Achille Murat
Murat,c. 1835
Prince Murat
Tenure	13 October 1815 – 15 April 1847
Predecessor	Prince Joachim
Successor	Prince Lucien
Born	(1801-01-21)21 January 1801 Paris, France
Died	15 April 1847(1847-04-15) (aged 46) Jefferson County,Florida, U.S.
Spouse	Catherine Willis Gray ​ ​ (m. 1826)​
Father	Joachim Murat
Mother	Caroline Bonaparte

Charles Louis Napoleon Achille Murat (known as Achille, 21 January 1801 – 15 April 1847) was the eldest son ofJoachim Murat, the brother-in-law ofNapoleon who was appointedKing of Naples during theFirst French Empire. After his father was deposed and executed by his own subjects, Achille Murat went into exile in theAustrian Empire with his siblings and mother.

At the age of 21, Achille Murat emigrated to the United States and settled atSt. Augustine, Florida, becoming a naturalized citizen sometime after July 1828 and dropping his European titles.

Achille Murat was born in theHôtel de Brienne in Paris, France. His father wasJoachim Murat, the son of an affluent farmer and innkeeper,^[1] who became one ofNapoleon's loyal followers. Joachim Murat was appointedMarshal of the Empire for his military service, and was later awarded royal positions by Napoleon under theFirst French Empire, including the throne of theKingdom of Naples.

Achille's mother wasCaroline Bonaparte, sister of Napoleon. She was styledGrand Duchess of Berg and Queen of Naples, while Achille was considered thecrown prince.

Murat's governess wasCatherine Davies fromAnglesey in Wales. In 1841, she published a memoir describing her eleven years' service with the Murat family.^[2]

After Napoleon was exiled for a second time in 1815 onSaint Helena island in the middle of the southern Atlantic Ocean, Joachim Murat was deposed and executed by his subjects.^[3] Young Achille and his siblings were taken by their mother into exile at theSchloss Frohsdorf,^[4] nearVienna inLower Austria. When Murat turned twenty-one, he obtained permission to emigrate to the United States.^[5]

In 1821 he embarked from a Spanish port bound for the United States. On arrival in New York, Murat immediately applied for naturalization.^[6] After a few months in that city he made an extensive tour through the United States, using an assumed name at first. He had a striking resemblance to his famous uncle in countenance and mannerisms. Although he had renounced all his European titles^[7] and citizenship, his wide social connections brought Murat to Washington, where he befriendedRichard K. Call,^[8] the delegate of theFlorida Territory's at-large congressional district to theUnited States House of Representatives.

Call told Murat of opportunities in the newterritory of Florida, which had been acquired by the United States from Spain in 1821.^[9] In the spring of 1824, the former "Prince of Naples" settled inSt. Augustine,^[10] reputedly renting what is now called the Prince Murat House on St. George Street.^[11] Murat soon became active in St. Augustine society by joining theMasonic lodge and dabbling in local politics.^[12] He enrolled in the local militia and was briefly a volunteer under the command of his personal friend,Brig. Gen. Joseph Hernández.

Murat purchased an extensive property of 2,800 acres (1,100 ha) and developed it into a plantation, utilizing slave labor to grow oranges, sugar cane, cotton, and tobacco. He named it 'Parthenope', in honor of his onetime principality inNaples, Italy, which had been founded on the site of the ancient Greek colony of Parthenope (seeHistory of Naples).

Murat's Parthenope was located about 10 mi (16 km) south of St. Augustine, on the west side of theMatanzas River, at the mouth of Moses Creek. Murat liked to go nude and made a submersible chair to escape the heat of the north Florida summers, using it to sit naked in the waters of Moses Creek with mosquito netting over his head.^[13] A neighbor observed that he was obsessed with the "...eatability of the whole animal tribe". Murat was known to have experimented with eating bakedturkey buzzard,^[14] boiled owl, roasted crow, stewed alligator,^[15] lizards and rattlesnakes. He had an aversion to baths, did not like to change his clothes, "washed his feet only after he wore out his shoes", and slept on a mattress stuffed withSpanish moss.^[16]

Around 1825, Murat bought the land he would callLipona Plantation, 15 miles (24 km) east ofTallahassee. He lived there during the remainder ofFlorida's territorial and early statehood days. The name Lipona is an anagram of "Napoli" (Naples), the kingdom where Murat once thought he would succeed his father. He purchased Lipona at the prodding of theMarquis de Lafayette,^[17] beneficiary of theLafayette Land Grant of July 4, 1825, which had granted him (LaFayette) 36 square miles (93 km²) of land^[18] near what would become the city of Tallahassee. Legend tells that the Marquis' agents arranged for a group of fifty or sixty Norman French farmers to settle on the land around 1831, but there is no documentation of this taking place.^[19]

