Editing Dolley Madison (section)

==Early life and first marriage (1768–1793)==
Madison was born as Dolley Payne on May 20, 1768,{{Efn|Madison later gave her birth date as 1771 or 1772, a misstatement that Côté describes as confusing biographers for "nearly a century."{{Sfn|Côté|2005|p=36}}}} at Paines Tavern in Person County, [[Province of North Carolina|North Carolina]] to Mary Coles and John Payne Jr.<ref name="virginia1">[http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/madison/overview/chronology.html "Chronology and Dolley Madison"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620021636/http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/madison/overview/chronology.html|date=June 20, 2010}}, ''The Dolley Madison Project,'' University of Virginia Digital History</ref>{{Sfn|Allgor|2006|pp=15–17}} and lived with her family in a log cabin in New Garden, [[Guilford County, North Carolina|{{Nowrap|Guilford County}}]] (present-day [[Greensboro, North Carolina|Greensboro]]), North Carolina. Her parents had married in 1761,{{Sfn|Allgor|2006|pp=15–17, 21}} uniting two prominent [[Colony of Virginia|Virginian]] families.{{Sfn|Côté|2005|p=20}} Little is known about the family's life before 1793, when Madison was 25, because few documents have survived; Madison's earliest known letter dates to 1783.{{Sfn|Côté|2005|p=|pp=53, 56}} Mary Coles was from a [[Quakers|Quaker]] family and two years after their marriage the couple applied for membership in the Cedar Creek [[Monthly meeting|meeting]]. The application was considered for a very lengthy time before they were admitted in 1765.{{Sfn|Côté|2005|p=30}}{{Sfn|Allgor|2006|pp=15–17, 21}} He would become a fervent member of the faith. The family had moved to New Garden, a Quaker community, in 1765. Madison was the family's third child and first daughter.{{Sfn|Allgor|2006|pp=15–17, 21}} The family had an enslaved [[nursemaid]].{{Sfn|Côté|2005|p=35}}

In early 1769,{{Sfn|Côté|2005|p=48}} the Paynes returned to Virginia for reasons that are unclear.<ref name="virginia1"/> Historians [[Catherine Allgor]] and [[Richard N. Côté]] have speculated in their biographical works on her that the family may have wanted to return to their extended family, become uncomfortable with the religion, faced [[Regulator Movement|local opposition]], or failed at farming or business.{{Sfn|Allgor|2006|pp=17–18}}{{Sfn|Côté|2005|p=38}} Madison would later downplay her North Carolina birth, claiming herself to be a Virginian born when visiting an uncle in North Carolina. The family returned to Cedar Creek, where within four years they had moved at least twice.{{Sfn|Allgor|2006|pp=17–18}} They eventually settled on a {{convert|176|acre|ha|adj=on}} farm several miles outside of [[Scotchtown (plantation)|Scotchtown]]. Madison grew up on the farm, working the land with the rest of her family. She was given a strict Quaker upbringing and education, which Côté describes her as "chafing" under.{{Sfn|Côté|2005|p=|pp=48–51}}

Madison grew close to her extended family in the area. She had three younger sisters (Lucy, Anna, and Mary) and four brothers (Walter, William Temple, Isaac, and John), two of whom were younger.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=4|title=Dolley Madison Biography|access-date=October 7, 2021|website=National First Ladies' Library|archive-date=May 9, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120509065835/http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=4|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Sfn|Allgor|2006|pp=17–18}} Her father did not participate in the [[American Revolutionary War]], as his faith practiced pacifism, and Allgor writes that Madison was seemingly little affected by it.{{Sfn|Allgor|2006|pp=17–18}} By 1783 John Payne had [[emancipate]]d his enslaved people,<ref name="virginia1" /> as did numerous slaveholders in the Upper South.<ref name="Kolchin (1993), p. 81">{{cite book |first=Peter |last=Kolchin |title=American Slavery, 1619–1877 |location=New York |publisher=Hill and Wang |year=1993 |page=81 |isbn=0-8090-2568-X }}</ref> Payne, as a Quaker, had long encouraged [[manumission]],<ref name="Kolchin (1993), p. 81" /> but the act was not legal in Virginia until 1782.{{Sfn|Allgor|2006|pp=17–18}}

