Brief Chronologies of the Lives of James & Dolley Madison

1751	Born March 16, at Port Conway in King George County, Virginia at the home of his maternal grandmother.
1769-1772	Attended the College of New Jersey (now Princeton).
1775	Made Colonel in the Orange County Militia.
1776	Elected Delegate to the Virginia Convention and the General Assembly.
1780	Served as one of Virginia's Delegates to the Continental Congress.
1783	Engagement to Kitty Floyd ends.
1787	Serves as one of Virginia's Delegates to the Constitutional Convention where he plays a major role earning himself the title "Father of the Constitution."
1787-1788	Shepherds the Constitution through the ratification process and contributes to The Federalist Papers.
1788	Constitution Ratified.
1789	Elected to the House of Representatives; sponsors Bill of Rights; and works with Thomas Jefferson to form the Democratic Republican Party.
1794	Marries Dolley Payne Todd, September 15 (no children from this marriage).
1801	Death of his father, James Madison, Sr.; as eldest son inherits Montpelier, maintains separate quarters for him mother.
1801-1809	Serves as Thomas Jefferson's Secretary of State.
1809	Inaugurated fourth President of the Untied States.
1812	Delivers war message to Congress (War of 1812).
1813	Begins second term as President.
1814	British burn Washington.
1817	Retires from the Presidency to Montpelier.
1826	Succeeds Jefferson as Rector of the University of Virginia
1829	Serves as Delegate to Virginia's second constitutional convention; only member present from the first convention in 1776.
1836	Dies June 28 at Montpelier.

1768	Born, May 20 at the Quaker settlement of New Garden, North Carolina.
1783	Moves with her family to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1790	Marries John Todd, Jr., a Quaker lawyer of Philadelphia.
1792	First son, John Payne, born February 29.
1793	Second son, William Temple born; Yellow Fever epidemic takes lives of Dolley's in-laws, husband and younger son.
1794	Meets and marries James Madison.
1801	Becomes frequent hostess for President Thomas Jefferson and social leader of the new capital of Washington.
1809	Becomes First Lady after Madison inauguration as President.
1814	Sees to the saving of valuable papers, silver and orders the removal of a portrait of George Washington before the British burn the President's House.
1817-1836	Retires with Madison to Montpelier; maintains life of hospitality and social entertainment and assists Madison with preparing his papers for future publication.
1837	Moves back to Washington.
1839	Returns to Montpelier to try farming.
1841	Returns to Washington.
1844	Granted a permanent seat on the floor of the House of Representatives; Sells Montpelier in effort to keep the slave families together.
1849	Dies, July 12 in Washington.

Brief Chronology of the Life of James Madison

Brief Chronology of the Life of Dolley Payne Todd Madison