings with her as a butler, and he was forced to leave his family in Virginia.
Read more about this topic: Dolley Madison