Bordentown, New Jersey

Several years after the banishing of his family from France in 1816, arriving under vigilant disguise as the Count de Survilliers, [[Joseph Bonaparte]],<ref>McGreevy, Nora, [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/former-king-spain-once-dwelled-new-jersey-now-his-estate-will-become-public-park-180977289/ “New Jersey Estate Owned by Napoleon’s Older Brother Set to Become State Park”], ”[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]”, March 23, 2021. Accessed March 25, 2021. “Comparatively, Napoleon’s older brother Joseph had an easier time in exile. After the French emperor’s downfall, the elder Bonaparte, who’d briefly served as king of Spain and Naples, headed to the United States, where he settled on a bluff overlooking the Delaware River in Bordentown, New Jersey. Between 1816 and 1839, Bonaparate lived on and off at a property dubbed Point Breeze, spending the remainder of his adult years in resplendent luxury.”</ref> former King of [[Naples]] and Spain and brother to [[Napoleon I of France]], purchased the [[Point Breeze (estate)|Point Breeze Estate]] near Bordentown from American revolutionary, [[Stephen Sayre]].<ref>E.M. Woodward. [https://archive.org/details/bonapartesparkmu00woodiala/page/38/mode/2up “”Bonaparte’s Park, and the Murats”, 1879. Page 38”]</ref> 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]]. The residents of Bordentown nicknamed the Count, “The ”Good” Mr. Bonaparte” (”Good” to distinguish him from his younger brother). He built a lake near the mouth of [[Crosswicks Creek]] that was about {{convert|200|yd|-2}} wide and {{convert|1/2|mi|m}} long. On the bluff above it he built a new home, “Point Breeze”.<ref>[http://www.jerseyhistory.org/collection_details.php?recid=9 A View of the Delaware from Bordentown Hill by Charles B. Lawrence] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060528022906/http://www.jerseyhistory.org/collection_details.php?recid=9 |date=2006-05-28 }}, [[New Jersey Historical Society]]. Accessed October 23, 2013.</ref> The current [[Society of the Divine Word Missionaries|Divine Word Mission]] occupies its former site along Park Street.<ref>Kilby, David. [http://www.trentonmonitor.com/main.asp?SectionID=5&SubSectionID=42&ArticleID=5640 “Divine Word Father Detig reflects on his 50 years as missionary “], ”The Monitor”, July 24, 2013. Accessed October 23, 2013. “When walking through the peaceful grounds of the Divine Word Residence, Bordentown, it’s easy to forget that those 100 acres overlooking the Delaware River provide a home for missionaries like Father Joseph Detig, who has spread the Gospel around the world and endured many of the trials that come with doing so.”</ref>

Several years after the banishing of his family from France in 1816, arriving under vigilant disguise as the Count de Survilliers, [[Joseph Bonaparte]],<ref>McGreevy, Nora, [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/former-king-spain-once-dwelled-new-jersey-now-his-estate-will-become-public-park-180977289/ “New Jersey Estate Owned by Napoleon’s Older Brother Set to Become State Park”], ”[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]”, March 23, 2021. Accessed March 25, 2021. “Comparatively, Napoleon’s older brother Joseph had an easier time in exile. After the French emperor’s downfall, the elder Bonaparte, who’d briefly served as king of Spain and Naples, headed to the United States, where he settled on a bluff overlooking the Delaware River in Bordentown, New Jersey. Between 1816 and 1839, Bonaparate lived on and off at a property dubbed Point Breeze, spending the remainder of his adult years in resplendent luxury.”</ref> former King of [[Naples]] and Spain and brother to [[Napoleon I of France]], purchased the [[Point Breeze (estate)|Point Breeze Estate]] near Bordentown from American revolutionary, [[Stephen Sayre]].<ref>E.M. Woodward. [https://archive.org/details/bonapartesparkmu00woodiala/page/38/mode/2up “”Bonaparte’s Park, and the Murats”, 1879. Page 38”]</ref> 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]]. The residents of Bordentown nicknamed the Count, “The ”Good” Mr. Bonaparte” (”Good” to distinguish him from his younger brother). He built a lake near the mouth of [[Crosswicks Creek]] that was about {{convert|200|yd|-2}} wide and {{convert|1/2|mi|m}} long. On the bluff above it he built a new home, “Point Breeze”.<ref>[http://www.jerseyhistory.org/collection_details.php?recid=9 A View of the Delaware from Bordentown Hill by Charles B. Lawrence] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060528022906/http://www.jerseyhistory.org/collection_details.php?recid=9 |date=2006-05-28 }}, [[New Jersey Historical Society]]. Accessed October 23, 2013.</ref> The current [[Society of the Divine Word Missionaries|Divine Word Mission]] occupies its former site along Park Street.<ref>Kilby, David. [http://www.trentonmonitor.com/main.asp?SectionID=5&SubSectionID=42&ArticleID=5640 “Divine Word Father Detig reflects on his 50 years as missionary “], ”The Monitor”, July 24, 2013. Accessed October 23, 2013. “When walking through the peaceful grounds of the Divine Word Residence, Bordentown, it’s easy to forget that those 100 acres overlooking the Delaware River provide a home for missionaries like Father Joseph Detig, who has spread the Gospel around the world and endured many of the trials that come with doing so.”</ref>

Today only vestiges of the Bonaparte estate remain. Much of it is the remains of a formerly Italinate 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. 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. Many descendants of [[Joachim Murat]], [[King of Naples]], also were born or lived in Bordentown, having followed their uncle Joseph there. After the Bonaparte dynasty was restored by [[Napoleon III]], they moved back to France and were recognized as princes.

Today only vestiges of the Bonaparte estate remain. Much of it is the remains of a formerly Italinate 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. 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. Many descendants of [[Joachim Murat]], [[King of Naples]] and brother in law of the Bonapartes executed in 1815, also were born or lived in Bordentown, having followed their uncle Joseph there. After the Bonaparte dynasty was restored by [[Napoleon III]], they moved back to France and were recognized as princes.

In August 1831, master mechanic [[Isaac Dripps]] of Bordentown re-assembled (without [[blueprint]]s or instructions) the locomotive [[John Bull (locomotive)|John Bull]] (originally called “The Stevens”) in just 10 days. It was built by [[Robert Stephenson and Company]], in England, and was imported into Philadelphia by the [[Camden and Amboy Railroad]]. The next year it started limited service, and the year after that regular service, to become one of the first successful locomotives in the United States. The John Bull is preserved at the [[Smithsonian Institution]] in Washington, D.C.<ref>[http://historywired.si.edu/detail.cfm?ID=225 John Bull Locomotive], [[Smithsonian Institution]]. Accessed July 8, 2013.</ref>

In August 1831, master mechanic [[Isaac Dripps]] of Bordentown re-assembled (without [[blueprint]]s or instructions) the locomotive [[John Bull (locomotive)|John Bull]] (originally called “The Stevens”) in just 10 days. It was built by [[Robert Stephenson and Company]], in England, and was imported into Philadelphia by the [[Camden and Amboy Railroad]]. The next year it started limited service, and the year after that regular service, to become one of the first successful locomotives in the United States. The John Bull is preserved at the [[Smithsonian Institution]] in Washington, D.C.<ref>[http://historywired.si.edu/detail.cfm?ID=225 John Bull Locomotive], [[Smithsonian Institution]]. Accessed July 8, 2013.</ref>