The Remarkable Rise of Eliza Jumel (56 page)

15
. NYHS-AHMC, Jumel, Madame Stephen, Eliza Jumel to Jean Lesparre Jeantet, June 30, 1833.

16
. 1876 Bill of Complaint, letters 31, 34, 35.

17
. BM 710-J.

18
. Ibid. In Eliza's defense, many of the assets had become collectible only recently. She and Stephen had been trying to collect reimbursement for the
Prosper
since the 1820s (MJM 4.7, two English translations of a letter from Eliza Jumel to Stephen Jumel). Reparations only became possible after February 1836, when the French Chamber of Deputies began to carry out an 1831 treaty to compensate Americans for losses incurred during the Napoleonic Wars. Payments from the two marine insurance companies were made possible by the treaty's implementation as well (BM 710-J). That said, the indemnification treaty had been a political football for several years (Carl Cavanagh Hodge and Cathal J. Nolan, eds.,
U.S. presidents and foreign policy: From 1789 to the present
[Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2007], 68–69). The claims should have been revealed as potential assets.

19
. NYHS-JP, folder I, copy of the opinion of the chancellor in Eliza B. Jumel, administratrix, appelant, vs. François Jumel and Magdalen [sic] Lagardere, respondents; NYHS-JP, box 2, folder H, copy of decree and receipt.

20
. BM 710-J, examination of Eliza B. Burr, December 17, 1836; 1876 Bill of Complaint, letter 34.

21
. BM
710-J, examination of Eliza B. Burr, December 17, 1836.

22
. Ibid.

23
. Ibid.

24
. T. F. Thiselton Dyer,
Folk-lore of Shakespeare
(New York: Griffith & Farran, [1883]), 314.

25
.
Diary of James Gallatin
, 71, 262 (see chap. 15, n. 15); Hugh Stokes,
The Devonshire House circle
(New York: McBride, Nast & Company, 1916), 249.

26
. 1876 Bill of Complaint, letter 37A.

27
. BM 710-J.

28
. Ibid.

1
. Hartog,
Man and wife
, 145 (see chap. 21, n. 10).

2
. NYHS-JP, box 2, folder A, Eliza B. Jumel vs. George Pramer, Circuit Roll; Eliza B. Jumel vs. George W. Clause, Circuit Roll; and subpoenas in Jumel vs. Pramer, August 15, 1837; box 3, folder B, subpoena to Dewit C. Bates, August 15, 1837; subpoena to Dan Martin, attorney of George Prunier, July 28, 1837; box 3 folder C, Eliza B. Jumel vs. George Pramer et al., stipulation, July 31, 1838; box 3, folder F, subpoenas in Eliza B. Jumel vs. George W. Clause, August 15, 1837; box 3, folder H, copy of proposition to settle dower suit of Eliza B. Jumel vs. George Pramer and others, after an original of March 8, 1838; N.Y. Ct. Ch., Eliza B. Jumel vs. Abraham Maynard, BM J-708; N.Y. Sup. Ct., Eliza B. Jumel vs. John Maynard and Phebe Maynard, Judgment Record, 1838 M-93 (after Abraham Maynard died, Eliza filed suit against his heirs, John and Phebe, but I have counted the two suits as a single case in totaling the number of her suits for dower rights).

3
. NYHS-JP, box 3, folder H, copy of proposition to settle dower suit of Eliza B. Jumel vs. George Pramer and others, after an original of March 8, 1838; box 3, folder C, Eliza B. Jumel vs. George Pramer et al., stipulation, July 31, 1838. The property in Westchester occupied by the Maynards was an exception. In that case, a settlement was not forthcoming. She went to trial, her right to dower was affirmed, and she was awarded damages.

4
. NYHS-JP, box 2, folder H, petition from Eliza B. Jumel to the Chancellor of the State of New York (copy); N.Y. Ct. Ch., Eliza Jumel vs. Catherine Ottignon and others, BM J-709.

5
. Hartog,
Man and wife
, 145 (see chap. 21, n. 10).

6
. N.Y. Ct. Ch., Eliza Jumel vs. Catherine Ottignon and others, BM J-709.

7
. Basch,
In the eyes of the law
, 53 (see chap. 21, n. 10).

8
. N.Y. Ct. Ch., Eliza Jumel vs. Catherine Ottignon and others, BM J-709.

9
. NYHS-JP, box 2, folder H, copy of decree and receipt.

10
. 1876 Bill of Complaint, act of notoriety 1 (for Francois's death); letters 40 to 44.

11
. Ibid., letter 42.

12
. Ibid., letters 42–44.

13
. Ibid., letter 41; ADL, 4 Q 1 445 (May 22, 1821).

14
. 1876 Bill of Complaint, letter 42; “Madame Jumel's will,”
New York Herald
, February 8, 1866, 8 (the appearance of a legacy to Felicie in Eliza's will indicates that a compromise was reached).

