Daguerreotype of Dolley around 1848 by Matthew Brady.

Madison, in declining fortune, could not afford to free his slaves in his will lest he further impoverish his widow. (A separate note discusses Madison, the Virginia elite, and slavery.) Dolley moved to Washington the year following his death and lived there initially in poverty. Her friends tried to alleviate her financial difficulties. Paul Jennings reports how he and Daniel Webster helped her:

"In the last days of her life, before Congress purchased her husband's papers, she was in a state of absolute poverty, and I think sometimes suffered for the necessaries of life. While I was a servant to Mr. Webster, he often sent me to her with a market-basket full of provisions, and told me whenever I saw anything in the house that I thought she was in need of, to take it to her."

The purchase of her husband's papers by Congress relieved her poverty. She lived in Washington until her death on July 12th, 1849. At her funeral, President Zachary Taylor, Madison's second cousin, paid her tribute as the "First Lady." She was the first Presidential spouse afforded this title.

	Above: Dolley's residence, the Dolley Madison House in Washington D.C. American Memory Collection, Library of Congress.
Dolley's gravesite in the Madison family cemetery at Montpelier: "In Memory Of Dolley Payne, Wife Of James Madison, Born May 20th, 1768, Died July 12th, 1849."

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Gravesite and daguerreotype photos by Mark Sties, Montpelier, National Trust for Historic Preservation.