Newspaper Page Text
Page 16
Flagpole Magazine
October 2, 1991
Ghost Fry by John Seawright
Napoleon’s In-Laws on the County Farm
Few sights can arouse such outward
compassion and inward delight as the sight
of an Emperor’s in-law sitting on the steps of
the county poorhouse. When Benjamin
Patterson, age 79, was found dead in his
bed in the Hart County poorhouse one
January morning in i891, the citizens of
northeast Georgia lost not only a famous
giant (“Long Ben", seven feet tall, had been
the tallest man in the area for two genera
tions), but also their favorite object of smug
pity, their shabby link with the dark fortunes
of the Bonapartes and the glories of the First
Empire.
Benjamin, his brother Fielding, and their
father, Andrew, haa raised their families as
squatters on little farms along what is now
US 29 south of Hartwell since well before
the Civil War They lived on the lands of
another Patterson, William, a wealthy Balti
more merchant who had bought 10,000
acres in present-day southwestern Hart
County just after the Revolution. William
Patterson had more on his mind than his
Georgia real estate and he tolerated doz
ens of squatters from whom he occasionally
collected rent and who sometimes bought
their farms from him. Ben Patterson claimed
that he was the nephew of William Patterson
and that Andrew, his father, was the young
black sheep of the Baltimore family, ban
ished to Georgia at an early age. Somehow,
he said, they had never gotten title to their
land, and the new owners had forced him
off his farm, leaving him an aged ward of the
county.
Old William Patterson, Ben’s supposed
uncle, was born in Ireland in 1752, the son
of Scots Presbyterians. At fourteen he was
sentto Baltimore
to clerk for a mer
chant and soon
went into busi
ness for himself.
The American
Revolution gave
him his chance
to get rich. He
imported muni
tions for the Con
tinental Con
gress and
loaned Lafayette
money to outfit
his troops. By
1805 he was
considered the
second wealthi
est man in the
United States.
William Pat
terson had thir
teen children,
including the
lovely and ambi
tious Elizabeth, who would be described in
his will as having caused him more anxiety
than the other twelve combined. In 1802
Elizabeth, 18, met and married Jerome
Bonaparte, 19, Napoleon's youngest
brother, then playing hookey from his gam
bling and military obligations and hitting the
French embassy up for walking-around
money while checking out the scene in Bal
timore. Neither family approved the mar
riage but the
Catholic bishop
of Baltimore per
formed the cere
mony and Eliza
beth scandalized
the city with her
skimpy wedding
dress. Within a
year Napoleon
cut off Jerome's
allowance, de
clared the mar
riage void and
banned Eliza
beth from Eu
rope. Nonethe
less, the couple,
Elizabeth now
pregnant, set out
for France in
1804 They
landed at Lisbon,
Jerome got his
luggage and left
his bride on
board with a fond “Later on." Denied entry
to the continent all the way up to Amster
dam, she went to England where her son,
Jerome Napoleon “Bo" Bonaparte was born.
In 1805 Napoleon requested an annulment
of the marriage from Pope Pius VII. The
pope turned him down, providing the ex
cuse for a quarrel that ended up with the
Holy Father in the pokey and the Catholic
Church stripped of most of its real estate
holdings. By 1807 Jerome had come around
to his big brother’s point of view, married a
German princess and became king of
Westphalia. Elizabeth sailed back to Balti
more with little Bo and $12,000 a year hush
money. The Maryland legislature granted
her a divorce and she settled into the life of
a rich nut, living to be 94. Young Bo Bona
parte married Daniel Webster’s grand
daughter and their son, Charles Joseph,
became a corporation-bashing U.S. Attor
ney-General under Teddy Roosevelt.
Which brings us back to the Hartwell
poorhouse. Was Ben Patterson who he
claimed to be? The 1860 Hart census
shows him, his brother and his father, aged
40, 28, and 70, all claiming at that time to
have been born in North Carolina. If An
drew and William, born almost forty years
apart, did have the same parents they came
from rugged stock indeed. What seems
more likely is that the coincidence of a
name and a place suggested an irony of
fate that made a story too good not to be
true. Ben Patterson spoke of his Uncle Billy
and Cousin Betsey enough to convince
himself of a glorious lineage and an unjust
fate. This column will continue with more
legends of the Pattersons.
Next Week: Old Mortality and Who Struck
Billy Patterson.
John Seawright
What seems more likely
is that the coincidence
of a name
and a place suggested
an irony of fate that
made a story too good
not to be true.
The University Union
Contemporary Concerts Division
Presents:
The Chick Corea Electric Band
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 1991
7 PM LEGION FIELD
(In the event of inclement weather, there will be
shows at 7 & 10 PM in Georgia Hall.)
$5 with valid UGA ID • $10 non-students
TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW AT THE TATE CENTER CASHIER’S WINDOW
YOU ARE A RAPIST
• If YOU don’t stop when she says stop.
• It doesn’t matter what she said before.
• It doesn’t matter how much either of you has had to drink.
• No means No. If You don't stop, IT IS RAPE!
• Even if she doesn't say no,
• If you use coercion, intimidation, physical threats
or
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• It is RAPE.
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YOU HAVE BEEN RAPED
• If you have been forced to have sex without your willing consent.
IF YOU HAVE BEEN RAPED
• Call 911 and report it to the police
• Call the Rape Crisis Center, 353-1912, for support and information.
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