15
. N.Y.
Ct. Ch., Magdalen [
sic
] Lagardere vs. Eliza B. Jumel, BM L-45.

16
. Ibid.

17
. Ibid.

18
. Ibid.

19
. 1876 Bill of Complaint, act of notoriety 1.

20
. This was Old Saint Patrick's Cathedral on Barclay Street, completed in 1815 (later superseded as the seat of the diocese by Saint Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue).

21
. NYHS-AHMC, Jumel, Stephen, copy of an April 22, 1846, letter from Bishop Fenwick to Bishop Hughes.

22
. New York County Clerk's Office, Division of Old Records, Water Commissioners of the City of New-York, #52-1836 (1839).

1
. NYPL, Jumel family miscellany, NYGB Fam 2008-2482.

2
. 1873 Transcript of Record, 306; B-779, box 113, deposition of Eliza J. Caryl.

3
. 1873 Transcript of Record, 306.

4
. According to
Doggett's New-York City Directory
, the Chases lived at 63 Chambers Street in Manhattan in 1834; 339 Greenwich St., also in Manhattan, in 1835 and 1836; and in Hoboken in 1837. A home address is not indicated for them between 1838 and 1841, but Nelson is again listed in Hoboken in 1842, and other documentation that includes his home address indicates that he was still there in the interim. For example, see his 1839 signature, with the indication that he lived in Hoboken, in the record relating to land taken from Eliza for the building of the Croton Aqueduct: New York County, County Clerk's Office, Division of Old Records, Water Commissioners of the City of New-York, 52-1836 (1839).

5
. 1873 Transcript of Record, 307; B-779, box 112, deposition of Nelson Chase.

6
. This discussion of women's involvement in business is based on the findings of Joyce W. Warren,
Women, money and the law
(Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2005), 10, 115, 153.

7
. New York County, Land and Property Records, Liber 379:415–16; NYHS, Jumel Papers, box 3, folder D, indenture between Eliza B. Jumel and Francis Philippon, January 6, 1838.

8
. NYHS-JP, box 2, folder I, agreement with respect to a party wall, December 1836.

9
. NYHS-JP, box 1, folder 14, agreement between Eliza B. Jumel and Lucius Smith, January 16, 1846; box 2, folder I, agreement between Eliza B. Jumel and Michael Werckmeister, May 1, 1844; box 3, folder D, copy of lease, William L. Burdick to Eliza B. Jumel, February 26, 1850.

10
. Pessen,
Riches, class, and power
, 17 and n26 (see prologue, n. 6).

11
. Edgar W. Martin,
The standard of living in 1860: American consumption levels on the eve of the Civil War
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1942), 395, table 11.

12
. 1873 Transcript of Record, 306. Nelson dated Pell's tenancy from fall 1834, but indicated conversely that it was after the birth of his daughter, which occurred in 1836. Evidence in the Jumel/Burr divorce case (testimony of John Hopwood) placed Eliza at the mansion in the fall of 1834 and spring of 1835, supporting an 1836 rather than 1834 dating for Pell's arrival.

13
. N.Y.
Super. Ct., Eliza B. Jumel vs. James Monroe, 1839-#722.

14
. NYHS-JP, box 3, folder B, agreement between Eliza Jumel and James Pheigan, April 6, 1842. If Pheigan's wife took care of the cows and dairy, they would be allowed to keep half of the profits from the milk and butter as well.

15
. 1873 Transcript of Record, 308; Martin,
Standard of living
, 395, table 11.

16
. New York County, Land and Property Records, Deeds, Liber 109:306–309.

17
. N.Y. Ct. Ch., Stephen Jumel vs. John R. Murray et al., BM 713-J.

18
. NYHS-JP, box 2, folder A, agreement between Michael Werckmeister, Eliza B. Burr, and James L. Curtis, April 27, 1835; N.Y. Ct. Ch., Eliza Jumel vs. Peter R. Wickoff and others, D. CH 91-J; New York County, Land and Property Records, Liber 377:425–26.

19
. New York County, Land and Property Records, Liber 493:415–16.

20
. NYHS-JP, box 3, folder D, articles of agreement between Eliza B. Jumel and Ambrose C. Kingsland, February 26, 1850.

21
. Over the years, this lot was referred to as encompassing anywhere from 94 to 100 acres. I have chosen to refer to it consistently as the 96-acre lot, the size most often assigned to it.

22
. NYHS-JP, box 3, folder A, lease of a farm from Eliza Jumel by Peter Lestrange, 1842; N.Y. Com. Pl., Martin C. Clancy vs. Eliza B. Jumel, 1861-#226.

23
. N.Y. Com. Pl., Eliza B. Jumel vs. Philip A. Levy, 1841-#1245; N.Y. Com. Pl., Martin C. Clancy vs. Eliza B. Jumel, 1861-#226.

