Converted to EAD3 : Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Version 3 : Release: 1.1.1 : Release Date: 2019-12-16. Validating against latest version of schema.
Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm80031005
Collection material in English
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
The papers of Dolley Madison, wife of President James Madison and prominent Washington, D.C., hostess, were transferred to the Library of Congress from the Smithsonian Institution in 1866. Additions to the papers were received by gift, purchase, and transfer, 1909-2004.
The papers of Dolley Madison were arranged and described in 1981. The collection was expanded and revised in 2005.
A partial index to the original material is available in the Manuscript Division Reading Room.
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Dolley Madison is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
The papers of Dolley Madison are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.
A microfilm edition of part of these papers is available on four reels. Consult reference staff in the Manuscript Division concerning availability for purchase or interlibrary loan. To promote preservation of the originals, researchers are required to consult the microfilm edition as available.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, Dolley Madison Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of Dolley Payne Todd Madison (1768-1849) date from 1794 to 1852, although the bulk of the material falls in the period after the death of her husband, James Madison, in 1836. The papers consist primarily of correspondence but also include financial papers, invitations, visiting cards, and miscellaneous material. The collection is organized in two segments of original and reproduced items, with a chronological arrangement for each segment.
The correspondence is concerned mainly with family matters including the settlement of Dolley Madison’s estate as well as those of William Madison and James Madison. The disposition of her estate dominates the correspondence after 1849, particularly in letters between trustees John Young Mason and Richard Smith. Family members who figure prominently as correspondents include John Payne Todd, surviving son of Dolley Payne and John Todd (1763-1793), her nieces Anna Payne Causten and Rebecca Todd, and her nephews R. D. Cutts and Samuel Poultney Todd.
Other correspondence reflects the extent of Dolley Madison's personal friendships and the use of her influence and contacts to benefit others. Correspondents include Anthony Morris (1766-1860), a Philadelphia merchant and unofficial United States representative to Spain from 1810 to 1814, and his daughter, Phoebe; James Laurie of the American Colonization Society; Henry W. Moncure, a Richmond merchant who eventually bought Montpelier from Madison to ease her financial crisis; and Elizabeth Collins Lee, close friend and confidante.
Also in the collection are such items as inventories of household furnishings at Montpelier and in Washington, accounts with a grocer, and lists of visitors and visits returned by Mrs. Madison. Additional material, including a holograph letter to Dolley Madison from Henry Clay, 1836, regarding the manuscript of James Madison’s
This collection is arranged alphabetically by type of material.
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm80031005
Available on microfilm. Shelf no. 18,940