The Remarkable Rise of Eliza Jumel (60 page)

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28
. Providence Ct. Com. Pl., Samuel W. Greene vs. Betsey Bowen.

29
. Ibid.

30
. Ibid.

31
. Ibid.

32
. 1873 Transcript of Record, 128, 131–32, 153.

33
.
New-York Tribune
, September 11, 1876, 4.

C
HAPTER
40: M
URDER
M
OST
F
OUL?

1
. The Knickerbocker Brothers, “Life in New York,”
Cincinnati Daily Gazette
, September 22, 1876, 5.

2
. 1876 Bill of Complaint, 23–25. Strictly speaking, the suit was filed by the grandchildren. Madelaine's great-grandchildren were added after her last grandchild died in 1878 (B-779, box 113, deposition of François Henry Jumel).

3
. 1876 Bill of Complaint, 26–27.

4
. Ibid., 27

5
. Ibid., 27–28.

6
. United States Circuit Court for the Southern District of New York (in equity),
François Henry Jumel, et al., complainants, vs. Nelson Chase, et al., defendants. Amendments to the bill of complaint
(New York, 1878), 8, in NARA-NY-RG21, François Henry Jumel et al. vs. Nelson Chase et al., United States Circuit Court for the Southern District of New York, equity cases, vol. A-216, 1876.

7
. B-779, box 113, deposition of John G. Caryl.

8
. Ibid.

9
. Ibid.

10
.
B-779, boxes 112 and 113, depositions of Nelson Chase.

11
. Ibid.

12
. B-779, box 112, deposition of Nelson Chase.

13
. Supreme Court, City and County of New York,
William Inglis Chase and Isabella A. Chase, his wife, plaintiffs, against Nelson Chase and Hattie C. Chase, his wife, and others, defendants. Abstract of title to premises nos. 150 Broadway, 71 and 73 Liberty Street; and also to premises between 159th Street, 175th Street, Kingsbridge Road, and Harlem River
(New York: M. B. Brown, Printer and Stationer, 1881), 37–40.

14
.
William Inglis Chase and Isabella A. Chase, his wife, plaintiffs, against Nelson Chase and Hattie C. Chase, his wife, and others, defendants. Abstract of title to premises
.

15
. “Fifteen years in the courts,”
New York Times
, July 1, 1881.

16
. Supreme Court, City and County of New York,
William Inglis Chase and wife against Nelson Chase and Hattie C., his wife, and others. (Copy). Amended and supplemental judgments
(New York: Charles S. Hamilton & Co., Printers, 1882).

17
. “Last of the Jumel suits,”
New-York Tribune
, April 3, 1883: 1.

18
. They would not share in the profits from the house and lands in Saratoga, since those had never belonged to their relative Stephen Jumel. Eliza had purchased them after his death. Nelson, Eliza, and William would receive one-third each of the Saratoga real estate. See
William Inglis Chase and Isabella A. Chase, his wife, plaintiffs, against Nelson Chase and Hattie C. Chase, his wife, and others, defendants. Abstract of title to premises
, 142–43.

19
. 1876 Bill of Complaint, letters 34 and 35.

20
.
Bowen v. Chase
, 94 U.S. 812 (1876).

21
. 1876 Bill of Complaint, letter 34.

22
. United States Circuit Court for the Southern District of New York,
François Henry Jumel, Louise C. L. Jumel Plante, Marie R. M. Jumel, Madeline R. Texoeres Marrast, Marie C. F. Lesparre Tauziede vs. Nelson Chase, Amended bill of complaint and exhibits
(New York: Benj. H. Tyrrell, 1877), in NARA-NY-RG21, François Henry Jumel et al. vs. Nelson Chase et al., United States Circuit Court for the Southern District of New York, equity cases, vol. A-216, 1876.

23
.
William Inglis Chase and Isabella A. Chase, his wife, plaintiffs, against Nelson Chase and Hattie C. Chase, his wife, and others, defendants. Abstract of title to premises
, 107.

