Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1893-09-14

at his summer home at Beverly, Mass,
Sept. j.
He was not considered dangerously
i'll and only the previous week plans
We're made to remove him, but within
the last two or three days his disease,
which is reported to have been cancer
OF the stomach Che very disease of
which Napoleon l. and the latter's
father died), assumed grave form.
Charles j. Bonaparte, his brother,
and NeWbold Edgar were present when
the colonel died. The funeral took
place on Wednesday, Sept. 6.
Colonel Bonaparte had been passing
the season il the summer residence of
General Charles G. LOriug, situated
the ocean, closely surrounded by a
forest, one of the most picturesque
places on the north shore.
Colonel Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte
was the eldest grandson of Jerome
BOnaparte, king OF Westphalia, and a
Although born in American, and for
most of his life a resident of Balti-
more, ne enjoyed at one time the dis
tinctiOn Of being the hope Ofthe Bona
partist party in France and upon the
downfall Of Napoleon III. was pushed
forward for the regency. His follow
erS at that time hoped he would sue
coed to the throne Of France.
The story of Colonel Bonaparte is a
romance, and it began two generations
before his birth.
His grandfather was Jerome Bona
parte, the youngest bother Of the great
Napoleon. The first consul Of France
conceived the idea Of making this
younger brother one of the rulers of the
earth, and with that end in view, early
in life, he gave him an important COM
mand in the navy. The young man
rapidly advanced, and in 1903, as
Captain BOnaparte, brought his ship to
America.
And now begins the story Of those
events which made the life Of the man
just deceased a romance.
Captain BOnaparte, at a ball given
by Samuel Chase in Baltimore, met
Elizabeth Patterson, the young, beauti-
full and fascinating daughter Of Will
lam Patterson, ship owner and the
second wealthiest man in the state of
Maryland. 1t was a case of love at
first sight on both sides.
William Patterson opposed the match,
perceiving that it would be displeasing
to the ruler Of France. But the lovers
persisted. and eventually they were
Archbishop Carroll. Captain Bona
parte had not consulted his brother.
But such a match could only result i'll
trouble. When Napoleon heard of it
he was very angry and positively refus-
ed to recognize his brothers American
wife. He sent word to America that
he would never permit her to set foot
on French soil. He doubtless thought
his dictum would settle the matter
forever.
The great Napoleon, however, was
mistaken. He did not know of what
stern stuff his American siSter-in-laW
was made. Nine. Napoleon laughed at
would so to France with her husband.
Jerome agreed, aud the two set sail
for France.
But the ruler of France was not to
be thwarted, AS the ship approached
the shores Of France it was met by
two men-of-war. Captain Bonaparte
was taken off, but his American wife
was driven away and forced to take
refuge in England.
Once in France, Captain Bonaparte
quickly yielded to his brother Bona
parte promised him to care for his wife,
granting her an income of $4,000 francs
a year. He coupled this with the con-
ditiOn that she should not retain the
name of Bonaparte-a condition, how
ever which the plucky wife refused to
accede to. Napoleon endeavored to
have the marriage declared void by
the pope, but Plus VII. refused to grant
the request. Napoleon, however, was
not to be baked, and caused a royal
decree of divorce to be passed.
The subsequent career of her husband
1907 he was made king of Westphalia
and was married to the Princess Cath
crime of Wurtemberg. IN 1913, on the
fall of the BOnaparteS, he was depOSed
and eXiled, but he returned to France
under Napoleon III. and died in 1860.
Meantime Nine. BOnaparte, proudly
disdaining the offers of the royal family,
remained in England until after the
birth Of her son, and then returned to
America. This son was the late Je
rome Napoleon Bonaparte and the faith
er of Colonel Jerome Napoleon Bona
parte, who has just died. He had a
second son, Charles Joseph Bonaparte,
who has attained some prominence at
the Baltimore bar and as civil service
refOrmer.
The first Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte,
Colonel Bonaparte's father. must have
proved a great disappointment to his
mother She was ambitious in the ex-
IRENE, and the object Of her life, after
her desertion by her husband, was the
attainment to what she conceived to be
her rights and those Of her descendants.
She suenuously insisted to the day Of
her death that she was the rightful
wife of the king ofWestphalia, and
when he and his issue were declared in
the succession to the throne of France
she held that her son was the rightful
heir She spent her life in asserting
these claims, and gained great SYM
pathy in Europe, where she lived most
Of the time.