Many authors have repeated claims that Murat was an elected alderman of Tallahassee in 1824, mayor in 1825, and its longest-serving postmaster (1826–1838).^[20] The public record and historical evidence do not support these assertions.^[21] This and other misinformation about Murat appeared as early as 1888 inAppletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography^[22] and was repeated in an 1890s tourists' "guide book" published by the Murat estate (i.e., Bellevue Plantation) that overstated Murat's involvement in local politics; the guide book is mentioned in Bradford Torrey's 1895 book entitledA Florida Sketch-Book, which recalls Torrey's 1893 visit to the Murat estate near Tallahassee.^[23] Torrey wrote that Catherine Murat's neighbor and another local "indisputable citizen"—a judge—refuted the Murat claims published in the tourist's guidebook. Because the original city charter for the city of Tallahassee was not in effect until December 9, 1825, and the first municipal election was not held until January 2, 1826, there was no city council in existence in 1824 or 1825; thus Murat could not have been an alderman or mayor in those years.^[24] Federal records showIsham G. Searcy as the federally appointed postmaster of Tallahassee for the period claimed in the Murat estate guide-book.^[25]

Murat metCatherine Daingerfield Willis Gray in 1826 and married her on July 12 of that year atTallahassee, Florida. They did not have any children. Gray was the great-grandniece ofGeorge Washington.

Murat's political sympathies seem to have beenJacksonian throughout his time in Florida. At a political rally in 1826, he called one of the candidates, his neighbor David Betton Macomb, a "turncoat";^[26] Macomb had led a toast to Kentucky statesmanHenry Clay on at least one occasion that summer (an alternative version of the story has Macomb upset that Murat's slaves were stealing his hogs). Macomb and Murat met at a local dueling ground near Hiamones Lake. Murat's shot went through Macomb's shirt without touching flesh, and Macomb's took off half of the little finger of Murat's right hand.^[26]

During the early phase of theSecond Seminole War, and for the previous three years, Murat served as alieutenant-colonel in theFlorida Militia andaide-de-camp to Call. He would retain the rank of lieutenant-colonel the rest of his life.^[27]

In the winter of 1826, during one of his periodic visits to St. Augustine, Murat met the American writerRalph Waldo Emerson.^[28][29] The two became close friends and enjoyed discussing topics of the day as well as politics, society, and history. Of Murat, Emerson wrote:

A new event is added to the quiet history of my life. I have connected myself by friendship to a man ... with as ardent a love of truth as that which animates me, with a mind that surpasses mine in the variety of its research, & sharpened & strengthened to an energy for action to which I have no pretension by advantages of birth & practical connection with mankind beyond almost all men in the world.^[30]

Like his contemporary,Alexis de Tocqueville, Murat was one of the first notable essayists on culture and mores in the new republic of the United States.^[31] During his residence at his plantation near St. Augustine, Murat began to write his observations on American politics^[32] and his daily life in Florida in fluent French, Italian and English.^[33] He wrote on slavery, economics, and literature as well, but his books never caught on with the public. Murat was a staunch defender of slavery^[34] although he professed to fight for human liberty.^[35]

Following theJuly Revolution of 1830 in France, Murat returned to Europe, where he was assigned to the command of a regiment of theBelgian Legion.^[36] While inBelgium and France, he hoped to regain some part of the family fortune, based on the properties of his parents. His attempts were futile, and in 1834 the Murats returned to the Tallahassee area.

In 1835, Murat and his wife moved to Louisiana,^[37] where he had purchased asugarcane plantation outside New Orleans and a town house in the city. The couple lived there for several years while he practiced law without much success.^[38] After their return to Florida, Murat mortgaged the Lipona property to theTallahassee Union Bank. He lost it in 1839 when he could no longer meet his financial obligations as a result of the delayed effects of the financialrecession of 1837. He and his wife were forced to move to a smaller plantation they namedEconchatti, in present-dayJefferson County, Florida.^[39] Murat died there in 1847,^[40] and was buried in theSt. John's Episcopal Church cemetery in Tallahassee.

Murat's maternal first cousin, EmperorNapoleon III of France, provided his widow with a cash sum of $40,000 and an annual stipend so that she could live the life to which she had become accustomed. She proved to be a better handler of money than her husband had been,^[41] and purchased theBellevue Plantation in 1854.^[40] She held court among her friends and admirers until after theCivil War. Catherine Murat died in 1867 and was also buried at the St. Johns Episcopal Church cemetery. In 1967, the Bellevue plantation house was moved to Tallahassee, where it has been made part of theTallahassee Museum.^[42]

• Florida Letters of Achille Murat, available online from theUniversity of Florida Digital Collections
• "Murat, Napoléon Achille" .Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1900.
• "Tallahassee" .Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. This article contains biographical information on Murat.

• 1801 births
• 1847 deaths
• 19th-century American essayists
• 19th-century American lawyers
• 19th-century French essayists
• 19th-century French lawyers
• 19th-century French military personnel
• American duellists
• American Freemasons
• American male essayists
• United States Army personnel of the Seminole Wars
• American militia officers
• 19th-century American planters
• Slave owners from Florida
• Crown princes
• Florida Jacksonians
• Florida pioneers
• French emigrants to the United States
• French exiles
• French expatriates in Austria
• French male essayists
• History of Tallahassee, Florida
• Lawyers from New Orleans
• Military personnel from Florida
• Military personnel from Paris
• Murat family
• Naturalized citizens of the United States
• Neapolitan princes
• People from St. Augustine, Florida
• People from pre-statehood Florida
• Politicians from New Orleans
• Politicians from Paris
• Princes Murat
• Sons of kings
• Sons of dukes

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