Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte’s Manuscript Collection
One of the most exciting things about our upcoming “Woman of Two Worlds: Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte and Her Quest for an Imperial Legacy” exhibition has been exploring Elizabeth’s very personal manuscript collection. Chief Curator Alexandra Deutsch has more.
A Mother’s Love
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| Jérôme Napoléon Bonaparte (Bo) by Anna Pecchioli Gift of Mrs. Charles Joseph Bonaparte, xx.5.62 |
Despite the heartbreak over the end of her marriage, Elizabeth was determined not to let the situation get the best of her and she certainly would not let it affect her son. Now that her chance of becoming European royalty had gone awry, she set her sights on paving the way for her son, Jérôme Napoléon Bonaparte (Bo). Elizabeth began by having him baptized in the Roman Catholic Church, the religion of the Bonapartes, in the hopes that they may one day acknowledge him as an heir to the throne. Even Bishop John Carroll referred to him as “the perhaps future prince.” Elizabeth took to reading and writing in French as often as possible to be prepared for this possibility.
Back in Baltimore, Elizabeth’s living situation at her father’s South Street house had become untenable. With no word or money from Jérôme, she began the process of trying to obtain the pension Napoléon had promised her. In July of 1808, Elizabeth pleadingly wrote to General Louis-Marie Turreau de Garabouville, one of the ambassadors of France to the United States, “Would that you, mon General, expose to His Majesty the situation of a child so worthy of interest, and that of a mother, who by true and affectionate sentiments, merits all the evidence of esteem and attachment of which a woman may be honored and who owes her misfortunes only to circumstances she cannot master.”
In a meeting with the General, Elizabeth told him that Bo needed a proper European education to prepare him for whatever the future may hold. He was, after all, Napoleon’s nephew. Elizabeth also asked for a title because she was not allowed to use the Bonaparte name. The General responded with the following list of terms: she was never to marry without the consent of the French government, she was never to return to England, she must renounce the United States and make Europe her home, she was not to leave her town of residence without informing the local authorities and lastly, that she would care for her son until the age of seven and then he would be raised by his father.
This last condition was one to which she could not agree. The thought of being separated from her son was unbearable. To make matters worse, a letter from Jérôme finally arrived wherein Jérôme told Elizabeth that he had sent M. Le Camus to bring his son to him so that Bo could “enjoy all the advantages which his birth and his name give him the right to claim.” It went on to say that if she denied him these things she would have ceased to love her son and would be responsible for his fate. Jérôme also wrote the same letter to her father but added that the Emperor Napoléon had authorized for Bo to come live with him. Elizabeth was acutely distressed at the thought of losing her son and told Jérôme that Bo was the only happiness in her life. Elizabeth did want the best for him, but was at a loss as to what to do. Looking for advice she wrote to her friend James Monroe: “My maternal duties certainly prescribe a total dereliction of all self-interest motives and I possess sufficient energy to submit to any privation however painful, which the interest of my son dictates.”
Though Elizabeth was strong, was she really strong enough to push away her maternal instincts in order to give her son the glory she thought he deserved?
Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte: Who Was She?
By Chief Curator Alexandra Deutsch
“Crushed like a butterfly sporting on the bosom of a flower (a rose).” –Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte, Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte Account Book, 1858-59
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| Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte (1785-1879), François Josephe Kinsoen, circa 1817, Maryland Historical Society, Gift of Mrs. Charles Joseph Bonaparte, xx.5.72 |
For the past year, I have collected hundreds of quotations written by Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte. What grows more and more evident in these words is that Elizabeth was not a happy woman. Disappointed by her ill-fated marriage to Jerome and continually berated by her father, William Patterson, Elizabeth felt caught between, as she put it, “an unnatural Parent and a faithless husband.” When writing about Elizabeth, perhaps the greatest challenge is to sort out the embittered woman from the witty, charming, vivacious person so many people admired.