24
. New York County, Land and Property Records, Liber 391:291–93.

25
. N.Y. Com. Pl., Eliza B. Jumel vs. Philip A. Levy, 1841-#1245.

26
. N.Y. Sup. Ct., Philip A. Levy vs. Eliza B. Jumel, 1841-#645.

27
. Warren,
Women, money and the law
, 133–34.

28
. N.Y. Sup. Ct., Philip A. Levy vs. Eliza B. Jumel, 1841-#645.

29
. Ibid.

30
. B-779, box 112, deposition of Nelson Chase.

31
. N.Y. Sup. Ct., Philip A. Levy vs. Eliza B. Jumel, 1841-#645.

32
. Warren,
Women, money and the law
, 10, 318n37.

33
. Ibid.

34
. NYHS-JP, box 3, folder B, summons in the case of Antoine Soil [
sic
] vs. Eliza Jumel, March 14, 1849; NYHS-JP, box 3, folder G, release, Antoine Soel [
sic
] to Eliza B. Jumel, March 22, 1849. The plaintiff signed himself variously “Soili” and “Soil.”

35
. N.Y. Com. Pl., John Rogers, an Infant, by William Wordsworth his next friend, vs. Eliza B. Jumel, Judgment Record, 1844-#864.

36
. Ibid.

37
. B-779, box 112, deposition of Nelson Chase; for the address, 255 West 19th Street, see the 1845 edition of
Doggett's New-York City Directory
.

38
. New York City Municipal Archives, Manhattan Deaths, vol. 14; B-779, box 112, deposition of Nelson Chase; 1873 Transcript of Record, 303. The record of the death lists the location of the deceased as 253 West 19th Street. As this differs from the Chase's house number as given by Doggett's (255), one number may have been wrong or, alternately, Eliza Tranchell may have lived next door. If she had been taking care of Mary, the death could have occurred in the Tranchells' lodgings.

39
. B-779,
box 112, deposition of Nelson Chase.

40
. NYHS-AHMC, Jumel, Mary E., Mary Jumel to Maria Jones, N.d. (beginning with the words “Dear Mother”) vs. Shelton, 156 (beginning with the words “My Dear Mama”).

41
. She is buried in lot 222, section 111 (
www.green-wood.com
; accessed June 26, 2012).

42
. B-779, box 112, deposition of Nelson Chase.

43
. Ibid.

44
. Ibid.

45
. B-779, box 113, deposition of Eliza J. Caryl.

46
. MJM 4.14, photocopy of a letter from Nelson Chase to Eliza Jumel and Eliza Jumel Chase, February 10, 1852.

47
. 1873 Transcript of Record, 307.

1
. NYPL, MssCol 510, Thomas Chamberlain diary, 1835–1860, entries for July 17 and July 30, 1842; Barnes F. Lathrop, “A Southern girl at Saratoga Springs, 1834,”
North Carolina Historical Review
15, no. 2 (April 1938): 160.

2
. Thomas Chamberlain diary, entries for July 30, August 1, and August 4, 1842; “High Life at Saratoga—1837,”
American Heritage
18, no. 4 (June 1967): 107; Field Horne,
The Saratoga reader: Writing about an American village 1749–1900
(Saratoga Springs: Kiskaton Publishing, 2004), 167.

3
. Thomas Chamberlain diary, entries for summer 1842 (for attendance at various churches); “The late Daniel D. Benedict's diary,”
Supplement to the Saratoga Sentinel
, May 19, 1881, [1], entry for August 20–22, 1846.

4
.
Saratoga Sentinel
, June 25, 1833, 3;
Saratoga Sentinel
, July 9, 1833, 3.

5
.
Saratoga Sentinel
, July 14, 1835, 3.

6
. Salvatore Mondello,
The private papers of John Vanderlyn (1775–1852) American portrait painter
(Lewiston, NY: The Edward Mellen Press, 1990), 96–98, 112, 116. The painting is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art today.

7
. E.g.,
Philadelphia Inquirer
, February 9, 1830, 2 (in this report indicating that two of her horses were stolen, she is referred to as Madame Jumel).

8
. “The Jumel estate case,”
New York Herald
, January 29, 1873, 5; MJM 4.14, photocopy of a letter from Nelson Chase to Eliza Jumel and Eliza Jumel Chase.

9
. Saratoga County Clerk, Deeds Book LL, 499–501, and Deeds Book CC, 224–25; NYHSJP, box 2, folder I, conveyance from William L. F. Warren to Eliza B. Jumel, August 29, 1836; Saratoga County Clerk, Deeds Book CC, 250–51; NYHS-JP, box 3 folder C, indenture between Eliza B. Jumel and Isaac Taylor, September 3, 1836. She paid $13,343 in total for the farmlands.