1. When Bonaparte Met the Jersey Devil
Another visitor to Point Breeze, albeit a less welcome one, was the Jersey Devil – a spooky mythical cross between a kangaroo, bat, and goat, that reportedly inhabits New Jersey’s Pine Barrens. Joseph Bonaparte claimed to have been out hunting in the woods near his estate, when he came across some weird tracks. He followed them, and received a great shock when he suddenly found himself face to face with the Jersey Devil. As the former king put it, the duo looked at each other for about a minute. Neither moved for what seemed like an eternity, then the spooky creature finally gave a hiss and flew away. Joseph Bonaparte’s stay in the US was eventually cut short by ill health, and he returned to Europe. He died in 1844 in Florence, Italy, and was buried in the Les Invalides in Paris.
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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading
American Folklore – Joseph Bonaparte and the Jersey Devil
Encyclopedia Britannica – Joseph Bonaparte, King of Naples and Spain
History Collection – ‘Death is Nothing’: The Seven Stages of Napoleon’s Rise to Power
McCartney, Clarence Edward Noble, and Dorrance, John Gordon – The Bonapartes in America (1939)
Mental Floss – The Last King of New Jersey: The Suburban Life of Napoleon’s Brother
National Public Radio – What If Napoleon Had Come to America?
New York Times, October 24th, 2008 – Digging Up the Home of That Other Bonaparte, in New Jersey
