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"Elizabeth "Betsy" Patterson Bonaparte (February 6, 1785 – April 4, 1879) was an American socialite. She was the daughter of a Baltimore merchant, and the first wife of Jérôme Bonaparte, Napoleon's youngest brother. Early life Betsy was born in Baltimore, Maryland on February 6, 1785. She was the daughter of Dorcas (née Spear) Patterson (1761–1814) and William Patterson (1752-1835). Her mother was the daughter of a Baltimore flour merchant and her father, an Irish-born Presbyterian who came to North America from Donegal prior to the Revolutionary War,Philip W. Sergeant, Jerome Bonaparte: the Burlesque Napoleon. Brentano's, New York, 1906 was the second wealthiest man in Maryland after Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last surviving signatory of the Declaration of Independence of the United States. Elizabeth's brother, Robert Patterson, married Carroll's granddaughter, Marianne Caton. After Robert's death, his widow Marianne married Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, the older brother of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. Another brother, Edward Patterson, was the owner of Joppa Iron Works in Eastern Baltimore County. Personal life On Christmas Eve, December 24, 1803, Elizabeth was married to Jérôme Bonaparte (1784–1860) in a ceremony presided over by John Carroll, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Baltimore. Betsy quickly became known for her risqué taste in fashion, starting with her wedding dress. Jérôme was the eighth and last surviving child (and fifth surviving son) of Carlo Buonaparte and his wife, Letizia Ramolino. Jérôme's brother Napoleon ordered his brother back to France and demanded that the marriage be annulled. He ignored Napoleon's initial demand that he return to France without his wife.Macartney, Clarence E. N, and John G. Dorrance. The Bonapartes in America. Philadelphia: Dorrance and Co, 1939. In the fall of 1804, Jérôme and a pregnant Betsy attempted to travel to France in time for his brother's coronation, but a number of false starts delayed them. When they finally arrived, Elizabeth was denied permission to set foot in continental Europe by order of Napoleon. Jérôme traveled to Italy in an attempt to reason with his brother, writing to his wife, "My dearest Elsa, I will do everything that must be done," but she would never see him again, except for a brief eye- to-eye contact in 1817. After remaining in limbo, unable to disembark in either France or the Netherlands, she gave birth to a son, Jérôme Napoleon Bonaparte (1805–1870), on July 5, 1805 at 95 Camberwell Grove in Camberwell, London. Jérôme gave in to his brother, returned to the French Navy, and married the German princess Catharina of Württemberg on August 22, 1807, in the Royal Palace at Fontainebleau, France. His marriage to Betsy had not yet been dissolved. After her son was born, whom she called "Bo", Betsy returned to Baltimore with him and lived with her father while she continued to flaunt her royal connection. After the Battle of Waterloo, she returned to Europe, where she reportedly was well received in the most exclusive circles and much admired for her beauty and wit. =Divorce and last years= Bonaparte's Tombstone Bonaparte's Tombstone, Front Detail In 1815, by special Act of the Legislature of Maryland, she secured a divorce. Her last years were spent in Baltimore in the management of her estate, the value of which she increased to $1.5 million. In 1861, she filed an inheritance claim in the Tribunal of First Instance at Paris after her former husband, Prince Jérôme, died on June 24, 1860.The American Bonapartes. Details of the Legal Trial soon to come on concerning the American Bonapartes. From the London Times., The New York Times, January 30, 1861. On February 15, 1861, the Tribunal of the Seine ruled that "demands of Madame Elizabeth Patterson and her son, Jerome Bonaparte, are not admissible, and must be rejected." Betsy died on April 4, 1879 in Baltimore in the midst of a court battle over whether the state of Maryland could tax her out-of-state bonds.Maryland State Archives. 2007. The case reached the Supreme Court (Bonaparte v. Tax Court, 104 U.S. 592). The court decided in favor of Maryland. She was interred in Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore. Her tomb bears an epitaph: "After life's fitful fever she sleeps well."Christopher T. George. Defeated by Napoleon: Fame (Sort Of) But No Titles for the Bonapartes of Baltimore. =Descendants= Her son married Susan May Williams in 1829 and had two children, Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte II (1830–1893) and Charles Joseph Bonaparte (1851–1921), who became Theodore Roosevelt's Secretary of the Navy in 1905, and the U.S. Attorney General in 1906. In popular culture The story of Elizabeth and Jérôme's marriage and annulment is the basis for the 1908 play