The Murats on Honeymoon

The Prince Murat House in St. Augustine, Florida, holds historical significance and is associated with the notable figure Prince Achille Murat, nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte.

The Prince Murat House, located in St. Augustine, Florida, is an architectural gem that reflects the city's rich history. It was constructed in 1790 and is believed to be one of the oldest houses in St. Augustine. The house is named after Prince Achille Murat, who resided there during his time in St. Augustine and again with his wife Catherine Daingerfield Willis Gray Murat, while they awaited a ship to take them on their honeymoon in 1827.

The Prince Murat House is a two-story, Spanish colonial-style structure with distinct architectural features. It showcases elements such as a hipped roof, balconies with intricate ironwork, and coquina stone walls—a local material made from compressed shells.

In March of 1827, the Murats traveled to Saint Augustine in order to celebrate a belated honeymoon, headed eventually to Charleston and from there to New Jersey. One story holds that as they waited for the ship to Charleston, Catherine saw and insisted Achille obtain a skilled, enslaved violinist named Mingo, which he did “at great cost”. Mingo would remain in Catherine’s custody for the rest of her life.

The ship arrived, and they found themselves joined by a “tall, frail, ascetic-looking twenty-four-year-old, Untraveled, and somewhat provincial New England minister” by the name of Ralph Waldo Emerson. The trip by boat, usually a day, was “becalmed and Tempest tossed” and took more than a week. In that time, Achille and Emerson spoke at length on all manner of topics. Emerson would write later that Achille was “a philosopher, a scholar, a man of the world… An ardent lover of truth.” Emerson and Achille parted ways in Charleston, never to meet again, though they maintained a correspondence.

From Charleston, Achille and Kate, as he called her, went on to Point Breeze, New Jersey, to meet Joseph Bonaparte and other family members of Achille. Kate, with her southern lady’s manners and charm, won them over easily. So taken were they, in fact, that they invited the entire Willis clan for a visit, a story for another time.

Patsy may have come on this trip to help Catherine, though she may have been too young. If she had been there on the boat, she would have had separate accommodations, likely below deck. If, instead, she stayed behind, she would have been expected to help out at the plantation, just as she had in Virginia.

Ball, Willis M. “Reminisces of Murat.” Detroit Free Press, March 29, 1891. 

Fischer, Henry. “Kate, Murat’s Pretty Bride.” The Cincinnati Enquirer, March 10, 1895. 

“Oracle on the Road.” Transcript-Telegram. February 2, 1901. 

Hanna, A. J. A Prince In Their Midst: The Adventurous Life of Achille Murat on the American Frontier. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1946. 

McConnell, Matilda L. “Interesting Incidents in Life of Prince Murat.” The Tallahassee Democrat. June 8, 1922. 

Ball, Willis M. “Reminisces of Murat.” Detroit Free Press, March 29, 1891. 

“Sketch of the Life of La Princess Achille Murat of Florida.” Harrisburg Telegraph. July 6, 1867. 

Harvey, Karen. "Pleasantly pink, the Murat House is a fine example of colonial architecture." The St. Augustine Record (St. Augustine, FL) September 9th, 2018.

MacLean, D.G. Home of Prince Murat, which was built around 1790 - Saint Augustine, Florida. 20th century. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. <https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/13449>, accessed 20 May 2023.