24
. “Unfortunate good fortune,”
Sun
[Baltimore, MD], November 30, 1887, Supplement; “The courts. A decree for the sale of the Jumel estate,”
New-York Tribune
, January 12, 1888, 3; “Bits of legal news,”
New-York Tribune
, March 23, 1888, 3; “General term decisions,”
New York Herald
, May 25, 1889, 4; “The courts,”
New-York Tribune
, April 3, 1890, 5. The French heirs had made a deal with the marquis de Chambrun, legal counsel for the French legation in Washington, DC, to pursue their case. He was to receive 47.5 percent of the monies recovered. Subsequently Chambrun subcontracted much of the work to other lawyers, promising them smaller percentages of the recovered sums. Some of these subcontractors sold their interest in the case to third parties. By the time Nelson and his children settled with Stephen's relatives, an astonishing number of people, lawyers and otherwise, were awaiting payment out of the monies awarded to the French heirs. Many
of the details may be found in NARA-NY-RG21, Stephen M. Chester vs. François Henry Jumel et al., United States Circuit Court for the Southern District of New York, equity cases, vol. I-4062 (Archives Box No. 545A).

25
. “The courts,”
New-York Tribune
, April 3, 1890, 5.

26
. “The Jumel estate,”
New York Herald
, May 23, 1883, 4;
Springfield Daily Republican
, May 24, 1883, 4; “Asking for an accounting,”
New York Herald
, August 25, 1891, 11; “Why a French marquis sued his lawyer,”
New York Herald
, September 10, 1891, 8.

27
. MJM 26.19, statement of William Luby, April 6, 1912; Stillwell,
History of the Burr portraits
, 71 (see chap. 25, n. 5).

28
. William P. Schweickert Jr., “A seance at the Jumel Mansion,”
Westchester Historian
41 (Spring 1965): 28.

29
. Parton, 661.

30
. Flint,
Letters from America
, 18 (see chap. 2, n. 28).

31
. B-779, box 112, deposition of Nelson Chase.

32
. Ibid.

33
. Ibid. For the practice of bloodletting after injuries, see, for example, Stuart,
Three years in North America
, 1:205 (see chap. 24, n. 5).

34
. B-779, box 112, deposition of Nelson Chase.

35
. B-779, box 112, deposition of Nelson Chase; also see BM 710-J, first account of the administratrix (for the doctors' bills).

36
. Ibid. Berger received a staggering $150, an amount implying daily attendance on his patient. For medical fees at the time, see George Rosen,
Fees and the bills: Some economic aspects of medical practice in 19th century America
, Supplement to the
Bulletin of the History of Medicine
, no. 6 (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1946): 3, 11.

37
. NYPL, Coroner's Inquisitions, 1823–1898. No inquest for Stephen was recorded in May or June 1832.

38
. New York City Municipal Archives, Manhattan Deaths, vol. 8.

39
. Greatorex, 243.

40
. Ibid.

41
. Ibid., 177–181 and 243 for the stories later embellished by Hopper Striker Mott in
The New York of yesterday
, 87–89 (see chap. 9, n. 1).

42
. Greatorex, 244.

43
. “A May Day Tramp,”
New York Herald
, May 8, 1882, 5; Benson J. Lossing, “The Roger Morris House (afterward the residence of Madame Jumel),
Appleton's Journal of Literature, Science, and Art
10, no. 228 (August 2, 1873), 129.

44
. Greatorex, 244.

45
. “Domestic news,”
Sacramento Daily Union
, August 15, 1871, [1] (citing a report from New York's
World
).

46
. Ibid.

47
. Ibid.

48
. Mme. Jumel's estate. The entire property disposed of and $1,092,452 realized,”
New York Herald
, November 19, 1882, 11;
New York Herald
, December 8, 1882, 9; “The last of the
Jumel estate,”
New York Herald
, March 12, 1886, 8; “The great Jumel sale,”
New York Herald
, April 4, 1888, 8.

49
. See NYHS-JP, box 3, folder E, for receipts showing that Nelson and Julius Caryl shared equally in paying taxes and insurance premiums on the mansion and homestead lot through the mid-1880s.

50
. For Lizzie's presence in the household, see
Ancestry.com
,
1880 United States Federal Census
(see chap. 36, n. 38).

E
PILOGUE

1
. “Historic lands sold,”
New York Times
, May 5, 1887, 4.

2
. “Saratoga Springs,”
New York Times
, July 30, 1899, 12.

3
. “Death of Nelson Chase,”
New York Times
, March 19, 1890. Nelson died on March 18.

4
. “Mother and uncle accused by a boy,”
New York Herald
, June 2, 1892, 7; “Dynamiter Tynan's charges,”
New York Times
, June 4, 1894; “Tynan's ‘revelations,'”
Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, Science and Art
82, no. 2135 (September 26, 1895): 345–46.

5
. “Mother and uncle accused by a boy.”

6
. New York City, Municipal Archives, Manhattan Death Certificates, no. 30903. He died on September 12, 1894.