“I have been in such a state of melancholy, that I wished myself dead a thousand times…” Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte wrote to Lady Sydney Morgan, 1820 [Charlotte Boyer Lewis, 169]. This confession of a deep, dark depression reoccurs throughout Elizabeth’s life. When her words are severe, they are fueled by more than just bitterness. They are fueled by genuine hurt, sadness and disappointment. Elizabeth felt life had knocked her about “like an indian Rubber Ball…”
Despite this confessed hopelessness, Elizabeth continued to chart her own destiny, shaping a life for herself in both Europe and Baltimore. Late in life she recognized and lamented her independence, recording, “…like the Silkworm I spun my own suit & my own Lodging & had no aid or partner in my Labors.” Few women of her time could say the same. Unlike most women with her advantages, Elizabeth chose never to remarry and find a “partner” in her struggles. Instead, the “lodging” she made for herself was the fortune she amassed through her own ingenuity and business acumen. She was quick to point out that “All my Ground Rents were bought out of my own Purse.” Her formula for business was straightforward: “Never run the slightest risk in the pursuit of great profits—see clearly the transaction to its termination.” This approach benefited her greatly and ensured wealth for her son and grandsons. Unlike Elizabeth who often fretted over her financial state, the future generations of American Bonapartes enjoyed fortunes free from worry.
While it is perhaps easy to focus on the vitriolic-tongued Elizabeth and think she was one of history’s most accomplished “poison pens,” it is far more challenging to look below her severe words. In the subtext of her anger and resentment, one finds a woman whose life had not gone as she had hoped. “Life has been to me a bitter struggle & a hard and rocky road,” confessed Elizabeth in her account book from the 1860s. To tell her true story, we must construct a picture of a woman who was not everything she appeared to be. Those who met her remembered her as beautiful, charming and amusing. Within the private writings, the other Elizabeth, a woman troubled by self-doubt, anger and despondency is found. Therein one finds another Elizabeth, a woman who inspires the sympathy she felt her father and her former husband never granted her.
Pack Your Bags and “Go!”: Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte, A Woman on the Move
By Chief Curator Alexandra Deutsch
“Always move forward…” –Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte, 1840
Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte was a woman on the move. In a recent conversation with historian Helen Jean Burn, author of Betsy Bonaparte (Maryland Historical Society, 2010), I asked, “Why do you think Elizabeth always lived in boarding houses?” Burn’s answer was thought provoking. “She wanted to be able to leave at a moment’s notice.”
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| Trunk owned by Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte, probably China, circa 1800, Maryland Historical Society, Gift of Mrs. Charles Joseph Bonaparte, xx.5.552 |
Never one to be tethered to a permanent residence, Elizabeth made a total eight trans-Atlantic trips at a time when few women attempted a trans-continental voyage more than once if at all. Elizabeth did not maintain a home of her own or a staff of servants. Instead, boarding houses and hired help made her free to pack her trunks and “Go.”
Helen Jean’s answer got me thinking back to a quotation in a little known diary by Martha Custis Williams Carter who visited Elizabeth at Mrs. Gwinn’s Boarding House on Cathedral Street in Baltimore in the 1860s. Carter describes the contents of Elizabeth’s room, noting, “An inch stump of a candle…Three large black arm chairs, two wardrobes, a bed & a cabinet & a table compose the…furniture.” There was no carpet, no wallpaper, and no gas in the room because Elizabeth believed it provided a healthier environment. For a woman who spent years in the palaces of Europe, this kind of Spartan interior seems, in a word, bizarre.
Always one to doubt a source, I thought I would compare the possessions Carter noted with an inventory from 1863 written in Elizabeth’s own hand. She records:
one Mahogany Ward Robe, one walnut wardrobe, 1 ditto Bureau with Looking Glass & marble Top, 1 Ditto walnut wash Stand marble top, 1 walnut Bedstead, Spring Matress & 1 hair Matress, 1 small walnut Table, 3 French arm Chairs, 1 woollen Blanket & 1 ditto cotton, 2 dressing gowns round the Blankets & Soap in, Mahogany Dressing box, in which are the Keys of Trunks & of the Boxes in the Merchants Bank, one Mahogany writing Desk, 2 Flat irons, 1 Demi John
Much to my delight, Carter’s memory of Elizabeth’s room was accurate. The “3 French Arm Chairs” are more than likely the “Three large black arm chairs” she recalled. The two armoires, one walnut and one mahogany, appear in the inventory along with the simple bed and the table. What the inventory and Carter’s diary do not record are the significant number of trunks and boxes Elizabeth always had on hand. Before Elizabeth departed for a European trip, she left her more cumbersome possessions in the safe possession of the bank and various trusted friends. Sometimes she left her paintings at the Maryland Historical Society. With trunks and boxes at the ready, she could be off in a moment. And “Go” Elizabeth did!
