By Ella Kent Barnard Philadelphia: FERRIS & LEACH 29 SOUTH SEVENTH ST. 1909 Dedicated to Annie Matthews Kent...

There is little time in this busy world of ours for reading,—little, indeed, for thinking;—and there are already many books; but perhaps these few additional pages relating to Dolly Madison, who was loved and honored during so many years by our people, may be not altogether amiss. During eleven administrations she was the intimate friend of our presidents and their families. What a rare privilege was hers—to be at home in the families of Washington, of Jefferson, of Madison, of Monroe; to know i

The girlhood of Dorothy Payne was spent on a plantation in Hanover county, Virginia. Very quiet and uneventful were the years whose "days were full of happiness," the quiet happiness of country life. For fifteen years where the distant echoes of the busy world, or even the great Revolutionary struggles that encompassed them round about, scarce caused a ripple on the calm surface of their daily life. She was born, however, in North Carolina, that happy region where "every one does what seems best

Three years after their removal to Philadelphia a certificate is issued transferring the membership of "John Payne and Mary, his wife, and their children, William Temple, Dorothy, Isaac, Lucy, Anne, Mary, John and Philadelphia to Pine Street Monthly Meeting." The Paynes settled in what was then the northern part of Philadelphia, and at first John Payne believed his means ample to live in the same hospitable way that had been his wont on the old Virginia plantation, but he soon found his expenses

When Jefferson became President, in 1801, Madison was made Secretary of State. The capital had been moved the year before to Washington, and the Madisons settled on F street, between 13th and 14th. From this time Dolly's history is well known. She became at once the center of the social life of the capital; all eyes were turned her way, and she soon won the hearts of the people. Mary Payne, Dolly's younger sister, was married in 1800 to Congressman J. G. Jackson, of Virginia, and Anna Payne was

Harriet Martineau has given us a pleasant picture of Montpellier, and life there in 1835. "It was a sweet day of early spring. The patches of snow that were left under the fences and on the rising grounds were melting fast. The road was one continued slough up to the very portico of the house. The dwelling stands on a gentle eminence, and is neat and even handsome in exterior, with a flight of steps leading up to the portico. A lawn and wood which must be pleasant in the summer stretches behind,