Glorious Betsy by Rida Johnson Young and the two film adaptations, Glorious Betsy (1928) and Hearts Divided (1936). She was portrayed by Dolores Costello in the former and by Marion Davies in the latter. The episode "Duty" of the Hornblower television series features Elizabeth (played by Camilla Power) and Jérôme trying to land in France, and the diplomatic difficulties. A historical novel about her life, The Ambitious Madame Bonaparte by Ruth Hull Chatlien, was published in 2013. In the 2016 book A Woman of Two Worlds: Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte, the author, Alexandra Deutsch, Director of Collections and Interpretation at the Maryland Historical Society, analyzes Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte's personal belongings and letters to create a material culture biography of the woman whose seductive beauty and tragic marriage have long been documented. References Further reading * F. B. Goodrich, The Court of Napoleon III. Philadelphia, 1864. * E. L. Didier, Life and Letters of Madame Bonaparte. New York, 1879. * M. Farquhar, Foolishly Forgotten Americans. New York, 2008. * Charlene M. Boyer Lewis, Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte: An American Aristocrat in the Early Republic. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012. * * Edward C. Papenfuse, Maryland State Archives. Maryland Tax Exempt Bonds: The Case of Betsy Patterson, 1868–1882, 2007. External links * * Category:1785 births Category:1879 deaths Category:House of Bonaparte Patterson, Elisabeth Category:Burials at Green Mount Cemetery Category:American socialites Category:People from Baltimore "
"Jérôme Napoléon "Bo" Bonaparte (5 July 1805 - 17 June 1870) was a French- American farmer, chairman of the Maryland Agricultural Society, first president of the Maryland Club, and the son of Elizabeth Patterson and Jérôme Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon I.Marshall, Bill, and Cristina Johnston. France and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History : a Multidisciplinary Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO, Inc, 2005. "Jérôme Napoléon Bonaparte was born in England on July 7, 1805. Betsy and her son returned to Baltimore in September 1805. At Napoléon's behest, Jérôme married Princess Catherine of Württemberg in August 1807." - Page 162. Retrieved 22 November 2015. Biography He was born in 95 Camberwell Grove, Camberwell, London, but lived in the United States with his wealthy American mother. Jérôme's mother's marriage had been annulled by order of Jérôme's uncle, French Emperor Napoleon I. The annulment caused the rescission of his right to carry the Bonaparte name; though the ruling was later reversed by his cousin, Napoleon III. It is speculated that Jérôme's prospective title is a reason the 11th Congress of the United States in 1810 proposed the Titles of Nobility Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would strip an American of his citizenship if he accepted a title of nobility from a foreign nation. The amendment has never been approved, lacking the approval of only two state legislatures at that time. He graduated from Mount St. Mary's College (now Mount St. Mary's University) in 1817Edward Francis Xavier McSweeny. The Story of the Mountain: Mount St. Mary's College and Seminary. Volume I, p. 70. Retrieved 22 November 2015 and later received a law degree from Harvard but did not practice the law.Lamb's Biographical Dictionary of the United States, Volume I, p. 341. He was a founding member of the Maryland Club, serving as its first president. In November 1829, Jérôme Napoleon married Susan May Williams, an heiress from Baltimore, and it is from them that the American line of the Bonaparte family descended. They had two sons: Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte II (1830–1893), officer in the armies of both the United States and France; and Charles Joseph Bonaparte (1851–1921), United States Attorney General and Secretary of the Navy, no issue. Jérôme Napoleon had refused to wait for an arranged marriage to a European princess, instead opting for the $200,000 fortune that Susan brought to the marriage. In an attempt to match the railroad heiress's dowry, the groom's maternal grandfather, William Patterson — one of the wealthiest men in Maryland — gave the couple Montrose Mansion as a wedding gift. Jérôme Napoleon Bonaparte died in Baltimore, Maryland, and is buried in the Loudon Park Cemetery, Baltimore. References Category:1805 births Category:1870 deaths Category:English emigrants to the United States Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte Category:People from Camberwell Category:Mount St. Mary's University alumni Category:American people of Corsican descent Category:Harvard Law School alumni Category:English people of French descent Category:English people of American descent "
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