PRINCESS ANNE, MD — On May 5th in 1821, French military leader Napoleon Bonaparte died in exile on the remote island of Saint Helena. But years before his death, there were reported plans to smuggle the deposed emperor to the United States—via Delmarva.
Local historians and residents point to a home in Princess Anne known as “Beverly” as a key stop in a failed escape plot that could have altered world history.
Dave Medland and Daryl Newhouse, the current owners of the historic house, say the story dates back to the early 1800s, when the home was owned by Nehemiah King, an acquaintance of Napoleon’s younger brother, Jérôme Bonaparte.
“To get him to Saint Helena, where he was exiled, to New Orleans—allegedly he was gonna stop here in Cape Charles and spend time here at Beverly while they were getting ready to go to New Orleans,” Newhouse said.
The house was partially destroyed by fire in 1937, but written accounts from those who lived there beforehand include mention of a hidden chamber reportedly meant to hide Napoleon if needed.
“I remember the secret closet, as my sister and I called it, it was the room Napoleon was to go to if any alarm was sounded." said an account by former resident Carolyn Caitlin Hodgson, "It was by the chimney in my mother and fathers bedroom. To the left side was a very small door. You would not notice otherwise. That was the secret room.”
That space is now a small bathroom.
Ultimately, the secret room was never used. Napoleon died on May 5th, 1821, and the plot to smuggle him to America was never realized.
“The word came that the emperor was dead, the secret room became an empty gesture and an undertaking that might have diverted the course of history, died stillborn," a section from Homes of the Cavaliers by Catherine Scarborough, which was published prior to the fire, reads.
Although Napoleon never reached American soil, The Beverly stands as a curious footnote to his legacy. The home was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.