Wondrous Beauty: The Life and Adventures of Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte (23 page)

  
1
  “the agreeable Miss”: See, for example,
Baltimore Federal Gazette,
December 27, 1803;
Commercial Advertiser
(New York), December 30, 1803;
Morning Chronicle
(New York), December 30, 1803;
New Jersey Journal
(Elizabeth Town), January 3, 1804;
Boston Gazette,
January 4, 1804.

  
2
  After a brief stay: For a vivid description of the capital city, see Catherine Allgor,
Parlor Politics: In Which the Ladies of Washington Help to Build a City and a Government
(Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2000), pp. 4–10.

  
3
  Washington City: William Thomas Roberts Saffell,
The Bonaparte-Patterson Marriage in 1803
(General Books, 2009), p. 5; Helen Jean Burn,
Betsy Bonaparte
(Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 2010), p. 58; Geraldine Brooks,
Dames and Daughters of the Young Republic
(General Books, 2009), p. 59.

  
4
  “Of Madame—I think”: Mrs. Samuel Harrison Smith to Mrs. Kirkpatrick, January 23, 1804, in Gaillard Hunt, ed.,
The First Forty Years of Washington Society, Portrayed by the Family Letters of Mrs. Samuel Harrison Smith (Margaret Bayard) from the Collection of Her Grandson, J. Henley Smith
(New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1906), pp. 44–47.

  
5
  “you could see”: Ibid.

  
6
  “scarcely any waist”: Rosalie Stier Calvert to Mme H. J. Stier, in Margaret Law Callcott, ed.,
Mistress of Riversdale: The Plantation Letters of Rosalie Stier Calvert
(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991), p. 78.

  
7
  To her critics: Charlotte Boyer Lewis, “Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte: ‘Ill Suited for the Life of a Columbian’s Modest Wife,’ ”
Journal of Women’s History
18, no. 2 (2006), pp. 33–62.

  
8
  Betsy’s embrace of Parisian: Jehanne Wake argues that a “rampant Gallomania” had seized other young American women. Jehanne Wake,
Sisters of Fortune: Marianne, Bess, Louisa, and Emily Caton, 1788–1874
(London: Chatto & Windus, 2010), p. 48.

  
9
  “take a look at her bubbies”: Carolyn Hoover Sung, “Catherine Mitchill’s Letters from Washington, 1806–1812,”
Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress
34 (July 1977), pp. 171–89, esp. pp. 182–84.

10
  “Well! What of Madame Bonaparte”: Ibid.

11
  “if she did not change”: Callcott,
Mistress of Riversdale,
p. 78; Claude Bourguignon-Frasseto,
Betsy Bonaparte: The Belle of Baltimore
(Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 2003), p. 43.

12
  “a
charming little woman”: Aaron Burr to Theodosia Burr Alston, January 17, 1804, in Matthew L. Davis, ed.,
Memoirs of Aaron Burr,
vol. 2 (Charleston, S.C.: Nabu Press, 2010), pp. 268–69.

13
  “remarkable friendly”: Sung, “Catherine Mitchill’s Letters,” pp. 182–84.

14
  Betsy might have: See, for example, Betsy’s annotations to James McIlhiny to EPB, September 5, 1815; James McIlhiny to EPB, January 16, 1817, MdHS, ms. 142; EPB to Mrs. M. H. Torres McCullugh, January 1861, MdHS, ms. 142; EPB’s note on her father’s will, n.d., MdHS, ms. 142.

15
  Even if Betsy: Thomas Armstrong,
Politics, Diplomacy and Intrigue in the Early Republic: The Cabinet Career of Robert Smith, 1801–1811
(Dubuque, Ia.: Kendall Hunt, 1991), p. 10; Dorothy MacKay Quynn, “The Marriage of Betsy Patterson and Jérôme Bonaparte,” unpublished ms., MdHS; Wake,
Sisters of Fortune,
p. 49; Gaillard Hunt, ed.,
The First Forty Years of Washington Society,
pp. 44–47.