Luke Zipp of Crocker Farms in Sparks, Maryland and volunteer at the Maryland Historical Society, recently scoured Elizabeth’s letters to reconstruct where the peripatetic Elizabeth was between 1815 and 1864, the year she returned to Baltimore permanently. Keep in mind, Elizabeth had already made one ill-fated trip to Europe in 1805 when she and her soon-to-be estranged husband, Jérôme crossed the Atlantic.
Here is an excerpt of what Luke found. It’s a glimpse at the life of a nineteenth-century “jet-setter.”
1815—London and Cheltenham
1816-1817—Paris
1817-1819—Back to Baltimore
1819-1824—Geneva, Rome and Paris
1824-1825—Back to Baltimore
1826-1834—Paris, Florence, Geneva, Le Havre, Savoy and Gaillon
1834-1839—Back to Baltimore
1839-1840—Paris
1840-1849—Back to Baltimore
1850—London
1852—Back to Baltimore
1861—Paris
1861—Back to Baltimore
1863—Paris
1864-1879—Back to Baltimore where Elizabeth died
A Tender Bond
Dorcas Spear Patterson (Mrs. William Patterson), 1761-1814, and child.
Oil on canvas by Pine, Robert Edge (1730?-1788), ca. 1876.
Three-quarter length portrait shows mother and child: Dorcas Spear Patterson (Mrs. William Patterson) and child. Mother wears white turban and white gauzy dress with pink sash. Child holds mother’s dress.
Gift of Mrs. Lawrence Tidrick
Elizabeth did not learn of the annulment right away and when she did hear the news it was not from Jerome or Napoleon, but from a newspaper report. She was so distressed by the news that she ceased going out. How could this have happened?
Only a few months before Jerome had been professing his love for her and showering her with gifts and now, in a most cowardly fashion, he had ended their marriage. What was to become of her? Of her son?
In her time of distress she undoubtedly turned to the one constant comfort in her life, her mother.
Unlike Elizabeth’s father, Dorcas was a quiet, gentle and kind woman. She came from a prominent Scottish family who were quite the opposite of the Pattersons in many ways. Though also successful merchants and immigrants, they were more high-spirited and outspoken than the Patterson clan. Dorcas’ sister Margaret married Colonel Samuel Smith and was said to be beautiful, spirited and imperious. Her other sister Anne was very intelligent, a skilled business woman and a great writer. Out of her sisters, Dorcas certainly took the most traditional path for a woman of that time. She was gentle and feminine, produced thirteen children and deferred to her husband. Dorcas was also a loving mother and Elizabeth often referred to her as her “kind parent.”
Elizabeth adored her mother and even years after Dorcas’ death she carried mementos of her whenever she travelled. It was surely her mother who comforted her after hearing the news of the annulment and the rumors that followed of Jerome’s pending marriage to another.
Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte: Fashionista
Barbara Meger
For the past year, the Maryland Historical Society has been incredibly lucky to have the expertise of curatorial volunteer, Barbara Meger.**
Barbara has been a serious student of needlework, historic textiles and fashion for over 45 years and brings remarkable knowledge and insights to the museum’s textile collection.
Over the past six months, Barbara has immersed herself in the textiles associated with Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte, meticulously examining and documenting more than 200 textiles as well as studying Elizabeth’s diaries, letters and account books. Her discoveries reveal fascinating details about Elizabeth, the fashionista.
These are some of the most intriguing facts Barbara has discovered about Elizabeth.
