Caroline Le Roy Appleton
Caroline Le Roy Bonaparte was an American social figure and member of the Appleton and Bonaparte families.
Life and family
Caroline Le Roy Appleton was born on October 3, 1840, in Boston. She was the eldest child of Samuel Augustus Appleton, who was born in England and his wife, Julia Webster. Samuel was a member of the Appleton family, a colonial family from Ipswich, Massachusetts, and therefore had several important family connections. Her mother, Julia Webster Appleton, was the daughter of famed statesman Daniel Webster, who most famously served as United States Secretary of State from 1841-1843 and 1850-1852. She was mentioned in her grandfather's will, where he bequeathed her his portrait by George Peter Alexander Healy.On November 28, 1860, she was married to Newbold Edgar, with whom she would have three children, two boys and one girl. Newbold died around 1864 or 1869.
On September 10, 1871, Caroline was married to Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte II, a member of an excluded line of the House of Bonaparte that had resided in the United States. Jerome had previously served in the Crimean and Franco-Prussian wars. He was the brother of Charles Joseph Bonaparte, future United States attorney general, the son of Jerome Napoleon "Bo" Bonaparte, and the grandson of Jerome Bonaparte, and his American wife, Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte. The two came to know each other during Jerome's time in France, as she had once visited Paris. The wedding was described as long, with a small wedding party consisting of various members of the American Bonaparte and Appleton-Edgar families, although numerous spectators watched. With Jerome, she would have two children. Jerome's grandmother, Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte, did not approve of the marriage and she did not attend their wedding. She refused to see Caroline under any circumstances, and stopped providing her grandson with an allowance. In spite of this, Elizabeth would eventually reconcile with her grandson.
After their marriage, Jerome Jr decided primarily resided at “Harrison House,” Caroline’s home in Newport, Rhode Island that she had inherited from her first husband. Jerome died in 1893, and Caroline died in 1911 at the age of 71 in Washington D.C..