Marie Boozer (1846 or 18471908 ) went from Civil War South Carolina schoolgirl to New York socialite to Parisian demimonde to world-traveling diplomatic spouse and Countess.  In the process she became an early example of a celebrity pursued by gossip and rumors.

Parentage 
Boozer's mother was born Amelia Sees in Philadelphia on 30 January 1819. Her father was from a French Huguenot family and grow up hearing the French language. The Sees family was strong supporters of the Union through the Civil War.

In 1837,18-year old Amelia's first marriage was a symbolic one to a gravely-ill Thomas Harned, who died the next day. She met an older South Carolina businessman Peter Burton who was visiting Philadelphia and married him in 1840. They returned to Columbia where Burton died of a seizure sometime in 1846, leaving Amelia several months pregnant. Mary Amelia Peter Burton was probably born in December 1846. The 1850 census gives her age as three and the 1860 census says thirteen.

Amelia moved to nearby Newberry and married David Boozer in September 1847. David had the child's name changed to Mary Sarah Amelia Boozer in November 1848. The child gradually used the name 'Marie' Boozer rather than 'Mary' Boozer; 'Mary' and 'Marie' were pronounced similarly in that region. In February 1850, David killed himself while Amelia was at church, leaving a substantial estate of $10,000 to $15,000.

Amelia returned to Columbia with her child and married Jacob Feaster in 1852. They had three children and the third half-sister Ethland was important in Marie Boozer's life. The Feaster family was doing well financially and Jacob Feaster loved young Marie Boozer. Amelia's four marriages were the subject of gossip and she had worked as a seamstress between marriages so she could not join in Columbia's highest social circles.

Early Life in South Carolina 

All agreed that the young Boozer was an exceptional beauty with thick strawberry-blonde hair and deep blue eyes. The diarist Mary Chesnut gossiped about Boozer's possible illegitimacy but conceded that "She is a beauty - that none can deny." When younger, she was hoydenish or tomboyish as well as adept with firearms. Boozer was a day student at Columbia Female College in 1860 where all grades had access to French language instruction. Boozer still had considerable wealth inherited from David Boozer and during the Civil War she attended the Academy of Sacred Heart for one term in New York, where her mother had relatives. This elite school put heavy emphasis on French conversational skills. Boozer studied in Paris during 1863-1864 and then returned to Columbia.

Before the Civil War, debate in South Carolina between Accommodationists and Secessionists was acceptable. Once the war started, Unionists like Amelia were increasingly unpopular. Boozer supported the Confederacy in the early years of the war, tending the Confederate wounded at Wayside Hospital and engaging at morale-boosting activities.

There was a detention center called Camp Sorghum west of Columbia for Union officers who were prisoners-of-war. Some of these prisoners were moved to the grounds of the Lunatic Asylum. Amelia went there to help the prisoners who lived in wretched conditions and Boozer joined her work. Boozer fell into a deep but chaste romance with a prisoner, Naval Lieutenant Samuel W. Preston. He was handsome, well-educated and reciprocally infatuated with Boozer. When Preston was released in a prisoner exchange, they made plans to marry after the war. Preston died in the assault on Fort Fisher in January 1865.

Flight North with Union Army 
Union General William Tecumseh Sherman occupied Columbia from 17 to 20 February during his campaign of the Carolinas. During the occupation, a third of Columbia was destroyed by fires of various origin.

As the Union Army approached Columbia, the Confederates started to move the Union Officer POWs away from Camp Sorgham. Some officers escaped, planning to hide until the Union Army arrived; Amelia hid them in her cellar and provided them with meals until relief arrived for them.

Amelia know that she would no longer be safe in Columbia when the Union left to continue north to Virginia.  She sent two of her children to stay with her husband's parents in Feasterville and resolved to take Marie, her half-sister Ethland, and Ethland's African American nurse Lizzie north with the Union army. General Howard himself ordered that a better carriage be confiscated for Amelia's use, knowing the rigors of travel on the bad roads. Sherman's army marched about 10 miles each day which was physically demanding for everyone. The Confederates were attacking intermittently on the sides of the column and made a stand at Bentonville. Boozer and her family were fortunate that General Howard allowed them to travel near his general staff, rather than with the camp followers behind the 60,000 man army.

