The talk with accompanying photos and documents will illustrate the beauty of the islands and share recently uncovered historical facts.

The event reflects presenter Dan Aubrey’s journalistic investigation into the islands and includes secrets shared from both a descendent of one of the island’s colonial owners and the last individual who lived on the island.

Sunday July 19th at  2:00 pm at the Discovery Center at Point Breeze, 101 East Park Street Bordentown, NJ.

Admission cost of $10 supports the Discovery Center at Point Breeze. 

Point Breeze was home to Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon’s brother and exiled King of Spain, from 1816 – 1839. Bonaparte fled Europe after his brother was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo and eventually settled in New Jersey. At one point, Joseph Bonaparte owned around 2,200 acres in and around Bordentown City. Annette Savage, the French-speaking member of an old Virginian planter family, met the former King of Naples and Spain when she was 18-years old and he was shopping for suspenders at her mother’s upmarket shop in Philadelphia.

Savage accompanied Bonaparte when he moved to the Trenton/Bordentown region to build his Point Breeze mansion and estate. The couple became the parents of two daughters. The eldest, Pauline, was killed in an accident in 1823 and is buried at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in downtown Trenton. She was later recognized as a member of French royalty.

Although Bonaparte ended the romantic liaison with Savage, he continued to support and communicate with her until his death in 1844. Savage died in 1865.

Journalist and writer Dan Aubrey will lead the program that looks at secret lives and past times on the Delaware River Islands from a historic and creative perspective. The program will include readings from Aubrey’s “The Rooms,” a fictional look at Savage’s time with Bonaparte.

Aubrey is the former arts editor of U.S. 1 newspaper, a past writer for the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and New Jersey State Museum, and a regional arts organizer. The Bordentown resident was also involved with the Friends of the Abbott Marshlands and the establishment of the Tulpehaking Nature Center.

The Discovery Center at Point Breeze, which is managed by D&R Greenway Land Trust, was the historic home of Joseph Bonaparte’s gardener. It is believed that Bonaparte stayed in the house after fire destroyed his first mansion and while his second mansion was being built. The house has been converted into a museum with exhibits including the Crown Jewels Gallery, an exhibit on the Lenape Nation, archeological displays, and a natural history room. Those who wish to tour the museum before or after the program are encouraged to do so.

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