ALS signed “M,” one page, 7.75 x 5, July 17, 1845. Letter to her son John Payne Todd, expressing frustration that her slave Paul Jennings, whom she had hired out to President James K. Polk, had taken leave without returning on time. In full: "I wish to say a few words on the subject of Paul whom you have not mentioned since he left here for Orange. I hired him to the President, who (as well as myself) gave him the privilege of 2 or 3 weeks to visit his family—when he was to have returned & entered upon his duties again—It was of importance to me that he sh'd have been punctual, but he has not appeared or written an apology—of course he will lose the best place and his mistress convenient resources. I hope you rec'd my last acknowledging the $30. I am waiting with impatience your next, by which I hope to know so much." In fine condition. Accompanied by an ALS by Dolley Madison's niece Anna Payne, responding to a wedding invitation on the behalf of "Aunt Madison." Born into slavery at Montpelier, Jennings had gone to Washington with the Madison family upon James Madison's election to the presidency. He was present during the British burning of Washington and reportedly helped to save the noted Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington, known as the 'Lansdowne Portrait,' from destruction. He later became known for publishing the first-ever White House memoir in 1865, entitled A Colored Man's Reminiscences of James Madison.
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