When they reached Fayetteville on 8 March 1865, General Sherman directed General Howard to put the four women on a steamship to Wilmington, a port under Union control. By 23 March 1865 Boozer and her family had made their way to Philadelphia, where Amelia had relatives. They soon moved on to Manhattan where Amelia had investments and more relatives.  They were seen as Union patriots with recommendations from important Generals, so the Union League Club gave them $10,000 to help them get settled. The senate voted compensation to Amelia for her Columbia losses but the bill was set aside, along with many similar bills and never acted on. More than thirty Union officers had signed a supporting statement attesting to the women's courage.

Kilpatrick and Boozer 
A story that Major General Kilpatrick and Marie Boozer romanced on the trip north from Columbia has spread to numerous "memoirs, novels, encyclopedias, and many nonfiction historical narratives."

A 1899 biography of Confederate Lieutenant General Wade Hampton described how his cavalry planned a dawn raid on the camp of his rival, Union cavalry officer Hugh Judson Kilpatrick. This was part of the Battle of Monroe's Crossroads as Sherman's army marched north from Columbia. A rebel scout saw what he thought was a beautiful young woman fitting the description of Boozer (her name was never given explicitly) at Kilpatrick's camp. The dawn raid caught the Federals unaware and Kilpatrick barely escaped, wearing only his "shirt and drawers". The rebel attackers spotted the woman but they discovered the "fair damsel" was an "old, ugly, ... *' school-marm'* from Vermont, who had availed herself of the assistance of Sherman's army to return to her home."  They politely guided her to safety in a ditch as bullets whizzed by.

The story reappeared in the 1915 book The Countess Pourtales, in the part by University of South Carolina history professor Yates Snowden, writing under the pseudonym "Felix Old Boy". But Snowden leaves out the humorous conclusion, giving the impression that it really was Boozer, rather than an older female schoolteacher, at Kilpatrick's camp.

By 1956, a highly respected book on the Carolina campaign transforms the older female schoolteacher into "a lovely young woman in nightdress". It concludes "In all probability, it was the beautiful Mary Boozer..."

Since 2000, some historians have pushed back against the widespread story.
"A still popular tale alleges that Marie and Major Judson Kilpatrick... had an affair after she left Columbus, but this is nothing more than postwar fiction."
"Contrary to several recent accounts, Marie Boozer was not at Monroe's Crossroads, nor did she accompany Kilpatrick from Columbia to Fayetteville.... According to Capt. James H. Miller of the 5th Ohio Cavalry, Kilpatrick's traveling companion was named Alice. She was said to be a Northern schoolteacher whom "Little Kil" was escorting."
"Indisputable documentary evidence exists that Marie Boozer was not present at Monroe's Crossroads.... it is therefore safe to conclude that Marie Boozer was not Kilpatrick's Alice."
"Marie was absolutely not with Kilpatrick during his embarrassing skedaddle or anywhere else during her trip north from Columbia."

Marriage to Beecher 
Amelia arranged a 1866 marriage between Boozer and an older businessman, John S. Beecher. This gave Boozer entree to wealth and the higher social circles in New York. She gave birth to a son, John Preston, in 1867; "Preston" was clearly a tribute to her now-deceased POW from Columbia, Samuel W. Preston.  Her marriage to Bennett lacked the intensity of her relationship with Preston, back in South Carolina.

Boozer received a dowry upon marrying Beecher. For the rest of her life, she had financial assets, always lived in good housing, and moved in elite social circles, either in America, Europe, or the diplomatic world. She must have been astute at handling money. In a later letter to Ethland, Boozer wrote "... alas! Only money can make one happy in this world."

Boozer's mother Amelia passed away in 1870, leaving Boozer without her guidance.

Infidelity, Shooting and Divorce 
Beecher introduced Boozer to Lloyd Phoenix. Phoenix was handsome, wealthy, socially-connected and a yachtsman. He attended Annapolis with Samuel Preston, served on the same ship as Preston and had a good war record. Unfortunately he was also a philanderer. Boozer entered into a love affair with Phoenix. Detectives in Beecher's employ caught them in bed on an April 1873 morning and Beecher commenced divorce proceedings.