16
  While Betsy and Jérôme: E. M. Oddie,
The Bonapartes in the New World
(London: Elkin Mathews and Marrot, 1932), p. 25; Quynn, “Marriage of Betsy Patterson,” chap. 4.

17
  “When we marry”: Quoted in Eugène Lemoine Didier,
The Life and Letters of Madame Bonaparte
(Chestnut Hill, Mass.: Adamant Media, 2005, replica of 1879 edition), p. 23.

18
  “I owe nothing”: Clarence Edward McCartney and Gordon Dorrance,
The Bonapartes in America
(Philadelphia: Dorrance & Co., 1939), p. 24.

19
  Napoleon’s
Code Napoléon:
Sidney Mitchell,
A Family Lawsuit: The Romantic Story of Elisabeth Patterson and Jérôme Bonaparte
(New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1958), p. 53.

20
  “no more man”: Oddie,
Bonapartes in the New World,
pp. 26–27.

21
  William Patterson was not: Didier,
Life and Letters,
pp. 22–23.

22
  The entire family: Mitchell,
Family Lawsuit,
pp. 49–50.

23
  “young person with”: Didier,
Life and Letters,
pp. 25, 28.

24
  “a pretended marriage”: Oddie,
Bonapartes in the New World,
p. 35.

25
  But all this bad news: Mitchell,
Family Lawsuit,
p. 53.

26
  “sole fabricator”: Saffell,
Bonaparte-Patterson Marriage,
p. 23.

27
  That September, Jérôme: For accounts of these efforts to sail for France, see Burn,
Betsy Bonaparte,
pp. 74–77; Didier,
Life and Letters,
pp. 21–22.

  
1
  “Tell your master”: Eugène Lemoine Didier,
The Life and Letters of Madame Bonaparte
(Chestnut Hill, Mass.: Adamant Media, 2005, replica of 1879 edition), p. 37.

  
2
  “Mon
mari est”: Quoted in Helen Jean Burn,
Betsy Bonaparte
(Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 2010), p. 85.

  
3
  “the worst thing”: Jérôme Bonaparte to EPB, April 8, 1805, MdHS, ms. 143.

  
4
  “disposed to wash”: William Thomas Roberts Saffell,
The Bonaparte-Patterson Marriage in 1803
(General Books, 2009), p. 98.

  
5
  “So, sir, you are”: Napoleon to Madame Mère, quoted in Sidney Mitchell,
A Family Lawsuit: The Romantic Story of Elisabeth Patterson and Jérôme Bonaparte
(New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1958), pp. 65–66.

  
6
  “She appears far”:
Times
(London), May 19, 1805; Dorothy MacKay Quynn, “The Marriage of Betsy Patterson and Jérôme Bonaparte,” unpublished ms., MdHS, chap. 7, n1.

  
7
  “under the protection”:
Times
(London), May 21, 1805.

  
8
  Betsy surely appreciated: Mitchell,
Family Lawsuit,
p. 100.

  
9
  “Would it be asking”: EPB to Elisa Monroe, MdHS, ms. 142.

10
  “Please let me know”: Saffell,
Bonaparte-Patterson Marriage,
p. 210.

11
  According to the doctor: Dr. Garnier to EPB, July 15, 1805, MdHS, ms. 142.

12
  Betsy had no reason: Barbara Donegal to EPB, August 20, 1805, MdHS, ms. 142.

13
  “Will you then”: EPB to the Dowager Marchioness of Donegal, August 14, 1805, MdHS, ms. 142.

14
  “Your daughter”: Saffell,
Bonaparte-Patterson Marriage,
pp. 96, 98, 207–8.

15
  “You know with what”: Jérôme Bonaparte to EPB, July 29, 1805, MdHS, ms. 143.

16
  This letter did not: M. Elgin to EPB, November 5, 1805; James McIlhiny to EPB, February 24, 1806, MdHS, ms. 142.

17
  “sold to his own profit”: Burn,
Betsy Bonaparte,
p. 115.

18
  Betsy was enthusiastically: Jérôme Bonaparte to EPB, May 23, 1806, MdHS, ms. 143.

19
  “Your departure for England”: Jérôme Bonaparte to EPB, June 20, 1806, MdHS, ms. 143.

