John Payne Todd was the son of John Todd Jr. and Dolley Payne. He had a younger brother named William Temple Todd. Both his brother and father died of yellow fever in 1793. His mother later married future President James Madison

James Madison

James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...

, who adopted Payne.

Payne was a habitual shooter and acquired a great deal of jail time over his life. Twice he was sent to debtors' prison, and his stepfather had to cover much of his bails. Madison tried to teach his stepson responsibility by sending him with an official delegation to Europe, but Payne spent much of the time drinking and shooting. Payne was largely responsible for his mother's late life poverty and threatened to sue to get access to the small amount of money she received for selling Madison's papers. Dolley Madison was forced to sell the family's Montpelier estate to cover his debts. However, she was still very devoted to him. John outlived his mother by only two and one half years. He died of typhoid fever in 1852.