Inventory and Appraisement of the Goods & Chattels &c. late the property of John Todd, Jr.[37]
| Viz:— | £ | s | d |
| One large Side Board | 9 | 00 | 00 |
| One Settee | 10 | 00 | 00 |
| Eleven Mahogany & Pine tables | 17 | 17 | 06 |
| Three Looking Glasses | 14 | 00 | 00 |
| Thirty-six Mahogany and Windsor chairs | 27 | 12 | 06 |
| One Case of knives & forks | 5 | 00 | 00 |
| And-Irons, Shovel & Tongs | 9 | 02 | 06 |
| Window curtains & Window blinds | 12 | 00 | 00 |
| Carpets & Floor Cloaths | 11 | 15 | 00 |
| Bed, Bedstead & Bed Cloath | 30 | 00 | 00 |
| Sundry Setts of China &c. | 9 | 00 | 00 |
| Articles of Glass Ware & Waiters etc. | 9 | 07 | 06 |
| Glass lamp, pr Scones & six pictures | 3 | 17 | 06 |
| Sundry Articles of Plate & Plated ware—also Sett of Castors | 14 | 07 | 06 |
| Sundry Kitchen furniture | 12 | 10 | 00 |
| Desk & Book case | 5 | 00 | 00 |
| An open stove | 2 | 05 | 00 |
| Two Watches | 9 | 15 | 00 |
| One fowling piece | 3 | 00 | 00 |
| One Horse & Chair | 40 | 00 | 00 |
| Library | 187 | 15 | 00 |
| —— | — | — | |
| 434 | 05 | 00 | |
| Appraised Seventh day of Dec. 1793. |
The estate of John Todd was more ample than his modest statements would indicate. He left his wife that commodious dwelling of English red and black brick still standing at the corner of Fourth and Walnut streets, with stable on the grounds. The inventory of his effects shows that the house was well furnished. His library, too, was a good one, and with her "horse and chair" Dolly found herself more than comfortably provided for.
The moving of the national capital to Philadelphia had crowded the city to its utmost capacity, and homes were hard to find. Mary Payne had opened her doors,[38] and Aaron Burr, then Congressman, was fortunate to find boarding there.
Dolly was soon drawn into society, and her brilliant beauty and charming manners drew many admirers. James Madison requested to be introduced, and Dolly wrote her friend, Elizabeth Lee: "Thou must come to me, for Aaron Burr[39] is going to bring the great little Madison to see me this evening." Dolly wore her mulberry-colored satin, and appeared a vision of beauty to him; and it was not his only visit. But it was the "first lady of the land" who finally brought things to a crisis. She sent for Dolly and asked, "What is this I hear about Madison and Mistress Todd?" and, when Dolly hid her blushing face, took her into her arms, and told her that she and "the President" approved, and wished to see her again happily married; "and Madison will make thee a good husband," she said.
In the summer of 1793 Lucy Payne had become the girlish bride of George Steptoe Washington,[40] the nephew and ward of the President. She was but fifteen and he seventeen years old at the time, and they were now living at Harewood[41], near Harper's Ferry. "Harewood of pleasant memory and patriotic association," as an old writer has lovingly said. It was built on part of the Washington tract of land in 1756, by Colonel Samuel Washington, under the supervision of his brother George, and an old record states that for the hauling of the gray limestone of which it is built, from a nearby quarry, they paid one Shirley Smith "an acre of ground per team per day". The finer part of the woodwork, the pilasters, wainscoting and cornice, were all brought from "Old England" to Alexandria, and thence carted to Harewood, a long and toilsome journey.
Harewood from the garden.
Now the fair young mistress of Harewood begged that her sister should be married there, and so it was decided. Thomas Jefferson offered his coach for the journey, and taking her sister Anna, the little Payne and a maid, Dolly journeyed to that historic home, accompanied by Madison and mutual friends, riding and driving.