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BONAPARTE, ELIZABETH PATTERSON. 



BONAPARTE, Mrs. ELIZABETH PATTERSON, 

 was born in Baltimore in 1785. She was of 

 Scotch-Irish descent. Her father, William 

 Patterson, emigrated from Ulster to America 

 when quite a lad. He pushed his way stead- 

 ily upward, became the owner of a line of 

 clipper ships, and, by shrewdness and a steady 

 eye to his own interests, ended by amassing a 

 fortune. He then improved his social posi- 

 tion by marriage. His wife was the daughter 

 of a retired officer in the British army, and sis- 

 ter of General Samuel Smith, who served with 

 distinction during the Revolutionary War, and 

 was twenty-three years United States Senator 

 from Maryland. Mr. Patterson writes of him- 

 self, that from early life he " believed and 

 practiced that money and merit are the only 

 sure and certain roads to respectability and 

 consequence." Another of his maxims is that 

 " every citizen should contribute more or less 

 to the good of society, when he can do it 

 without too much loss or inconvenience to 

 himself." It is not surprising that he reached 

 the height of his ambition, and was, " Charles 

 Carroll of Carrollton only excepted, the wealth- 

 iest citizen of Maryland." His daughter Eliza- 

 beth inherited no small share of his character- 

 istics. At the age of ten she is said to have 

 known by heart the maxims of La Rochefou- 

 cauld, in addition to those which had been in- 

 stilled into her by her parent. Her favorite 

 poem was Young's "Night Thoughts." Thus 

 accomplished, Elizabeth Patterson reached wo- 

 manhood. She is described as tall and grace- 

 ful, fair of face, with dark hair and eyes. 

 Her contemporaries agree in ascribing to her 

 charms of person and mind of which in later 

 days not a vestige remained. Fully aware of 

 her own advantages, she informs us that she 

 began life with the intention of using them 

 for her own advancement. 



In the autumn of 1803 Captain Jerome Bo- 

 naparte arrived at New York in command of a 

 French frigate, returning home after a cruise 

 in the West Indies. He journeyed to Balti- 

 more to visit Captain Barney, who had for- 

 merly served with him in the French navy. 

 The brother of the First Consul was feted 

 everywhere. At a ball at the house of Sam- 

 uel Chase, a signer of the Declaration of In- 

 dependence, the handsome young officer was 

 introduced to Miss Patterson. She was in the 

 first freshness of her beauty, eighteen years of 

 age. He was a few months her senior. They 

 were mutually pleased. During a dance her 

 long hair became entangled in his chain, which 

 the young couple willingly accepted as pro- 

 phetic of their fate. Mr. Patterson foresaw 

 that his daughter's marriage with a youth 

 with such brilliant prospects would prove dis- 

 tasteful to the First Consul, and forbade the 

 courtship. Elizabeth proving recalcitrant, he 

 sent her into Virginia. They contrived to cor- 

 respond, and in a short time she reappeared 

 on the scene of her triumph. They became 

 engaged, and Jerome went so far as to procure 



a marriage license. Their acquaintance was 

 then only four weeks old. Mr. Patterson rep- 

 resented to his daughter the difficulties before 

 her, but she insisted that she "would rather 

 be the wife of Jerome Bonaparte for an hour 

 than the wife of any other man for life." The 

 match was postponed to December 24, 1803, 

 when Jerome would have passed his nine- 

 teenth birthday. All legal formalities were 

 carefully complied with. . The contract was 

 drawn up by Alexander Dallas, afterward Sec- 

 retary of the Treasury. The Vice-Consul of 

 France, the Mayor of Baltimore, and many oth- 

 er dignitaries witnessed the ceremony, which 

 was solemnized with great pomp in the Cathe- 

 dral by the Most Rev. John Carroll, Arch- 

 bishop of Baltimore. 



In order to impress the First Consul with 

 the respectability of the family and the va- 

 lidity of the marriage, letters were procured 

 from Thomas Jefferson, President of the Uni- 

 ted States, and from the Secretary of State. 

 The Hon. Robert Livingston, Ambassador to 

 France, agreed to present the affair in its most 

 favorable light. Robert Patterson, brother of 

 the bride, who was then traveling in Europe, 

 was ordered to Paris by his father to advocate 

 his sister's interests. His personal appearance, 

 good manners, and good sense produced a pi eas- 

 ing impression on the Bonaparte family. Lu- 

 cien, in particular, told him that the marriage 

 was approved by Madame Lsetitia, and that he 

 and all his brothers except Napoleon would 

 cordially receive Jerome's wife as a member 

 of their family. Joseph and Lucien advised 

 Jerome to become an American citizen, and 

 took steps to procure him a provision enabling 

 him to live there in accordance with his rank. 

 From first to last Napoleon remained obdu- 

 rate. The young couple were in New York 

 waiting to embark for France, when the will 

 of their august brother was made clear to 

 them by the following order, transmitted by 

 Dacres, then Minister of State : " Pichon, the 

 French consul-general in New York, is in- 

 structed to withhold Jerome's supplies. The 

 commanders of French vessels are prohibited 

 from receiving on board the young person to 

 whom he has attached himself." Accompa- 

 nying this was an enactment of the French 

 Senate: " By an act of the llth Ventose pro- 

 hibition is made to all the civil officers of the 

 Empire to receive on their registers the tran- 

 scription of the act of celebration of a pre- 

 tended marriage that Jerome Bonaparte has 

 contracted in a foreign country during his 

 minority, without the consent of his mother, 

 and without previous publication in his native 

 land." At the same time Jerome received a 

 message from his brother to the effect that if 

 he left the " young person " in America, his 

 youthful indiscretion would be forgiven ; if he 

 brought her with him, she should not put a 

 foot on French territory. Undismayed, they 

 tried to embark on a French man-of-war, but 

 British cruisers outside detained it in New 



