John Payne Todd

John Payne Todd was the first son of Dolley Payne and John Todd Jr. He had a younger brother, William Temple Todd. Both his brother and father died the same day of yellow fever in the 1793 epidemic. The following year, his 26-year-old widowed mother married the future President James Madison, then 43. He adopted Payne.[2] Madison sent Todd as a youth for eight years to St. Mary's Seminary, a Catholic boarding school in Baltimore, Maryland, but he seemed unsuited for academic work.

As an adult, Todd never settled into a career. Believed to be alcoholic, he was belligerent, and was repeatedly convicted of shooting incidents and sentenced to serve jail time for assaults and disruption of the peace. Twice he was sent to debtors' prison, and his stepfather had to cover much of his debts and bail bonds by mortgaging his Montpelier plantation. During his second term, Madison assigned his stepson as secretary to an official delegation to Europe, but the 21-year-old Todd spent much of the time drinking, shooting and acquiring art. For a time, Madison assigned him to manage operations at Montpelier, but Todd was not successful.[1]

Because of his problems, Todd contributed to his mother's late life poverty, as she and Madison had sacrificed for him during their lives. Dolley Madison sold the family's Montpelier plantation to cover his debts and gain some living expenses.[3] But, she was still devoted to him. She lived with and was cared for by her niece Anne Cutts, and bequeathed her half of her estate. Todd threatened to sue Cutts to gain more of his mother's estate, all that was left from money she received for selling Madison's papers to the Library of Congress.[1] She died at age 81.

Todd survived his mother by two and a half years. She willed her remaining slaves to him. He was nearly 60 when he died of typhoid fever on January 16, 1852 in Washington, DC. He is buried in the Congressional Cemetery.[1]

Payne Todd’s will provided for the manumission of all his slaves upon his death. His debts delayed their release, but the Taylor family petitioned for freedom from James C. McGuire, administrator of the estate, which they were granted in 1853. They continued to live in Washington, where Ralph Taylor had been a servant to Dolley Madison. He was joined by his wife Catherine and children, who had been living and working on Todd's estate.[4]

Media related to John Payne Todd at Wikimedia Commons

• "American Artifacts: Congressional Cemetery" on YouTube, American History TV, CSPAN3, on YouTube, accessed April 16, 2012.