He came home to be only a grief to his mother. For a time he was Monroe's secretary, but he did little serious work. His debts ate up all his property and hers as well. He never married. He outlived his mother, whom he dearly loved, but two years, died full of grief and unmourned, and was buried in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington. "His was a wasted life."
Madison House, Washington, D. C., West View. Photographed by Samuel M. Brosius.
Richard Cutts, who had been first senator, and then, for eleven years (1814-25), secretary of the Senate, was the owner of that valuable square adjoining Lafayette Square, where in 1822 he built, at the corner of Madison Place and H street, the gray mastic stuccoed house, now known as "Madison House," the property of the Cosmos Club. At that time it consisted of two stories, and was the only house on the square. This property Madison bought shortly before his death, and the last twelve years of Dolly's life were spent in this house, already endeared by many associations, as the home of her sister Anna.
It overlooked Lafayette Square with its fine trees, shrubbery and statuary, which years ago had been the "old apple orchard" of David Burns. In the new home, her niece Anna Payne, daughter of her brother John, who had settled in Kentucky, was her devoted adopted daughter and caretaker. Here her old friends rallied around her and she held court during her declining years.
The government bought from her the Madison Papers, thus adding considerably to her income. She was likewise granted the franking privilege and the Senate and House each voted her a seat in their chambers, an unusual mark of respect and appreciation.
Free D P Madison
Anna Payne was a bright fun-loving girl, and even the President did not escape her love of practical jokes. One first of April he accepted her invitation to dinner, only to be heartily laughed at on his arrival!
One winter, she writes her Aunt Lucy when they had tarried longer than usual in the country:—