Rhode Island Council for the Humanities

In Search of Madame Jumel

Eliza Jumel was one of the most enigmatic women of nineteenth century America. Desperately poor in her youth, the daughter of a Providence prostitute, she may have followed her mother’s trade for a while, and then used her beauty and her wits to become immensely wealthy. She was very much a self-invented woman. Her obituary in the New York Times stated that Madame Jumel was born at sea, of an English mother by the name of Capet (which is the name of a French dynasty); Providence town records suggest, more prosaically, that she was Betsey Bowen (1775-1865), the daughter of Phebe Kelley Bowen, who turned to prostitution to keep body and soul together. After one of Phebe’s arrests her daughters were sent to the Providence workhouse. This was a formative experience for Betsey who, like Scarlett O’Hara, was determined never to be poor again. Betsey left Providence in her late teens, reinvented herself as Eliza Brown, and in New York married first a wealthy Frenchman, and second, former vice-president Aaron Burr.

This talk will be about Madame Jumel and how she rose from rags to riches, but she is hard to pin down. She left almost no letters, no diaries, and what remains is her house, a beautiful yellow silk dress, and a sensational law case over who was to inherit her great wealth. Ms. Lancaster’s investigation is a work in progress, and she will share with audiences how I am uncovering the real Madame Jumel.

Jane Lancaster is an award-winning teacher, researcher, and writer. She received a PhD from Brown University, writing a dissertation on the life of engineer Lillian Moller Gilbreth (the mother of twelve celebrated in Cheaper by the Dozen). Her work on Rhode Island women has been published in periodicals ranging from the Providence Journal to the Journal of American History.

Availability: is sometimes away during the summer months Needs: slide projector and screen; lighted lectern/water

Needs: slide projector and screen; lighted lectern/water