I have not got a clue why he chose to come to America, I was surprised when doing research for this hub to find that Joseph Bonaparte, like the Marquis de Lafayette, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and various other founding fathers of the United States, was a Mason.Perhaps Masonic brothers helped him decide and get settled. While Joseph Bonaparte’s time in New Jersey may be obscure to some, residents of Bordentown City are well acquainted with his story. By Anne Levin But local preservationists and city … Developers had eyed a Bordentown property once owned by Napoleon Bonaparte’s brother Joseph as a potential warehouse site. A new partnership has ensured that its history won’t be forgotten. 'I think people will come from all over to visit,' Mead said. Joseph Bonaparte, a former king of Spain and Naples, fled from Europe after his emperor brother Napoleon’s defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 and landed in Bordentown, New Jersey, where he built a lavish estate called Point Breeze. BORDENTOWN, N.J. (AP) — Most of the former New Jersey country estate that once belonged to the oldest brother of Napoleon Bonaparte is to be part of the state's park system following a … The residence featured stunning amenities including a vast wine cellar, 8,000-book library and an art collection complete with the Spanish crown jewels and paintings by Jacques-Louis David, Rembrandt and Goya. It was believed to be the second-largest home in the US at the time, behind the White House. Joseph Bonaparte, a former king of Spain and Naples, fled from Europe after his emperor brother Napoleon’s defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 and landed in Bordentown, New Jersey, where he built a lavish estate called Point Breeze. Joseph is pictured in a portrait from the early 19th century **Update: It is a more likely theory that these caves are a part of Joseph Bonaparte's escape tunnels from his mansion. Most of the former New Jersey country estate that once belonged to the oldest brother of Napoleon Bonaparte is to be part of the state’s park system following a recent $4.6 million purchase. Phone: (609) 298-1740 Like us on Facebook to see similar stories, National Infertility Awareness Week: Inside America's infertility problem, 3 people killed and 2 injured in shooting in Kenosha, sheriff's department says, Joseph built a 38,000-square-foot mansion atop a hill on his 60-acre property, so he could be on the lookout for any hostile forces approaching. BMI was an Honor school with a US Army ROTC program. It was the home of Joseph Bonaparte, the brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, from 1816 to 1839. Copyright © Bordentown Historical Society 2020 |. BORDENTOWN CITY — For the very first time, more than 50 acres of the Joseph Bonaparte estate will become available to city residents as a public park. Bonaparte fled Spain after his brother’s defeat at Waterloo, bringing with him only a suitcase full of jewels. Travelers along Park Street in Bordentown City likely may take more notice of the Ocean Spray processing plant than a patch of woods nearby. He emigrated to the United States, where he settled near Bordentown, New Jersey on an estate overlooking the Delaware River not far from Philadelphia. He lived in New Jersey from 1816 until 1839. He lived there for about 23 years before leaving New Jersey permanently in 1839 and moving back to Europe. Much of it is actually the remains of a building remodeled in English Georgian Revival style in 1924 for Harris Hammon, who purchased the estate at Point Breeze as built in 1850 by Henry Becket, a British consul in Philadelphia. 'There's a real opportunity to celebrate the history and at the same time make this very relevant to people today who want to come and walk on the trails, learn about the land and possibly even garden on the property,' Linda Mead, the president of D&R Greenway, the land preservation trust that helped arrange the sale of the property, told the New York Times. Joseph hosted a number of high profile guests at the estate, including John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, Henry Clay and the Marquis de Lafayette. But after gaining approval from the society's leadership in Rome, the Divine Word closed the multi million-dollar deal with D&R Greenway, Bordentown and New Jersey, with the state providing the bulk of the funding. The next year Joseph Bonaparte purchased an estate at the edge of Bordentown village on the New York turnpike. Joseph is pictured in a portrait from the early 19th century New Jersey is known … Point Breeze was an estate in Bordentown, New Jersey. However he had the foresight to bury much more at a Swiss refuge. Joseph Bonaparte’s Monogram. He was the oldest of Charles and Letizia Bonaparte’s eight children (for the complete list, see Napoleon’s family tree), and a year and a half older than their second child, Napoleon. News of its preservation has caught the attention of news sources across the globe. Joseph Bonaparte, older brother of Napoleon, resided in Bordentown, New Jersey, after his exile from Spain. Recent archaeological excavations in Bordentown, New Jersey have unearthed the remains of Joseph Bonaparte’s palatial estate, Point Breeze. 'But it's led me down a lot of interesting paths.'. In addition to the rubble of this mansion and some hedges of its elaborate gardens, only the original tunnel to the river (broken through in several places) and the house of Bonaparte’s secretary remain. Email: bordentownhistoricalsociety@gmail.com, Mailing Address He lived there for 17 years, entertaining guests of great fame such as Henry Clay, Daniel Webster and the future 6th U.S. President, John Quincy Adams. Joseph Bonaparte and other family members emigrated to the United States after the 1815 abdication of Napoleon. The site in Bordentown once harbored Joseph Bonaparte, a former king. Joseph Bonaparte (1768-1844) was a trusted advisor to his brother, who made him King of Naples in 1806 and King of Spain in 1808. The property gradually lost its luster as it was passed through different owners who didn't show much interest in preserving it. Attributed to American painter Charles Lawrence, Point Breeze, the Estate of Joseph Napoleon Bonaparte at Bordentown, New Jersey, circa 1817–20 (Public domain via … Today only vestiges of the Bonaparte estate remain. Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte, Comte de Survilliers, was a French lawyer and diplomat and older brother of Napoleon Bonaparte. Mead, the trust's president, then approached city and state officials about coming on board with the purchase. A year later he moved to Bordentown at a spot that was known as Point Breeze, on a high bluff overlooking the Delaware and Crosswicks Creek. The Garden State was once home to French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte's older brother, Joseph Bonaparte, who settled there in the early 19th century and built a lavish estate called Point Breeze in the Bordentown in 1816. Father Quang Duc Dinh, provincial superior of Divine Word's Chicago Province, told the Times that the society chose the buyers based on their future plans for the land. While the sprawling residence is no longer standing, city and state officials recently teamed up with preservationists to purchase the 60-acre plot for $4.6million and turn it into a public park to preserve Bordentown's ties to the Bonaparte family and Joseph, a former king of Naples and Spain. Credit Line Through prior acquisition of the Friends of American Art Collection Reference Number 1987.170 Gallery: These incredible landmarks were almost destroyed (Love Exploring). The Bordentown Military Institute was founded in 1881 and the main building was part of the estate of Joseph Bonaparte, the exiled brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, the King of France. The cause of the fire remains unclear - with some historians suggesting it was an accident while others theorized it was arson intended destroy copies of Joseph's correspondence with Napoleon. In late 1778, they together left Corsica to go to school in F… The book tells of how Joseph's original mansion burned down in 1820. On the bluff above it he built a new home, “Point Breeze”. The residents of Bordentown nicknamed the Count, “The Good Mr. Bonaparte”. He built a grand estate named Point Breeze, where he collected art, cultivated sprawling gardens, and hosted some of the area’s most prominent citizens for social events. The property is set to serve as the new heart of Bordentown, with both its city hall and its police station housed in buildings that were erected by people who owned the land after Joseph. When he learned that Divine Word was thinking about selling the estate because the upkeep was too expensive, Tucci approached D&R Greenway about buying it in late 2018. Under the grounds there was a maze of tunnels in case Joseph needed to escape to the nearby creek. For more than 200 years, Point Breeze -- the sprawling, 60-acre estate in Bordentown that once belonged to Joseph Bonaparte, older brother of Napoleon and an exiled king himself -- … Jozef Bonaparte (Frans: Joseph; Italiaans: Giuseppe; Spaans: José) (Corte, 7 januari 1768 — Florence, 28 juli 1844) was de oudere broer van Napoleon Bonaparte.Dankzij hem werd hij koning van Napels (1806–1808) en vervolgens van Spanje (1808–1813).. Jozef was van oorsprong advocaat te Ajaccio, een van de leiders van de democratische Fransgezinde partij op Corsica en officier in het leger. It was Tucci who helped come up with the idea of purchasing the land for the city, after he met some Divine Word priests who were living at Point Breeze. Biographer Patricia Tyson Stroud chronicled Joseph's experience in the US in her 2005 book, The Man Who Had Been King: The American Exile of Napoleon's Brother Joseph. Joseph Bonaparte, older brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, ending up owning the Point Breeze estate, or Bonaparte’s Park, in New Jersey after he took refuge in America in 1815.How it happened begins several years earlier when Joseph and Napoleon were looking at a map of the United States. 'We chose to protect the historical and open nature of this beautiful property,' he said. In "A Sketch of Joseph Bonaparte, by Helen Berke- ley," which appeared in "Godey's Lady's Book" for April, 1845, that old-time author, in a description of a visit to Bonaparte House with her husband and nieces, has left us the most interesting and intimate picture extant of the count and his Bordentown residence. The former king, who would have been about 48 years old at the time, quickly set to work building Point Breeze in the small town that sits right between New York City and Philadelphia, about nine miles south of Trenton. Recent archaeological excavations in Bordentown, New Jersey have unearthed the remains of Joseph Bonaparte’s palatial estate, Point Breeze. Bordentown's mayor, James E Lynch Jr, said residents were relieved that Point Breeze would be turned into a park instead of a housing development or warehouse, as some of the potential buyers had proposed. (1814 -1881) from the September 17, 1845, Bordentown estate sale. (1814 -1881) from the September 17, 1845, Bordentown estate sale. D&R Greenway faced fierce competition over the land, Mead said, telling the Times: 'There were literally developers breathing down our neck.'. AN ERA GONE BY: This historic painting from Joseph Bonaparte’s Point Breeze estate, by Thomas Birch, dates from 1818 and is one of many works of art documenting the property in Bordentown once owned by Napoleon’s brother. Point Breeze, the Estate of Joseph Napoleon Bonaparte at Bordentown, New Jersey Origin Philadelphia Date c. 1817–1820 Medium Oil on canvas Dimensions 68.6 × 92.7 cm (27 × 36 1/2 in.) 'That little article's cost me a lot of money,' he told the Times. Doug Kiovsky, vice president of the Bordentown Historical Society, called the site unique, adding that “not many places in this country can claim that a king” once resided there. The Point Breeze estate in Bordentown City will be permanently preserved thanks to an agreement between city officials and the D&R Greenway. Many descendants of Joachim Murat, King of Naples, also were born or lived in Bordentown, having followed their uncle Joseph there. Pictured: Peter Tucci, who has spend years collecting Bonaparte artifacts, tours what's left of Point Breeze on January 15, Bordentown is located right between New York City and Philadelphia, about nine miles south of Trenton, New Jersey. The home is pictured in an undated image from the Athenaeum of Philadelphia museum, While the sprawling residence is no longer standing, city and state officials recently teamed up with preservationists to purchase the 60-acre plot for $4.6million and turn it into a public park to preserve Bordentown's ties to the Bonaparte family. Joseph Bonaparte was born in Corte, Corsica, on January 7, 1768. 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