* “Elizabeth was a lace hoarder,” Barbara remarked, after spending weeks slowly accessing, measuring and photographing two enormous boxes of Elizabeth’s lace. We don’t think she threw a single piece of lace out!
3.77F.1; 3.77G.37; 3.77G.78A-B
Black & White Lace Scraps belonging to Betsy Bonaparte with business cards, group photo.
Not dated.
Artist unknown.
Textiles/Bonaparte
* Elizabeth loved shoes! She seemed to have a continual need for a new pair of shoes!
Only one pair of Elizabeth’s shoes survives in the museum’s collection, a dainty pair of white kidskin pumps that date to the 1870s. Old age did not mean Elizabeth lost her fashion sense. In her late 80s, Elizabeth was still wearing the shoes of a young woman.
1954.72.1 a & b
Gift of Miss Ida Parks
* Elizabeth had a large wardrobe. Barbara’s research has helped us to understand more about Elizabeth’s shopping habits. Despite her frugality, she bought the best and was always at the height of fashion.
Here is an excerpt of Barbara’s research. Keep checking the blog for future posts about her discoveries!
Summary Fabric Acquisitions 1826-1849
In the Manuscripts Collection, specifically Box 13A, at the Maryland Historical Society are numerous journals, financial and expense records kept by Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte. Included are records of itemized expenses that cover 16 years between 1826-1849. These expenses often coincide with upcoming travel to Europe or purchases made while living abroad.
It has been assumed that Elizabeth was a frugal woman who is said to have removed laces and trimmings from her clothing for refashioning into the latest style. This is based on over 200 items in the MdHS collection, some still bound in silk ribbon and marked in Elizabeth’s hand with the precise yardage. The summary, below, refutes this idea.
Elizabeth purchased vast quantities of fabrics. Her records show that she also bought accompanying laces, ribbons, fringes, etc. in order to have an ensemble made up by a local dressmaker. Why do so many textiles “scraps” remain? Elizabeth loved beautiful things and recognized superior quality; she could not bear to throw such things away. All one needs to do is visit the sewing room or studio of a modern day seamstress or textiles enthusiast and see her “stash” to recognize a kindred spirit.
The summary below covers only the number of purchases of fabric yardage plus the quantity for a given year. [Note: A yard equals 36”; a meter is 39.37”; an ell is 45”. Brach is a derivation of braccio which is equivalent to the English ell or 45”.]
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Year |
Location |
# purchases |
# yards |
# meters |
# ells |
# brachs |
| 1826 | Florence |
12 |
83 |
|||
| 1827 | Florence |
12 |
127 |
|||
| 1828 | Florence |
13 |
25 |
77 |
||
| 1829 | Florence |
15 |
136½ |
|||
| 1830 | Florence |
2 |
14 |
|||
| Paris |
3 |
18 |
||||
| Geneva |
6 |
32 |
||||
| 1831 | Florence |
2 |
16 |
|||
| Geneva |
7 |
40 |
||||
| 1832 | Geneva |
8 |
40¼ |
|||
| 1839 | Geneva |
4 |
19½ |
|||
| 1840 | Paris |
15 |
10 |
13 |
81½ |
|
| Baltimore |
3 |
27 |
||||
| Washington |
2 |
20 |
||||
| Baltimore |
5 |
68 |
||||
| 1843 | Baltimore |
2 |
31 |
|||
| New York |
2 |
43 |
||||
| 1844 | Baltimore |
3 |
68 |
|||
| 1845 | Baltimore |
4 |
65 |
|||
| New York |
1 |
9 |
||||
| 1846 | Baltimore |
1 |
20 |
|||
| 1847 | Baltimore |
6 |
75½ |
|||
| 1848 | Baltimore |
14 |
194 |
|||
| 1849 | Baltimore |
1 |
12 |
|||
| London |
7 |
74½ |
||||
** Barbara Meger is a designer and teacher of English smocking and related needlearts. Her current focus is mixed media, combining the disciplines of smocking, embroidery, beading and fabric manipulation. Her original designs have won needlework and design show awards and include a Christmas stocking in the permanent collection of the White House. She is a member of The Embroiderers’ Guild of America, The Smocking Arts Guild of America and The American Sewing Guild. In addition to her volunteer service with the Maryland Historical Society, she also volunteers with the Historic Annapolis Foundation where she has researched and coordinated the reproduction of textiles. Barbara lives in Crofton, Maryland
Back to Baltimore
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| William Patterson by Thomas Sully, Bequest of Mrs. George Patterson, MdHS, 1883.1.1 |
By September of 1805, Elizabeth had all but given up on hearing from her husband Jerome. Sad and missing her mother with whom she had a very strong bond, she set sail aboard the brig Mars and returned reluctantly to Baltimore. Crossing the Atlantic in the fall was risky, but Elizabeth arrived safely in mid-November and moved into the Patterson House to await word from Jerome.
