The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1879-10-02
A PRINCES NEGLECTED sEPUL.
CHRE.

A PRINCES NEGLECTED SEPUL.
CHRE.
Son Of a King of Naples RepesinR
i'm Republican soil:
IA Letter to indianapolis Newsl
TALLAHASSEE, Sept. 25, 1S79.-Riding
the other day along one of the roads
leading into Tallahassee in company with
an old resident of Florida, my companion
remarked. "We are now about to enter a
former abode of royalty" A gate was
opened and we passed into grove of live
oaks. On each side of the carriage way
was row of frame houses, some one, and
Others one and half stories high. These
all had their chimneys built of brick on
the outside, whilea few had small porches
or piazzas in front. l mention the
chimneys especially, because the material
generally y used for ordinary country
houses is combination Of sticks and
clay. At the farther end of the grove,
and separated by fence and garden
from the other building, was one-story
frame dwelling in better preservation
than the Others 1t had the appearance
of containing eight or ten rooms, and had
several piazas. The dooryard at one
time had been ornamented with shrubs
and flowers in great variety. Itnow pre-
sents an appearance of neglect, and the
adjacent buildings, some twenty or
twenty-five in number, are fast going OF
decay. The following inscription on a
monument in the Protestant Episcopal
cemetery in Tallahassee, tells who was
the owner of the once fine property I
have briefly described
Departed this life April 18th, 1917, Charles
Louis Napoleon Achilles Murat, son of the King
of Naples and Caroline Murat, aged Al.
"1his monument is dedicated by his wife, Cath
crime, in perpetual memory OF her love-"
On shaft similar in design and over
another grave is the following:
Sacred to the memory of
PRINCESS C. A. MuRAT.
wife Of Colonel Charles Louis Napoleon Achilles
Murat
and daughter of the late Colonel Bird C. Willis. of
who departed this life on the 9Th of August 1867,
in the 69th year of her age
A kind and afectionate wife and sister-a sincere
and devoted friend.
None knew her but to love her;
None named her but to praise
This monument is erected to her memory by her
bereaved brother and sister,"
The lot on which these two are buried
is surrounded by brick wall about four
feet high. A pine tree has grown into
the wall on one side and pushed it con-
siderably from a perpendicular. The en-
closure is filled with briers and bushes,
aud the walls and monuments are nearly
covered with green mould. The tombs
of departed royalty share the common
neglect of others surrounding them.
The buildings in the grove of live oaks
mentioned are on large plantation once
owned and operated by Murat, and after
ward by his widow. The rows of build
ings along the carriage way were the
quarters occupied by his slaves In their
present dilapidation they are better
houses than many in which native
white residents of the country live to-
day. There were many evidences of COM
fort and convenience on the plantation
for both master and servants. Every
luxury that wealth could command was
INDUCED in, for Murat lived while cotton
was king, and he had body of good land
for its production.
On the accession of Louis Napoleon he
made Mrs. Murat a pensioner of the
French Government. She regularly re-
ceived her stipend up to the year of her
death, with the exception of an inter
ruption caused by the rebellion, which
was afterwards made good. After her
death female cousin, who now lives on
plantation between the Murat home
stead and Tallahassee, was made pen
sioner of France in smaller sum, which
was annually paid up to the time of the
destruction of the second empire.
When Lafayette visited the United
States in 1925 he spent some time at Tai
lahasse. The Government had given him
township of land adjoining the capital
of the territory of Florida, and he came
here to dispose of it. By the bad man.
agement of his agent his heirs realized
but little from these broad acres, and a
cloud was left on the title of purchasers
which has not been removed during an
occupancy of fifty years. On his return
to France, Lafayette reported that Murat
had married an American peasant girl.
Peasantry not being recognized in
this country it was singular he
should have made such a state
ment. But recognizing caste distinctions
in society here Mrs. Murat did not be-
long to the substratum. She was of
Virginia "blue blood" and felt as much
pride in her own ancestry as she did in
that of her husband, although his mother
was Caroline Bonaparte, sister of the
great Napoleon.
Death is the great leveler Of all ranks
and distinctions. Democracy is his
helper. In our Republican soil reposes a
scion of monarchy. No more attention
or respect is paid to his remains than to
those of others who never saw king.
We who gaze upon the shaft on which is
traced the lineage of the sleeper beneath,
regard ourselves as the equal of the
prince whose memory the marble is in
tended to perpetuate.
An Vu.fareGti 4, q g,snfrasf.