Boozer had believed that Phoenix would marry her but he broke off the relationship, following a frequent pattern in his life.  On 31 October 1873, the spurned Boozer shot Phoenix with a pistol on Madison Avenue, slightly wounding him. All of the parties involved worked to keep it out of the newspapers but a fuller account appeared in a law firm history.

Boozer followed Phoenix to Europe and they gambled together at the casino in Nice but the relationship was winding down.

Sometime in 1873 or possibly January 1874, Boozer and her sister Ethland traveled to St. Petersburg in Russia. They associated with aristocrats and had their photographs taken by a celebrity photographer. Claims that Boozer was involved in a Russian diamond theft were simply false.

In December 1873, Boozer was staying with her sister Ethland at a hotel in London. There was a late night party in Boozer's rooms and the hotel proprietor kept complaining about the noise. A male friend struck the landlord with a walking stick.  The case ended with a misdemeanor and $500 fine for Boozer's friend but it drew unwanted attention to Boozer in the New York and London newspapers.

Boozer returned to New York in May, 1874 and the divorce was finalized in July 1874. Beecher got custody of John Preston and Boozer got alimony. Boozer was judged the adulterous party so, under New York law, she could not remarry without the permission of the ex-spouse, Beecher.

Boozer had been caring for her younger half-sister Ethland but in 1874 Ethland joined her father Jacob Feaster and two older siblings in LaGrange, Florida.  Ethland maintained correspondence with Boozer.

A Free Woman 

Boozer was now a free woman with financial assets, beauty and youth. No husband, mother or lover was giving her orders now. She moved to Paris where sophisticated Europeans socialized with her despite her reputation.  By the end of 1874, she had become the mistress of an older wealthy American married lover, whose name is not known. Boozer had a second lover, a young French army officer. Her apartment became a meeting place for artists, royalty and writers.

She collected rare reference volumes and liked to read encyclopedias, histories, and scientific works.  Boozer described herself as a "scribbler", perhaps referring to note-taking on her reading.

Her ultra-luxurious public lifestyle brought Boozer under observation by the Paris police. "She behaved as what the French called an insoumise-a young rebelle who was unsubmissive to men, living at a fine address, secret about her sexual behavior, and defying police authority." Boozer was definitely not a prostitute but she did befriend Hattie Blackford, who was.

Marriage to Arthur Count de Pourtales 

It is unclear when Boozer met a French diplomat of Swiss origin named Count Arthur de Pourtalès but they were together in London during October 1875. Arthur was handsome, about Boozer's age and a "gentleman of the old school in all respects." He had a law degree and had been in the French diplomatic service since 1866. Boozer had more money than Arthur who lived on his salary after his father lost most of the family money.

Arthur's deceased first wife was Jenny Holladay, daughter of  the transportation tycoon Ben Holladay. Boozer had known Jenny and her sister Polly back at the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Manhattan. Maria de Pourtales was the only child from the first marriage. Boozer formed a strong attachment with her stepdaughter Maria.

Arthur and Boozer married in a London church on 4 November 1875. Boozer put her rebelle life in Paris behind her and was a faithful world-traveling diplomatic wife for the next thirty years. She had found a way to usefully channel her adventure-seeking energies. Her formal name was now Marie Adele de Beauvoir Boozier, Countess de Pourtales-Gorgier.

Arthur's next assignment was in Washington, D.C. and the couple immediately sailed for New York. Bennett, Boozer's first husband, gave Boozer permission to marry again. Arthur and Boozer married for a second time in Baltimore on 2 May 1876, to be sure that the marriage was legally valid.

World Travel as Wife of Diplomat 

Arthur's next diplomatic assignment was in Peking so Boozer, Arthur, and young Maria traveled by train to San Francisco and sailed across the Pacific. During 1877, Authur took a leave of absence so the three of them could travel in Asia. They dined with Governor John Pope Hennessy in Hong Kong after a stop in Shanghai. Then they visited Galle in Ceylon. By early 1878 they arrived in Naples and did sightseeing en route to the Chateau de Gorgier in Switzerland.

