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Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte (January 7, 1768 - July 28, 1844) was the elder brother of Napoléon Bonaparte. During French Emperor Napoléon's reign, Joseph-Napoléon was made King of Naples and Sicily (1806-1808) and then King of Spain (known as Joseph I or José I) from 1808 until 1813. After Napoléon's forces were defeated at the Battle of Vitoria in 1813, Joseph-Napoléon abdicated the Spanish throne and returned to France. After the fall of Napoléon, he left for exile in the United States.

Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte removed jewels from Spain before abdicating the throne and reportedly used those jewels to fund his lifestyle in the United States for many years. Initially he arrived in the U.S. in 1815 and lived temporarily in New York City and Philadelphia. Later he acquired an estate called "Point Breeze" in Bordentown, New Jersey in 1816. According to one account, at Bordentown:

"Bonaparte built a spacious, magnificently decorated home on a promontory with panoramic views of Crosswicks Creek and the Delaware River. The mansion's furnishings included the country’s finest collection of European art and an 8,000-volume library that was the largest in America. The property was known locally as Bonaparte's Park; when fire engulfed the mansion in 1820, nearly all the contents were saved by townspeople who came to help. Bonaparte built his second manor house around the estate's brick stables, which were located away from the river near the turnpike to New York, or today's Park Street. In addition to the manor house, the estate included auxiliary buildings and housing for servants, farmers and gardeners. Bonaparte built a three-story lake house for his younger daughter, Princess Zénaïde and her husband Prince Charles-Lucien Bonaparte, an accomplished ornithologist and naturalist. Bonaparte’s dream landscape was short lived. He returned to Europe in 1839 and died in Italy in 1844."

Source: Delaware River Heritage Trail: Point Breeze Historic District, Bordentown City (visited Jan. 31, 2016).

For one hundred fifty years or longer, the story has been told that when looking for an estate in America after his exile, Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte visited John Hunter in his grand mansion on Hunter's Island in the Town of Pelham and fell in love with the estate. According to this story, Bonaparte offered to purchase the estate, but Hunter refused. (For a few of the many, many sources that recount this tale, see the list at the end of today's article.)

There is a most fascinating account that purports to describe the actual meeting between Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte and John Hunter when Bonaparte tried to buy Hunter's estate. According to that account, the author once spoke with John Hunter and:

"He said that Joseph Bonaparte, when he came to this country, selected that estate as a place of residence, that the price was agreed upon, and when Bonaparte came to pay, he pulled out a bag of diamonds, laid them on the table, named the prices to each, and told Mr. Hunter he could pick out the amount due him. Several of the diamonds had histories. Mr. Hunter declined to take the diamonds, and the trade was broken off. He told us that Bonaparte then sent several of the diamonds to London for sale, and they brought a great deal more than the prices he put upon them. No doubt Hunter's Island attracted Bonaparte because it was to a certain extent an independent possession, surrounded by water and approached only by a bridge and by boats from the Sound. He also gave us a drink of old Jamaica, which he laid in about the time the Bonaparte trade was off."

Source: A Citizen of Marin, Marin Journal, Apr. 5, 1877, Vol. 17, No. 4, p. 2, col. 1.

Portrait of Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte

During His Reign as King Joseph I of Spain.

Is there any truth to the story that Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte tried to buy Hunter's Island in the Town of Pelham before purchasing Point Breeze in Bordentown in 1816? The answer seems to be that the story may possibly be true, but more evidence is needed.

By the time Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte arrived in the United States in 1815, John Hunter owned Hunter's Island where he built his estate. Moreover, there is no doubt that Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte was in the New York City region at the time. Thus, it certainly would be possible that the story is true. The hearsay "evidence" printed in the Marin Journal in 1877 is intriguing and ascribes the story directly to John Hunter. More evidence, however, is needed.

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Below is a list of citations presented in reverse chronological order, with links to the source where available, referencing a few of the many sources that recount the tale that Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte tried to buy the Hunter's Island estate from John Hunter.