Life was not easy for Elizabeth at the Patterson household. Her father, who had never fully approved of her marriage, viewed her as a strong-willed and careless girl who had cost him a great deal of money. William Patterson had put cash on deposit in several European ports, chartered a ship and paid for two of his sons to accompany his daughter on her voyage. But the most egregious offense for Mr. Patterson was covering his new son-in-law’s extensive debts. There were bills for tailors, shoemakers, carriages and pistols. Jerome had spared no expense. Mr. Patterson felt obliged to pay these debts in order to keep his family name in good standing.
Elizabeth like any daughter, desperately wanted her father’s approval and spent years trying to make up for her marital mistake, but her father and her brothers treated her harshly and rebuked her at every turn. In later years she wrote:
Quietness was not my definition of happiness. That the Event, and not my Conduct should determine my character, that to be Unsuccessful and guilty should be the same thing and that I should be held up as a public criminal for not doing what could not be done. (MS142…)
Despite Elizabeth’s best efforts, her father never forgave her.
Finally in January of 1806, letters from Jerome reached Elizabeth in Maryland. In the spring, James McIlhiny from London forwarded a letter and two boxes of gifts to from Jerome to Elizabeth. The boxes contained an elaborate Paris wardrobe, jewels, and a thousand guineas in gold. Feeling entitled, William Patterson kept half the gold. He also sold many of the goods Jerome had purchased in America.
Desperate for word from Jerome, Elizabeth began visiting Washington to be near diplomats who were privy to the most current news from Europe. She stayed with her uncle, Sam Smith, and his wife Margaret in their Capitol Hill residence. During these frequent visits, she began a friendship with then First Lady Dolley Madison who often invited Elizabeth to her famous dinners. In July of 1806, one of the last letters from Jerome arrived full of continued promises to return to his wife and son.
Back in Europe, Napoleon was launching an ultimately unsuccessful effort to get Pope Pius VII to declare Elizabeth and Jerome’s marriage invalid. Though the Pope refused, Napoleon was undeterred and sought to have the marriage annulled by the French ecclesiastical court. In October of 1806, Napoleon got what he wanted most and what Jerome and Elizabeth had not wanted at all.
Behind the Scenes
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| Exhibition Designer, Chuck Mack, looks at paint samples and compares them to interiors from the Napoleonic-era. |
Now that spring is here, preparations for the opening of ‘Woman of Two Worlds:’ Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte and Her Quest for an Imperial Legacy are moving at a rapid pace!
The exhibition opening is less than three months away and we are all running in high gear. Everyday “behind the scenes” is filled with research and planning for the installation. Here is a glimpse of what is in the works to make Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte’s amazing story come to life.
We all know how difficult it is to find the perfect colors for our homes, but selecting the “right” color for an exhibition requires even greater thought. Chief Curator, Alexandra Deutsch, and Exhibitions Designer Chuck Mack, spent many hours looking at popular interior colors used during Elizabeth’s lifetime and narrowed the color selections down to several greens, lavenders and blues.
Although we are not going to reveal the final selection, suffice it to say we were all surprised by the color that looked best in the gallery and complimented with the objects in the exhibition the most. Elizabeth’s account books note that she favored yellow and believed it flattered her coloring. As a nod to this, hints of yellow will dot the graphics throughout the gallery.