When Madison was 15, Payne moved his family to [[Philadelphia]], at the time the second largest American city. They lived at 57 North Third Street,{{Sfn|Allgor|2006|pp=19&ndash;20}} and transferred to the local Northern District Meeting.{{Sfn|Côté|2005|p=69|pp=}} While living there, Madison often visited [[Haddonfield, New Jersey]], where many Quakers lived. She also met Eliza Collins and [[Dorothea Abrahams]]<ref>''Research Project on Dorothea Abrahams'', Julia A. Powers, [[Armstrong State University]] (1984)</ref> in Philadelphia, with whom she became lifelong friends. During her early years, Payne likely received formal education, though it is not known what this was. Allgor concludes that it was likely better than most Americans at the time,{{Sfn|Allgor|2006|pp=19&ndash;20}} while Côté notes that it was probably "no more than a basic" one.{{Sfn|Côté|2005|p=57|pp=}} Madison grew into a young woman who Côté writes was described "as one of the fairest of the fair".{{Sfn|Côté|2005|p=81|pp=}}

Upon the family's move to Philadelphia, John had attempted to build a career as a starch manufacturer, but the business failed in 1789. This was seen as a "weakness" at his Quaker meetings, for which he was expelled. He was devastated by this failure and died on October 24, 1792. Mary Payne initially made ends meet by opening her home as a boardinghouse beginning in 1791. Before his death, John had arranged Madison's marriage to John Todd, a Philadelphia lawyer. According to Allgor, Madison had rejected marriage with Todd previously and John's marriage arrangement was "manipulation".{{Sfn|Allgor|2006|pp=19&ndash;23}} Conversely, Côté considers their marriage to have been "for love, not just duty".{{Sfn|Côté|2005|p=85|pp=}} They were married on January 7, 1790, at a Quaker meeting house. Madison's friend Eliza Collins was her [[bridesmaid]]. The couple moved several blocks away into a high-quality neighborhood.{{Sfn|Allgor|2006|pp=19&ndash;23}}

===Marriage and family===
[[File:Dooley Madison 1794.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Miniature of Dolley in 1794 by James Peale]]
 
Madison and Todd had two sons, [[John Payne Todd|John Payne]] (called Payne, born February 29, 1792) and William Temple (born July 4, 1793). According to Allgor, their marriage grew into a "a loving happy partnership."{{Sfn|Allgor|2006|pp=19&ndash;23}}{{sfn|Witteman|2003|p=11}} Madison's sister Anna Payne moved in with them.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Dolley Madison Project : Overview|url=http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/madison/overview/events.html|access-date=2021-10-21|website=www2.vcdh.virginia.edu}}</ref>

In August 1793, a [[1793 Philadelphia yellow fever epidemic|yellow fever epidemic broke out in Philadelphia]], killing 5,019 people in four months.{{sfn|Witteman|2003|p=12}} Madison was hit particularly hard, losing her husband, son William, mother-in-law, and father-in-law.<ref name="Life Story">{{cite web|title=Life Story: Dolley Madison, 1768-1849|url=https://www.nyhistory.org/womens-history/education/curriculum/saving-washington/module-1-unofficial-politician/life-stories/dolley-madison|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801005552/https://www.nyhistory.org/womens-history/education/curriculum/saving-washington/module-1-unofficial-politician/life-stories/dolley-madison|archive-date=August 1, 2018|access-date=July 31, 2018|website=Women and the American Story: A Curriculum Guide|publisher=New York Historical Society}}</ref> Two of her older brothers died just two years later, and she "never fully recovered" from the emotional toll of these deaths.{{Sfn|Côté|2005|p=101|pp=}} 

While undergoing the loss of much of her family, she also had to take care of her surviving son without financial support. Her husband had left her money in his will, but the executor, her brother-in-law, withheld the funds, and she sued him for what she was owed.<ref name="Life Story" /> [[Aaron Burr]], who had once stayed at the boarding house of Madison's mother, assisted her in these efforts, offering legal advice. In a will, written around that time, Burr was named the guardian of Madison's only surviving child.{{Sfn|Côté|2005|p=106|pp=}}