Barr, Lockwood Anderson, A Brief, But Most Complete & True Account of the Settlement of the Ancient Town of Pelham Westchester County, State of New York Known One Time Well & Favourably as the Lordshipp & Manour of Pelham Also The Story of the Three Modern Villages Called The Pelhams, pp. 98-99 (The Dietz Press, Inc. 1946) ("It is said that Louis Philippe and his brothers, seeking a refuge, made a handsome offer for the Island through their emissaries, which was refused. Later in 1815-20, Joseph, King of Spain, the brother of Napoleon, tried to buy the Island, without success, and so settled at Bordentown, New Jersey. There are unconfirmed traditions that Lafayette was a guest of John Hunter during his visits, but he might well have been, for he passed through Pelham several times.").

Cook, Harry T., The Borough of The Bronx 1639 - 1913 Its Marvelous Development and Historical Surroundings, p. 178 (NY, NY: Published by the Author, 1913) ("It is said that Joseph Bonaparte offered a large sum for Hunter's Island before making his home at Bordentown, New Jersey.").

Jenkins, Stephen, The Story of the Bronx From the Purchase Made by the Dutch from the Indians in 1639 to the Present Day, p. 315 (NY, NY & London: G. P. Putnam's Sons The Knickerbocker Press, 1912) ("One can readily believe that Joseph Bonaparte offered a large sum for this little island before making his home at Bordentown, New Jersey.").

ATTRACTIONS OF HUNTER'S ISLAND -- Beautiful Part of Pelham Bay Park -- Good Fishing, N.Y. Times, May 10, 1903, p. 34, cols. 2-3 (NOTE: Paid subscription required to access link; "Plain as the old Hunter house now seems, those who see it amid its own little island world can easily believe the tradition that Joseph Bonaparte offered Mr. Hunter a great price for the tiny kingdom before making his exile home at Bordentown, N. J.").

Baird, Charles W., History of Rye Westchester County, New York 1660-1870 Including Harrison and the White Plains Till 1788, p. 374 (NY, NY: Anson D. F. Randolph and Company, 1871) ("In 1815 or 1816, Rye was visited by Joseph Bonaparte, ex-King of Spain, who was then in search of a suitable place for his future residence in America. It is said that for a time he entertained the purpose of making his home here. The account runs that Bonaparte on his arrival in this country was desirous of establishing himself somewhere on the western shore of Long Island Sound; and that the locations which pleased him most were 'Theall's Hill' [at Rye] and Hunter's Island. He was unable however to obtain the amount of land in one body, of sufficient area for a Park, in this vicinity; while Mr. Hunter refused the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, which the ex-king offered him.").

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Below is the full text of the article quoted in part in the posting above. It is followed by a citation and link to its source.

"A Citizen of Marin.
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'W,' of Mission San Jose, contributes the following to the S. F. Bulletin. It will be read with interest by the gentleman's many friends in this county:

The Mr. Maillard who donated the military maps to the University is quite a noted man. He is now a breeder of Jersey cattle near San Rafael. He bred in Bordentown the famous stallion Monday, sire, I believe, of Mollie McCarty, and other flyers -- see Turf Register. He married Sam Ward's sister. His father was a French physician, who came to this country with Joseph Bonaparte, and remained here when his patron returned to France. They lived on the Bonaparte estate at Bordentown. Now, for my story: Riding once near Throgg's Neck with a gentleman who resides in that neighborhood, he [Mr. Maillard] drove to an estate belonging to a Mr. Hunter -- Hunter's Island, I think they call it. We saw the old gentleman, father of the present proprietor, then over seventy years of age. He said that Joseph Bonaparte, when he came to this country, selected that estate as a place of residence, that the price was agreed upon, and when Bonaparte came to pay, he pulled out a bag of diamonds, laid them on the table, named the prices to each, and told Mr. Hunter he could pick out the amount due him. Several of the diamonds had histories. Mr. Hunter declined to take the diamonds, and the trade was broken off. He told us that Bonaparte then sent several of the diamonds to London for sale, and they brought a great deal more than the prices he put upon them. No doubt Hunter's Island attracted Bonaparte because it was to a certain extent an independent possession, surrounded by water and approached only by a bridge and by boats from the Sound. He also gave us a drink of old Jamaica, which he laid in about the time the Bonaparte trade was off."

Source: A Citizen of Marin, Marin Journal, Apr. 5, 1877, Vol. 17, No. 4, p. 2, col. 1.

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Labels: 1815, 1816, Hunter's Island, John Hunter, Joseph Bonaparte, Joseph-Napoleon Bonaparte, Legend