Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 34, Number 78, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 May 1902 — NATIVE OF MARTINIQUE. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

NATIVE OF MARTINIQUE.

Empress Josephine, W ife of Napoleon, Born There. Of especial historic interest is the Illfated island of Martinique, wjiose blackened, lifeless ruins tell the story of a fiery visitation exceeding that of Pompeii. It was on this Isle of tropical luxuriance that the Empress Josephine, first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, was born in 1753. .» Her father came from an estate near Blois, France, emigrating to Maninique and locating in the little hamlet of Trols-Ilets, to serve as a naval officer under the Marqifts de Beauharnais, then in command of the island. Her mother. Rose Claire des Verges de Sannols, belonged to a family which had likewise settled in the colonies. A long, low building, set in the midst of a picturesque and richly wild growth of wood and taugled shrubbery, was the home In which was bom the child, Marie Josephine Rose Tascher de la Pagerie, destined to one day grace the court of an Emperor. Her days of childhood were spent In ’ this smiling atmosphere and it was here that the warm, free, generous

characteristics that made her the recipient of a nation’s homage and love were imbued into her nature. She had servants to attend her every wish from the time she was able to lisp a command. Her life was free from care; there was nothing but laughter and gaiety for the youthful Josephine. She was really a queen before she could talk, an empress In face before she ever saw the shores of France. But as she advanced in years her life became more ruffled with rhe carps and disappointments of the world. When but 16 years of age she was married to the Viscount de Beauharnais In France. The marriage proved an unhappy one and the couple were subsequently divorced. In 1796 she became the wife of Napoleon Bonaparte and until he separated himself from her to marry Maria Louisa in 1809, she followed him in his checkered career with unfaltering iove and devotion. By her invariable goodness she won the hearts of the people and even the admiration and esteem of Ver opponents. When Napoleon divorced her, the crowned heads of Europe offered her protection and estates, but she remained at her former court of Malmaison until death claimed her in 1814. Her remains now rest in a piarble tomb within the church at Rueil.

BIRTHPLACE OF JOSEPHINE.