20
  The king, who owed: Napoleon Bonaparte to Pope Pius VII, in Mitchell,
Family Lawsuit,
pp. 97, 98–99.

21
  The pope was not persuaded: Pope Pius VII to Napoleon Bonaparte, June 27, 1805, ibid., pp. 109–11.

22
  “that no one had the courage”: Laure Junot Abrantès,
At the Court of Napoleon: Memoirs of the Duchesse d’Abrantès
(Gloucester, U.K.: Windrush Press, 1989), pp. 326, 329–30.

23
  “I have seldom”: J. M. Thompson,
Napoleon’s Letters
(London: Prion, 1998), March 6, 1808.

24
  “cares
for nothing”: Quoted in Clarence Edward McCartney and Gordon Dorrance,
The Bonapartes in America
(Philadelphia: Dorrance & Company, 1939).

  
1
  “speaks of you”: Anna Kuhn to EPB, November 24. 1807, MdHS, ms. 142.

  
2
  “It is a sign”: Eliza Anderson to EPB, May 31, 1808, MdHS, ms. 142.

  
3
  “dignity which I”: Eliza Anderson to EPB, June 4, 1808, MdHS, ms. 142.

  
4
  “splendidly provided for”: Eliza Anderson to EPB, June 8, 1808, MdHS, ms. 142; see also Madame L. Breuil to EPB, June 20, 1810, MdHS, ms. 142.

  
5
  On July 9: EPB to Turreau, July 8, 1808, MdHS, ms. 142.

  
6
  Minister Turreau did: Notes on a letter from General Turreau, July 9, 1808, MdHS, ms. 142.

  
7
  “Do not give in”: Jérôme Bonaparte to EPB and William Patterson, May 16, 1808, MdHS, ms. 143.

  
8
  Jérôme’s conciliatory tone: Jérôme Bonaparte to EPB, November 22, 1808, MdHS, ms. 143.

  
9
  “right to be”: See EPB’s annotation on Jérôme’s letter of November 22, 1808, MdHS, ms. 143.

10
  “I would rather”: EPB to Prince Alexander Gorchakov, February 19, 1861, MdHS, ms. 142.

11
  “be consigned to”: EPB to James Monroe, October 15, 1808, MdHS, ms. 142.

12
  “hard destiny which”: James Monroe to EPB, November 6, 1808, MdHS, ms. 142.

13
  “to accede to any offer”: EPB to John Armstrong, March 17, 1809, MdHS, ms. 142.

14
  “Tell Turreau that”: Sidney Mitchell,
A Family Lawsuit: The Romantic Story of Elisabeth Patterson and Jérôme Bonaparte
(New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1958), p. 167.

  
1
  “most beautiful woman”: Charlotte Boyer Lewis, “Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte: ‘Ill Suited for the Life of a Columbian’s Modest Wife,’ ”
Journal of Women’s History
18, no. 2 (2006), pp. 33–62, esp. p. 42.

  
2
  “When I first saw”: Samuel Colleton Graves to EPB, May 16, 1808, MdHS, ms. 142.

  
3
  “In
returning”: Samuel Colleton Graves to EPB, May 14, 1809, MdHS, ms. 142.

  
4
  “I should extremely regret”: EPB to Samuel Colleton Graves and Admiral Graves, May 16, 1809, MdHS, ms. 142.

  
5
  “After the letter”: Samuel Colleton Graves to EPB, July 27, 1809, MdHS, ms. 142.

  
6
  “My husband & myself”: Mrs. Graves to EPB, enclosure in Samuel Colleton Graves to EPB, July 27, 1809, MdHS, ms. 142.

  
7
  “I feel regret at having”: EPB to Mrs. Graves, December 1, 1809, MdHS, ms. 142.

  
8
  “affectionate and devoted wife”: “Marriage and Death Notices,”
South Carolina Historical Magazine
53, no. 3 (1952), p. 172.