7
. “Mrs. Eliza J. P. Caryl dies,”
New York Times
, April 29, 1915, 13 (wrongly giving her age as eighty-two and identifying Agnes Gourreau as her sister rather than granddaughter). She died on April 27, 1915.

8
. Surrogate's Ct., Westchester County, N.Y., Estate of Julius H. Caryl, 148-1911. Caryl died on March 27, 1911.

9
. “To manage Caryl estate,”
New York Times
, May 2, 1915, 5; “Dr. Hampton weds a Caryl heiress,”
New York Times
, March 5, 1916, 21; Surrogate's Ct., Westchester County, N.Y., Estate of Eliza Jumel Caryl, 1915-134 (for Agnes's four children, referred to in error as three in the newspapers).

10
. “Dr. Hampton weds a Caryl heiress.”

11
. N.Y. Ct. Ch., Esther Cox v. Alexander G. Cox, BM 1847-C; “Plot and counter plot,”
Burlington
[VT]
Free Press
, March 31, 1837.

12
. Hudson,
Mistress of Manifest Destiny
, 46, 61 (see chap. 27, n. 15).

13
. Obituary notes,”
New York Herald
, February 7, 1885, 10 (wrongly indicating that he was ninety-one). He died on February 6.

14
. “Fighting for big stakes,”
Washington Post
, August 5, 1889, 2.

15
.
Daily People
, October 12, 1900, 4.

16
. “Claim to Jumel estate,”
New York Times
, July 14, 1903, 14.

17
. Ibid.; “Lays claim to all the Jumel estate,”
Evening World
, July 13, 1903, 3.

18
. “Arrests for selling part of the Jumel tract,”
New York Times
, October 1, 1903, 16.

19
. “Exhibit at Jumel Mansion,”
New-York Tribune
, May 29, 1907, 4.

20
. New York, Silo's Fifth Avenue Art Galleries,
Catalogue of the Jumel Collection
(see chap. 17, n. 25).

A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS

1
. William H. Shelton,
The Jumel Mansion: being a full history of the house on Harlem Heights built by Roger Morris before the Revolution; together with some account of its more notable occupants
(Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1916).

2
. Constance Greiff,
The Morris-Jumel Mansion: A Documentary History
(Rocky Hill, NJ: Heritage Studies, Inc., 1995).

A N
OTE ON THE
S
OURCES

1
. All of the examples in this paragraph are taken from PUL Fuller, Eliza Jumel to Stephen Jumel, September 21, 1826.

2
. For example, he took particular care in writing a letter in which he discussed numerous business matters that concerned them both (NYHS-JP, Stephen Jumel to Eliza Jumel, October 14, 1826).

3
. 1876 Bill of Complaint.

IMAGE CREDITS

01. Detail of a photograph by Tom Stoelker. Courtesy of the Morris-Jumel Mansion.

02. G. Haywood,
Col. Roger Morris' House, Washingtons
[
sic
]
Head Quarters Sep.
r
1776. now known as Madame Jumel's Res..
ce
, 1854. Lithograph. Courtesy of the Morris-Jumel Mansion.

03.
Gate at 160th Street
, ca. 1875. Vintage photograph, 2 5/8 x 3 3/4 in. MJM P.1.2.2. Collection of the Morris-Jumel Mansion.

04. Henri Courvoisier-Voisin (1757–1830) (after),
The Place Vendôme
, ca. 1815-20. Color engraving. Bibliotheque des Arts Decoratifs, Paris, France / Archives Charmet / Bridgeman Images.

05. Jean-Marc Nattier (1685–1766).
Portrait of an Aristocratic Youth (possibly the Duc de Chaulnes) as Bacchus
. Oil on canvas, 57 1/2 x 45 1/4 in., SN380. Bequest of John Ringling, 1936 Collection of The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, the State Art Museum of Florida.

06. Jean-Frédéric Schall (1752–1825).
A Lady with a Dog
. Oil on canvas, 11 3/4 x 8 3/4 in. Private Collection / © Arthur Ackermann Ltd., London / Bridgeman Images.

07. Simon Vouet (1590–1649).
King David Playing the Harp
. Oil on canvas, 36 3/4 x 47 3/8 in., P.62.278. From the Bob Jones University Collection.

08. Francesco Trevisani (1656–1746) (attributed to).
Hagar and Ishmael in the Desert
. Oil on canvas, 31 3/4 x 51 1/2 in. Current location unknown. Image courtesy of Sotheby's, London.

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