The Death of Florida's Princess, 1867

The Princess Murat

Madame Catherine Daingerfield Willis Murat, the French Princess who was also a great-grandniece of President George Washington, lived for much of her life near Tallahassee.

Her passing during the summer of 1867 was covered with great sadness in the state's leading newspapers

The following appeared in the Tallahassee Sentinel of August 8, 1867:

A SAD ANNOUNCEMENT. – Madame C.D. MURAT, relict of Prince Achille Murat, died at her Jefferson county plantation, on Tuesday morning last, after an illness of several months’ duration. Sad as this announcement is, it is not altogether unexpected to our readers. Few indulged the hope, latterly, that a vigorous constitution would survive the ravages of the terrible typhoid fever that has so long threatened to remove from the scene of her usefulness, in this community, the noble victim of the destroying angel. At an advanced age of sixty years, and over, one of the rarest gems that ever ornamented the society of the South – one of the purest minded and most unselfish of her sex – a blessing and an honor to the age in which she lived – has gone to reap the reward of her fervent piety and her wide-spread benevolence.

Belleview, Home of a Princess

The poor will sadly miss the charitable assistance of one of their “ministering angels” – the rich will search in vain for another such exemplar – whilst all classes will sincerely lament a death which, at her ripe age, seems untimely.


We leave to some abler pen the mournfully pleasant task of paying proper tribute to the memory of one whose whole life has been a blessing, and whose death is now mourned as a public calamity.

Princess Murat's home, Belleview, still stands. A beautifully restored part of the Tallahassee Museum of History and Natural Science, it provides a unique look into the life of a real princess. The home is open daily for self-guided tours daily. To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/belleview.

Home of a Princess in Tallahassee

In a recent post on the Tallahassee Museum of History and Natural Science, I mentioned that the complex preserves a number of historic structures including the home of a Florida princess.

Belleview, the home of Princess Catherine Daingerfield Willis Murat, has been beautifully restored and is one of my favorite exhibits at the museum.

A grandniece of President George Washington, the princess received her title when she married Prince Achille Murat at Tallahassee in 1826. A nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, Murat came to the United States after the fall of the Napoleonic Empire.

The couple traveled the world but were closely associated with Florida. One of their homes near Tallahassee was burned in an Indian raid during the Second Seminole War. After spending time in Europe, they relocated to a plantation in Jefferson County, where Prince Murat died in 1847.

In 1852, when Napoleon III declared an empire in France, Catherine Murat became a recognized Princess of the French Court. She traveled to France and also received financial support from the Empire.

Two years after the recognition of her title, Princess Murat purchased Belleview. Then the center of a 520 acre cotton plantation, the home was originally located on Jackson Bluff Road in Leon County. She lived there until her death in 1867. The house has been relocated from its original site to the museum where it is now beautifully restored and open to the public daily.

To learn more about the Princess Murat home, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/belleview.

Tallahassee Museum of History and Natural Science

One of the most interesting museum complexes in Florida borders Lake Bradford in Tallahassee.

The Tallahassee Museum of History and Natural Science, formerly known as the Tallahassee Junior Museum, covers more than 50 acres and features a wide variety of exhibits including a fascinating collection of historic structures.

One of the most interesting is Belleview, the home of the Princess Murat. Few people today realize that Tallahassee was once the home of a famed French prince and princess. Prince Achille Murat was a nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte and his wife, Catherine, was a great-grandniece of President George Washington. Although he died during the 1830s, she lived until 1867. The last 13 years of her life were spent at Belleview, a charming little plantation house that originally stood on Jackson Bluff Road in Leon County. During that time she visited the court of Emperor Napoleon III in France and received support from the French Empire.

The museum also features an array of other preserved structures, including a turpentine commissary, church, school and a complete Florida farm dating from the 19th century. Visitors can also explore nature trails and other exhibits and also see a large collection of native Florida animals including extremely rare Florida Panthers.

To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/tallahasseemuseum.