By 1880, Arthur was promoted to "first class of his diplomatic service" for his achievements. By 1882 they were in Santiago de Cuba and then in 1883 the posting was Buitenenzorg in Indonesia. The Krakatoa volcano exploded during their stay but they were not personally affected by the disaster. During 1884 they were back in Europe at spas like Marienbad and Carlsbad because Arthur was suffering from liver disease. From 1985 to 1888, Arthur was stationed in Newcastle Upon Tyne, Messina and Palermo.

In appreciation of his service, the French government decorated Arthur with the title of Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur, one of the highest honors in Europe.” Boozer's skill in the diplomatic social circuit was a major factor in Arthur's success.

From 1894 to 1898, Arthur, Boozer and Maria were in Tokyo where he was chargé d'affairs and secretary to Francois-Jules Harmand, the plenipotentiary French minister to Japan. In 1898 Boozer's step-daughter  Maria de Pourtales married an Austrian diplomat in the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Tokyo. Now it was just Boozer and Arthur who traveled from Yokohama to New York.  In August 1898, the couple sailed from New York to Le Havre. From there they took a train to Paris and were entering Rouen when Boozer was seriously injured.

As her train was in a dark tunnel entering the Rouen station, Boozer mistook the carriage door for the lavatory door and was thrown out of the lurching train. She dragged herself off the tracks and a search party organized by her husband quickly found her. The incident left her traumatized.

Gossip, Calumnies and Hoaxes
The South Carolina journalist Julian Selby was an early enemy of Boozer with his 1878 booklet A Checkered Life. It was a mixture of truths, half-truths, and total fabrications. Selby felt Amelia and Boozer were disloyal to Columbia and did not meet the standards of "southern womanhood". Selby resented Amelia getting compensation for lost property in Columbia while the ruined Columbia struggled without help.

Early attacks came from the hostile reporters of the San Francisco Chronicle, under the influence of Ben Holladay, a powerful West Coast businessman. He wanted custody of his granddaughter Maria de Pourtales and sought to portray Boozer as an unfit stepmother.

Hoaxes occurred frequently in newspapers during the 1870s to the 1890s. On 27 October 1884, the New York Times reported that Boozer had been strangled with a bowstring in Japan for an indiscretion. Two days later, the New York Times had to retract the whole story, saying that Boozer was alive and well with Arthur in Switzerland. Other ridiculous stories  had Boozer married to the Ottoman Sultan or becoming a Zulu in Africa.

These newspaper attacks continued through Boozer's entire marriage to Arthur. In 1876 they tried giving interviews to reporters in New York in an attempt to improve news coverage. It did not help and a similar attempt to get a gossip columnist on their side during their 1898 visit failed. Boozer sometimes threatened to sue for libel but never did, fearing it would just stir up more bad publicity.

Two historical romances were written about Boozer. Both relied mainly on Julian Selby's hostile booklet [[Julian Selby#A Checkered Life|A Checkered Life]]. Another Jezebel by Nell S. Graydon was released in 1958. Elizabeth Boatwright Coker's La Belle'', released in 1959, was a best-seller. Elizabeth Battle, daughter of Boozer's half-sister Ethland, contacted Graydon and Coker over the negative portrayal of Boozer. Battle shared letters from and about Boozer that showed her in a better light. Both novelists expressed regret that their portrayal of Boozer had been distorted by limited source materials.

Last Years 
In 1905 Boozer traveled with her husband to Paris for trade negotiations between Honduras and France, followed by a side trip to the South of France. Her husband was having financial problems so they asked the Swiss courts to separate their assets to shield Boozer's money.  They remained together and went to Paris in 1906.

She lived out her last years with her husband at the twenty-five room Villa Terrarosa in Tuscany, located three miles outside Florence. The Villa Terrarosa had a fine view of the Duomo's dome in the distance.

Marie, Countess de Pourtales-Gorgier, received the last rites of the Catholic Church and died on 25 January 1908. The location of the burial on January 31 was not disclosed to the public.

Notes

Citations

References 

1908 deaths
History of Columbia, South Carolina
Swiss countesses
Women in the American Civil War