Her name wasn't Dolly Madison when she was born. It was Dolly Payne. When she was a little girl in Virginia not many people ever heard of her. The Revolutionary War was going on, and nobody had time to pay much attention to children.

But when she grew up she married James Madison, who became the fourth President of the United States. And then everybody who did not know her knew about her. She was famous and beloved all over the country.

So then she was called "Dolly Madison" and as Dolly Madison she has been remembered ever since.

When Dolly was a very little girl, she loved pretty clothes and longed to wear rings and bracelets like other girls, but little Quaker girls couldn't wear jewelry. Grandmother didn't believe it a sin to like pretty things. Once she gave Dolly a pin and a ring. Dolly made a little bag for them which she wore under her dress. But she lost the bag the very next day!

While the menfolk were off fighting the war, the women at home had much to do. Dolly learned to sew, and to knit and to cook, to make candles, to tend the sick. As she grew older, she learned how to act as hostess when her mother was away.

Father, like a good Quaker, believed in freedom for everybody. When the war was over, he freed his slaves and moved to Philadelphia where there were many who shared his views.

At first she was lonely for old friends, but city life was exciting for the Quaker girl who had always lived on a plantation. Philadelphia was still the capital of the United States when Dolly was in her teens. She married a fine young man named John Todd. In the yellow fever epidemic her young husband insisted on remaining in the city to help the sick, until at last he caught the fever himself and died. Meanwhile Dolly's father had lost his money, and her mother had opened a boardinghouse. The best-known men in Congress stayed there. James Madison came to call. He fell in love with Dolly. Before many months they were married.

For eight years Dolly Madison lived in the White House. She knew how to make friends and how to make people happy because she had been doing just that all her life. There is no wonder then that she became a First Lady who is still remembered for her charm and graciousness.

From the dust jacket