Paul Jennings and Dolley's House
The man she sold brought her money. Years later he corrected her legend in print.
Listen to this place’s story in Peplos.
How the story begins
"This is totally false. She had no time for doing it." Paul Jennings put that in a small book of 1865, and he was writing about the most famous moment of Dolley Madison's life. The story went that when the British reached Washington in 1814, she cut George Washington's portrait out of its frame and carried it off. Jennings was in the White House that day. He was fifteen, enslaved by the Madisons, and he had got the president's dinner ready.
The rest is in the app. Peplos plays the full story when you reach the place. You can also listen ahead of time.
Visiting
Corner of H Street and Madison Place NW, on Lafayette Square. Exterior only: see it from the H Street sidewalk. Most of the park behind it was closed by a security fence in November 2026, while the part along H Street stayed open.
Sources
- Paul Jennings, A Colored Man's Reminiscences of James Madison (1865), DocSouth
- White House Historical Association: Dolley Madison's House
- White House Historical Association: Daniel Webster's House
- Encyclopedia Virginia: Paul Jennings
- National Park Service: Closure order for President's Park, November 2026
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