Susannah Stewart

Susannah Stewart, or Sukey, was born into slavery at Montpelier around 1795.¹ When James Madison was elected president in 1808, he and his wife Dolley Madison brought Sukey with them to the White House. As Dolley Madison’s lady’s maid, she worked closely with the first lady, helping to bathe and dress her, and traveling with Mrs. Madison between Montpelier and the White House. Dolley was so reliant upon Sukey that she wrote her sister: “it is terribly inconvenient to do without her—so I must even let her steal from me, to keep labor from myself.”² After Madison’s presidency ended in 1817, Sukey remained enslaved and continued to work for him and Dolley at Montpelier. 

Sukey also had at least six children born into slavery: Rebecca, Benjamin, Thomas, William, Catharine, and Ellen.³ Dolley Madison slowly sold off each of Sukey’s children to settle her debts after the death of James Madison.⁴ In 1848, Sukey’s youngest daughter Ellen learned that Mrs. Madison planned to sell her South; in response, Ellen attempted to self-emancipate via a ship docked in Washington, D.C., called The Pearl; sadly, the plot was compromised and everyone was caught.⁵ As a punishment for Ellen's self-emancipation, Mrs. Madison sold Sukey to a new owner in Washington, D.C., separating the family.⁶ Her new owner paid Sukey $5 per month for labor and promised to free her once she had earned $150 total.⁷ Through this arrangement, Sukey earned her freedom sometime around November 1850. 

Information on Sukey’s life between her emancipation in 1850 and her death in 1865 is scarce. Her will reveals that she lived in Washington, D.C., and owned property including a lot on L Street. She bequeathed her property to her surviving children: Catherine, Benjamin, Thomas, and Ellen.⁸ 

Thank you to the Papers of James Madison, to Hilarie M. Hicks, Senior Research Historian, James Madison's Montpelier, and to Holly Shulman, editor of the Dolley Madison Digital Edition, for providing research assistance with this biography.