  
9
  Only a year before: See Spencer C. Tucker and Frank T. Reuter,
Injured Honor: The
Chesapeake-Leopard
Affair, June 22, 1807
(Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute Press, 1996).

10
  “Madame Bonaparte makes”: Lydia Hollingsworth to her cousin, August 12, 1809, quoted in Helen Jean Burn,
Betsy Bonaparte
(Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 2010), p. 143.

11
  “desperately in love”:
Diary and Letters of Sir George Jackson, 1809–1816
(London, 1873), quoted in Dorothy MacKay Quynn, “The Marriage of Betsy Patterson and Jérôme Bonaparte,” unpublished ms., MdHS.

12
  Was Betsy using: See, for example, EPB to General John Armstrong, March 17, 1809, MdHS, ms. 142; Joseph Patterson to EPB, April 25, 1812, MdHS, ms. 142.

13
  “to be governed”: Claude Bourguignon-Frasseto,
Betsy Bonaparte: The Belle of Baltimore
(Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 2003), p. 106.

14
  “I wonder how”: Eliza Godefroy to EPB, 1809, MdHS, ms. 142.

  
1
  Writing to Dolley: EPB to Dolley Payne Todd Madison, November 22, 1813, in Holly C. Shulman, ed.,
The Dolley Madison Digital Edition,
http://​rotunda.​upress.​virginia.​edu/​dmde
.

  
2
  “No novelties here”: EPB to Mr. Willink, March 2, 1812, MdHS, ms. 142.

  
3
  “The more I see”: Elbridge Gerry to Ann Gerry, July 3, 1813, in
Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society
47, 3rd series (October 1913–June 1914), pp. 445–534.

  
4
  Despite her best efforts: See Eliza Anderson [Godefroy] to EPB, May 31, 1808, MdHS, ms. 142.

  
5
  “a Court, which in splendor”: Charlene Boyer Lewis, “Elizabeth Patterson
Bonaparte: ‘Ill Suited for the Life of a Columbian’s Modest Wife,’ ”
Journal of Women’s History
18, no. 2 (2006), pp. 45–46; Charlene Boyer Lewis, “Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte: A Woman Between Two Worlds,” in Leonard J. Sadosky et al., eds.,
Old World, New World: America and Europe in the Age of Jefferson
(Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2010), p. 258.

  
6
  By the end of 1811: John Purviance to EPB, July 16, 1811; EPB to Mr. Servier [Serurier], July 8, 1811; Lescailier to EPB, October 7, 1811; EPB to Lescalier, October 10, 1811; all in MdHS, ms. 142.

  
7
  For in the very year: Jérôme Bonaparte to EPB and Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte [hereafter Bo], February 20, 1812, MdHS, ms. 143.

  
8
  After being reassured: Joseph Patterson to EPB, April 25, 1812, MdHS, ms. 142.

  
9
  “an act annulling”: Archives of Maryland Online, Sessions Laws, 1812, vol. 618, p. 145

10
  “hurled me back”: EPB to Sydney Morgan, March 14, 1849, in William Hepworth Dixon, ed.,
Lady Morgan Memoirs: Autobiography, Diaries and Correspondence,
2nd ed. (London, 1863), pp. 2:502–4. See also EPB to editors of
The New American Cyclopaedia,
n.d. c. 1852, MdHS, ms. 142; EPB to Alexander Gorchakov, February 19, 1861, MdHS, ms. 142.

11
  “The obstacles which”: EPB to Dolley Payne Todd Madison, December 29, 1814; Dolley Payne Todd Madison to EPB, December 31, 1814, both in Shulman,
Dolley Madison Digital Edition.

12
  “was very sick”: Caroline Patterson to EPB, January 1814, MdHS, ms. 142. For Betsy’s resentment of her father’s infidelity, see, for example, her annotations to James McIlhiny to EPB, August 29, 1815, September 5, 1815, and January 16, 1817, MdHS, ms. 142.

13
  “This scheme requires”: Lydia Hollingsworth to Ruth Tobin, March 27, 1815, quoted in Helen Jean Burn,
Betsy Bonaparte
(Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 2010), p. 166.