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| Account Book and Diary of Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte, H. Furlong Baldwin Library, Maryland Historical Society, MS 142, Box 13A, unnumbered page. |
Curatorial Volunteers Barbara Meger and Julie Madden study and transcribe Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte’s letters, ephemera and account books in the H. Furlong Baldwin Library.
Both Meger and Madden possess expertise in textiles and costume history, making them ideal researchers for this project.
Although Elizabeth maintained a frugal household, she was not above buying many shoes.
Meger discovered this fact while combing through Elizabeth’s diaries and account books.
Working with the Bonaparte Papers in the library yields a seemingly unending font of information about Elizabeth’s life.
To the right, Elizabeth records information about some of her jewelry, in particular a pair of amethyst and pearl earrings “sett in England in year 1805…”
Colleen Callahan of Costume and Textile Specialists fits a reproduction of Elizabeth’s mother, Dorcas Spear Patterson’s gown on a form. This reproduction was then sent overnight mail to StudioEis in Brooklyn, New York where they carved the body for Dorcas’s mannequin.
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| Sculptor David Hayes |
We measured Dorcas’ original gown to determine just how small the mannequin’s torso needs to be.
Dorcas was remarkably petite. Measuring from shoulder to shoulder, she was only 9 ¼” wide!
Colleen and I checked the waist measurement, too, and determined that Dorcas had an admirable 21” to 22” waistline during her early life.
At right, Sculptor David Hayes of StudioEis, used the muslin and mock-up dress form to carve Dorcas’s torso to its minute proportions.
David is making final adjustments before the mannequin goes to casting. (Go ahead and click on the image, and it will magnify on screen.)
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A sculpture of Dorcas Spear Patterson’s face is seen here before its final revisions
After comparing it to the portrait of Dorcas by Robert Edge Pine, the chin was narrowed and the nose was lengthened slightly. The sculpture is now going into its final casting.
Exhibition Designer Chuck Mack works closely with me and Heather Haggstrom, Exhibitions Manager, to plan out the layout of the exhibition cases. Here he is seen with some of the silver that will be on view in the exhibition.
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| Chuck Mack and Alexandra Deutsch, Chief Curator, trace the layout of the miniature paintings that will be in the exhibition. |
The silver is laid out on a paper template that represents the dimensions of the case. Careful consideration is given to the history of each object before it is positioned in the case. This process is repeated for every case in the installation.
The resulting template will be used to design the exhibition case and the mounts for the paintings. This collection of miniatures, all portraits of the Bonaparte family, includes Napoleon and Prince Jerome (Elizabeth’s husband).
Below is a group of accessories being considered for one of the textile cases.
This grouping of textiles were laid out and considered for the installation. Textiles can only remain on view for brief periods because light exposure is detrimental to their condition. As a result, we must plan to rotate textiles throughout the life of the exhibition.
Thankfully, many of Elizabeth’s accessories from lace gloves to shawls survive.
More behind the scenes activities are going on, but you’ll have to read our next post to learn more about that. We’ll be giving you a glimpse of the various conservators hard at work preparing paintings, silver, and other objects for the installation
Abandoned!
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| Jerome Bonaparte, 1813, Engraving by T.L. Potrelle and M. Gaudin after a painting by Kinson, Collection of the Maryland Historical Society |
Jerome left Elizabeth in Lisbon, promising her that he would convince Napoleon to recognize the marriage.
Shortly after his departure, Jerome wrote to Elizabeth saying, “Don’t cry because tears do no good and may do you much harm… Take care not to receive visitors or to make visits and to have someone always with you either Mrs. Anderson, the doctor, or William… I embrace you as I love you, and you know that I love you very much…”
He had assured Betsy that if he failed in his mission he would withdraw “with my little family in no matter what corner of the world.” When Jerome arrived in Rome, Napoleon refused to bend on his decision and gave him an ultimatum: either give up Elizabeth or be stripped of all his titles, removed from the line of succession and left without a cent.
