The remarkable rise of Eliza Jumel : a story of marriage and money in the early republic / Margaret A. Oppenheimer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Oppenheimer, Margaret A., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jumel, Eliza Bowen, 1775?-1865.

Jumel, Eliza Bowen.

Jumel, Stephen, 1755-1832.

Jumel, Stephen.

Burr, Aaron, 1756-1836.

Burr, Aaron.

Jumel, Eliza Bowen, 1775?-1865--Family.

Married women--New York (State)--New York--Biography.

Married women.

French Americans--New York (State)--Biography.

French Americans.

Politicians' spouses--United States--Biography.

Politicians' spouses.

Socialites--New York (State)--New York--Biography.

Socialites.

Businesswomen--New York (State)--New York--Biography.

Businesswomen.

New York (N.Y.)--History--1775-1865--Biography.

New York (N.Y.).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (371 p.)

Place of Publication:

Chicago : Chicago Review Press, [2016]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"Born Betsy Bowen into grinding poverty, the woman who became Eliza Jumel was raised in a brothel, indentured as a servant, and confined to a workhouse when her mother was in jail. Yet by the end of her life, "Madame Jumel" was one of America's richest women, with servants of her own, a New York mansion and Saratoga Springs summer home, a major art collection, and several hundred acres of land. During her remarkable rise, she acquired a fortune from her first husband--a French merchant--and almost lost it to her second--notorious vice president Aaron Burr. Divorcing Burr amid lurid charges of adultery, Jumel lived on to the age of 90, astutely managing her property and public persona. After her death, a titanic battle over her estate went all the way to the United States Supreme Court--twice. Family members told of a woman who earned the gratitude of Napoleon I and shone at the courts of Louis XVIII and Charles X. Claimants to her estate painted a different picture: of a prostitute, the mother of George Washington's illegitimate son, a wife who defrauded her husband and perhaps even plotted his death. Eliza Jumel's real story--so unique that it surpasses any invention--has yet to be told, until now. "-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Front Cover; Front Flip; Title Page; Half Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Prologue; 1. Beginnings; 2. A House of Bad Fame; 3. A Death in the Family; 4. The Making of a Merchant; 5. Transitions; 6. Reinvention; 7. Marriage; 8. Mrs. Jumel; 9. Bloomingdale; 10. The Fortunes of War; 11. Mount Stephen; 12. France Beckons; 13. An Imperial Interlude; 14. Paris; 15. The Collector; 16. Separate Lives; 17. Indecision; 18. Place Vendôme; 19. The Panic of 1825; 20. All About Money; 21. Deception; 22. The Reunion; 23. An Arranged Marriage; 24. Enter Aaron Burr; 25. A Calculated Courtship

26. An Optimistic Beginning27. The Unraveling; 28. The Duel; 29. Financial Shenanigans; 30. The Widow's Mite; 31. A Second Family; 32. Madame Jumel; 33. Eliza Burr Abroad; 34. A Romantic Widow; 35. The End of an Era; 36. A Disputed Inheritance; 37. Proliferating Pretenders; 38. Enter George Washington; 39. On the Home Front; 40. Murder Most Foul?; Epilogue; Acknowledgments; A Note on the Sources; Notes; Image Credits; Index; Back Flip; Back Cover

Notes:

Includes index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-61373-381-X