3 Dolly Madison THOUGH Dolly Madison was born in North Carolina, one always thinks of her as a true Virginian. Her father, John Payne, and her mother were strict Quakers, and yet the little maid was compelled to wear "a white linen mask to keep every ray of sunshine from her complexion, a sun-bonnet sewed on her head every morning by her careful mother, and long gloves covering the hands and arms. Possibly, to this unrelenting care was due the exquisite complexion which was afterward Dolly Madison's greatest beauty, but one would hate to see it proved, lest the city streets be filled with ladies veiled as closely as any Moslem. Dolly Madison Dolly Madison When Dolly was eighteen, the family moved to Philadelphia amid incredible difficulties. A journey which is now a matter of a few hours in a Pullman car was then made by carriage over wellnigh impassable roads. Sometimes, lost in a trackless morass, horses would flounder hopelessly in the mud and travellers be obliged to wait until other teams came to their rescue. Once in Philadelphia, Miss Payne's black hair, blue eyes, rose-leaf complexion, and winning ways played havoc with the hearts of susceptible swains. At twentytwo, she married John Todd, a young lawyer who had been of great assistance to her father in his financial difficulties. According to some accounts, the marriage was not one of love on her part, though unquestionably so upon his. Yet she made him a devoted wife and bore him two children. Three Three years after |