He ordered Jerome to have no further contact with Elizabeth and sent him back to the Navy where he was to prove himself in battle. Jerome saw no other option but to comply with his brother’s demands. He later told Elizabeth that his plan was to prove himself in battle and then ask for her as his reward.
Meanwhile back in London, Elizabeth tried to keep a low profile. She did not want to draw more anger from Napoleon and make Jerome’s mission impossible. One London paper noted that she received very little company.
During Jerome’s absence, Elizabeth grew desperate for news and tried contacting him by any means possible. She sent letters to Jerome through Napoleon’s step-daughter, Hortense, and his brother Lucien.
The only news she heard was from a newspaper, recounting his arrival in Genoa and his reconciliation with his brother. In July she received a letter from a Dr. Garnier who stated that Jerome was very worried about her and he urged her to return to America as soon as she could travel.
Elizabeth discounted this letter as she didn’t trust Dr. Garnier. A letter from a more trustworthy source, Alex Le Camus, was sent to Mr. Patterson in Baltimore. Le Camus assured Mr. Patterson that Jerome was doing all that was in his power to make the situation right and again urged Elizabeth to return to America, set up house and await a summons to France. Mr. Patterson neglected to share this information with his daughter and left her wondering why her beloved husband had abandoned her.
Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte’s Timeline
With special attention to costume.
Prepared by Barbara Meger for the Maryland Historical Society, November 2012
Sources:
Burn, Helen Jean. Betsy Bonaparte. Baltimore: The Maryland Historical Society (2010). [B]
Lewis, Charlene M. Boyer. Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte—An American Aristocrat in the Early Republic.
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press (2012). [L]
In Europe.
| Date | Location | Event | Costume/textile reference |
| 1785: 6 February | Baltimore | Birth to Wm. & Dorcas (Spear) Patterson | |
| 1795 | 36 South Street Baltimore |
Day student at Mme Lacomb’s boarding school | |
| 1803: late summer | Baltimore races | Jerome first saw Betsy | Buff-colored silk dress and hat with long ostrich plumes |
| 1803: 24 December | Baltimore | Marriage to Jerome Bonaparte | Muslin dress, richly embroidered, with a single undergarment |
| 1803-1804 | Parisian dresses had been acquired by Jerome | Included “mantilla & dress made of black lace & others of silk & satin” (1875 account book, EPB) | |
| 1804: 3 February | Washington, DC | Ball at Mr. Smith’s | “. . . thinnest sarcenet and white crepe. . .” (Margaret Bayard Smith) “. . . a gown of dampened muslin that clung to her body.” |
| 1804: winter | Washington, DC | Painted by Gilbert Stuart | |
| 1804: April & May | New York City | Awaiting passage to France, 1st attempt | |
| 1804: June | New York City | British ships block voyage | |
| 1804: summer | New York | Trip up Hudson River &to Niagara Falls | |
| 1804: August 3 | Boston | ||
| 1804: September 5 | New York City | En route to Philadelphia & Baltimore | |
| 1804: October | Delaware Bay | Caught in storm | |
| 1804: December | Annapolis | Turned back at Hampton Roads blockade | |
| 1805: winter | Baltimore | Jerome purchased furniture for house | |
| 1805: 10 March | Bound for Europe on Erin. Betsy 6 months pregnant. | ||
| 1805: April | Lisbon | Arrival | |
| 1805: April 9 | Lisbon | Jerome ordered to meet Napoleon in Italy | |
| 1805: 10 May | Amsterdam | Erin denied arrival | |
| 1805: 19 May | Dover | Arrival | |
| 1805: May | London | ||
| 1805: June | Pope refuses to annul marriage as requested by Napoleon | ||
| 1805: 7 July | London | Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte (Bo) born | |
| 1805: 5 September | London | Departure | With enormous wardrobe |
