Epilogue

The French did not immigrate to America in massive numbers; the Mentelles were not typical whose who did, fleeing neither religious nor political persecution. Waldemar might be considered to have come in search of economic opportunity, yet that is more apparent than real, for he would probably not have done so had his father not forced him to. Neither would he have willingly left Charlotte behind. She came simply to find him, and not, as she told her students, to escape a Revolutionary mob. Although as her obituary indicates the Mentelles were "from their education incapable of following the usual avocations of life" in the land where they settled, they accomplished much, leaving their mark on an admiring community.

Curious, Elegant, and Useful Articles

This chapter describes commercial and cultural activity in Lexington between 1807 and 1817 as seen through the eyes of several visitors and contemporary newspapers. Waldemar opens his own "commission store," selling a wide range of items from groceries to household furnishings, alcohol, musical instruments, and toys. From 1808 to 1810, Charlotte teaches geography, astronomy, dancing, and French at Mary Beck's School. In 1817, Waldemar abandons the ups and downs of commerce for a steadier income as porter for the Lexington branch of the Second National Bank, through the intervention of Henry Clay. In the summer of 1820 Charlotte announces that she is opening her own school, Mentelle's for Young Ladies.

Buckskin and Lace

In the spring of 1791,Waldemar joins the French colonists already at Gallipolis, Ohio Territory, hitching a ride on the boats transporting soldiers down the Ohio River to fight the Indians. He was fortunate not to continue the journey past Gallipolis, for it would culminate in the disaster known as St. Clair's Defeat, in which 97% of the Americans are killed or wounded. Unlike the other colonists, Waldemar owns no land at Gallipolis; in fact, they only thought they had ownership, having been swindled by Joel Barlow and company back in France. He is assigned to be an "Indian spy," tasked with scouring the woods daily for signs of Indian presence. Actually, the Indians intentionally spare the French but repeatedly attack the American settlers, including Daniel Boone and his family, at nearby Point Pleasant, Virginia (now West Virginia). Life is hard for Waldemar, as he waits for Charlotte to arrive. The travails of the colony are recorded in two newspaper and magazine articles the Mentelles later wrote, one of which has remained unknown to historians until now.

The Devil by the Tail

In January 1820 Charlotte writes Rosalie Saugrain of St. Louis, a friend since their years in Gallipolis, complaining of her unhappiness with a lifelong struggle "not just with fortune, but with poverty." A visitor to Lexington in 1823 records a vivid description of the Mentelles. Charlotte "has a masculine, weather-beaten face," and dresses in the plainest fashion. He is impressed by her intelligence and knowledge, particularly of American and European politics. "She is a very fine Belles Lettres scholar and plays in a mastery manner on the violin." He finds her "gay and cheerful, sometimes playful," but far removed from normal womanly pursuits. She dresses like a man. Waldemar, "a lively little Frenchman," appears "as excessively effeminate as Madame is masculine." From 1832 to 1836, Mary Todd (born in 1818), resides at the Mentelle school except for weekends, later calling it "my early home." Her mother had died and she did not get along with her father's second wife. Charlotte Mentelle becomes a substitute mother for her, exerting a profound influence on the future Mrs. Lincoln, regaling her and other students with tales, not always true, of her escape from the French Revolution.

The Eagle Creek Venture

In 1801, Waldemar discovers that du Pont's Scott County land is crisscrossed by conflicting claims of ownership, as was typical of much Kentucky land at that time. His work is delayed by the difficulty of persuading the original surveyor to accompany him there. The soil in du Pont's tract, where the latter had originally wanted to establish a utopian community, is not especially fertile. It is in addition too far from outlets for its produce. In November 1801, Waldemar takes emergency steps to prevent the land from being sold for nonpayment of taxes. In the summer of 1802, du Pont sells the land to his son, Victor, and returns to France. Waldemar is rehired as land agent, and having decided to enter commerce, persuades Victor to supply him with merchandise to sell. Victor becomes increasingly slow to reply to Waldemar's letters. Unbeknownst to Waldemar, Victor is staving off a bankruptcy to which in August 1805 he succumbs.

Charlatans and Presbyterians

Charlotte and Waldemar leave Gallipolis in 1795 and settle in the northern Kentucky village of Washington, raising vegetables for sale. In the summer of 1798 they move to Lexington, giving classes in dancing and French. They enter into an agreement with Transylvania Seminary to house and board students. When Presbyterians take over the school, they lose their connection to it, a member of the board of trustees saying of Waldemar: "We must get rid of this man for he is a Frenchman, and of course a Deist at least." The Mentelles rent a farm outside Lexington and begin to board horses. Waldemar takes up horseshoeing and equine medicine. In letters to Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours, they will offer their candid view of Lexington: "Here one has to be a charlatan or a Presbyterian (more or less the same thing) to succeed and I cannot imagine becoming either one."

The Reluctant Immigrant

This chapter contrasts the Parisian childhoods of Charlotte and Waldemar Mentelle, born in 1770 and 1769 respectively. Charlotte was raised, in the absence of her mother, by her physician father as if she were a boy, inuring her to hardship and teaching her the "manly arts" of fencing, hunting, and horseback riding. Waldemar's father, Edme Mentelle, was a prominent academician with ties to Louis XVI and led such an active social life that he left his son entirely to the care of his mother, who spoiled him. When Waldemar became a young man, his father took him to task for not having learned a profession, and sent him off to America in the hope he could make something of himself there. Charlotte and Waldemar had in the meantime become lovers.

A Most Worthy Family

The Mentelles' daughter Mary marries Henry Clay's son Thomas Hart Clay in 1837. Many letters pass between Henry and Charlotte, and later her daughter Mary, especially when he is away in Washington as Secretary of State and Senator. In 1840 Thomas Hart Clay and Waldemar Mentelle, Jr. form a partnership in the hemp business, but suffer such a financial loss in 1842 that Henry Clay is forced to mortgage Ashland. Waldemar Sr. publishes articles on agriculture and equine medicine. In letters to friends, both Charlotte and Waldemar look back on their years in Gallipolis as the happiest, or at least the most carefree, of their lives. He dies in 1846.

Friends in High Places

In letters to Charlotte and Waldemar, Edme boasts of his friendship with members of the Bonaparte family. He publishes a version of the Old Testament from which all miracles have been excised, though it excites the anger of "religious bigots." He urges his son and daughter-in-law to write his good friend Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours, newly arrived in America, to court his favor. They do, and du Pont, residing in New York, engages Waldemar to investigate his land holdings in Scott County, Kentucky. The Mentelles provide him with candid observations on the population and economy of Lexington and the surrounding area. They begin lifelong friendships with Henry and Lucretia Clay and with Mary Owen Todd.

Writing Between the Lines

John Bradford, editor of the Kentucky Gazette, publishes Charlotte's translation of a text probably by Gabriel Sénac de Meilhan on the fate of aristocrats who fled the French Revolution for Germany, England, and elsewhere. It bears the title Voyages, Adventures and Situation of the French Emigrants and appears in 1800. In her Introduction to the work, and in footnotes and subtle alterations of the text, Charlotte takes a feminist stand, alludes to her own experience in Gallipolis, and argues that the Revolution has suffered unjust criticism. She castigates Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI, and the Count of Artois, even though the latter had been Edme Mentelle's patron. Bradford in the Kentucky Gazette likewise maintains a pro-French position.