| 1805: October | Paris | Jerome shops for Betsy; sends boxes to England | 10 dresses of exquisite fabrics trimmed with laces & embroidery, 3 hats, personal linens & handkerchiefs, etc. |
| 1805: 14 November | Baltimore | Arrival | |
| 1805: 21 November | Jerome writes he has sent a 2nd box of Parisian clothing | ||
| 1806: spring | Baltimore | Receives first of Jerome’s shipments | |
| 1806: October | Paris | French court nullifies marriage | |
| 1806: fall | Begins friendship w/Dolley Madison | ||
| 1806: December | Wears “Black Lace Robe over pink. . . dress from Jerome worth 1500$” (Sophia May____) | ||
| 1807: 7 July | Westphalia | Jerome made king | |
| 1807: 12 August | Jerome marries Catherine of Wittemburg | ||
| 1809: December | Baltimore | Receives first of French pension (60,000 francs, annually) | |
| 1811 | Washington DC | Residence | |
| 1812: February | Wears fine crepe robe of azure interwoven with silver. | ||
| 1812: fall | Maryland | Files for divorce | |
| 1813: January | Maryland | Divorce granted | |
| 1813 | Washington DC | Elbridge Gerry is frequent escort | |
| 1813: 24 November | Dolley Madison asks Betsy to shop for her, “in case you meet with anything elegant in the form of a turban or an evening wrap of flowered lace in gold or silver thread.” | ||
| 1814: 21 May | Baltimore | Death of Dorcas Spear Patterson. Siblings Caroline & Artemius had died same year. |
|
| 1814: September | Receives last payment of French pension | Itemized expenses ; kept altering clothing, removing trimming from one dress to another. | |
| 1815: 26 July | Liverpool | Arrival en route to London/Cheltenham | |
| 1815: November | Paris | Arrival | |
| Paris | Gave small gifts of needlework to friends. | ||
| 1816: summer | Geneva | Searches for schooling for Bo | |
| 1816: August | Paris | Leaves for Le Harve; returns to Paris | |
| Meets Lady Sydny Morgan | |||
| 1817: September | Sails for New York; coach to Baltimore | ||
| 1817-1819 | Baltimore | Kept to her room, reading & working on needlework. | |
| 1818: 29 July | Lady Sydney Morgan, “I wish you would embroider me some little thing that I might have some of your work to boast of.” | ||
| 1819: June | Amsterdam | Arrives w/Bo en route through Germany to Geneva | |
| 1821: fall | Italy | Visits w/Bo | Pauline Bonaparte Borghese gives Betsy a ballgown |
| 1823: February | Bo admitted to Harvard | ||
| 1823 | Florence, Geneva, Paris | ||
| 1824 | Baltimore | Via Boston | |
| 1824-25 | Baltimore | Only distractions were reading & embroidery | |
| 1825: June | Europe | For 9 years in Florence, Geneva, Paris | |
| 1826: May | Bo visits Europe | ||
| 1829: November | Baltimore | Bo marries Susan May | |
| 1829: 21 December | Asks for belongings left in Baltimore to be shipped to her. | ||
| 1833 | Paris | Attends court of King Louis Philippe | |
| 1834 | Baltimore | Return | Purchases Paris clothing and 50 fashionable hats; at least 22 gowns including gauze, satin, silk, hand painted muslin, lace & merino. |
| 1835: February | Baltimore | Death of William Patterson | |
| 1839: summer | Paris & Italy | Return to Europe | |
| 1840 | Baltimore | Boarding house on Lexington St. | |
| 1849 | London | Visit w/friend Sydney Morgan | |
| 1860: 24 June | Death of Jerome Bonaparte | ||
| 1861 | Paris | To defend marriage contract | |
| 1861: August | New York | En route to Baltimore | |
| 1863 | Final brief trip to Europe | ||
| 1870: 17 June | Baltimore | Death of Bo | |
| 1870 | Baltimore | Living in a large room on 2nd floor of boarding house on Cathedral St. | |
| 1879: 4 April | Baltimore | Death |
In her later years, Betsy regaled visitors with a history of particular pieces of clothing: “This was her husband’s wedding coat; this dress was given her by the Princess Borghese; this one had been worn at the court in Tuscany; this one she wore at the Pitti Palace the day she met her husband; this she wore when presented to Madame Mere, etc.” [Eugene L. Didier, The Life and Letters of Madame Bonaparte (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1879), p. 264.]
