The Mysterious Baron de Brenneke...or is it Le Baron De Bennecker?
The identity of Mary's Pau associate finally revealed!
Identifying Mary’s Pau associates took way more time and effort than was reasonable to put into the matter, but I just wanted to figure it out…the details are in the footnotes, but I solved the mystery with the help of publications for birdwatchers and envelope collectors, of all things!
Introduction
In 1963, Gregory Peck traveled to Pau, France, to film Behold a Pale Horse. He was not unaware of its history. The owner of 1,000 Lincoln-related books, he was looking for something not covered in them. Rather than socializing with his co-stars Anthony Quinn and Omar Sharif, or going to the beach, he “spent much of his spare time checking into the matter” of Mary’s later years in Pau. He dove into the old newspapers files in the Pau library, but “he was unable to unearth a single document.”
When the film was released the following year, an article made the rounds, presumably published at his request.[i] The article described his unsuccessful effort, and concluded with an appeal: “If any historian has further knowledge, Peck would be glad to hear from him, care of Columbia Pictures 711 Fifth Avenue, New York.”[ii]
Whether Columbia Pictures sifted any leads out of the fan mail is unknown.
Peck was not alone in his futile efforts to find Mary, even while she was alive. The New York Herald’s Pau correspondent had felt Peck’s pain when he or she wrote back in December 1878. (The letter was published in January 5, 1879.)
Describing “Winter Life in Pau,” the full-page, chatty letter listed all prominent American residents, who were exceeded in number only by the English residents, who dominated local culture. One name was conspicuously absent. “I am told that Mrs. Lincoln, widow of Abraham Lincoln, lives here, but I could find no trace of her. If true, she lives in absolute seclusion.”
But some people did know where Mary was. That she was unknown to the large American colony should not be taken as assertion that she lacked friends. She wrote home that she had no interest in society, preferring, as she had for many years, to socialize with a few close friends, most of whom were “natives.”
Mary’s Life in Pau (1876-1880)
Mary sailed to Europe a few months after the conservatorship expired, presumably fearing she might again be subject to commitment proceedings if she remained under U.S. jurisdiction, and also to demonstrate to herself and others that her sense of agency was intact.
When she had arrived in Havre, France in mid-October 1876, she received a warm reception. “Our elegant & kind hearted friend Louis de Berbieu, had written several letters to the agents here & they immediately took me his charge, without opening an article of baggage,”[iii] she wrote her grand-nephew Lewis Baker. It was unclear how they knew him, but this attention meant a lot to Mary. She did not always receive the respectful consideration that she felt the widow of Abraham Lincoln deserve, but she had more luck in Europe than in America, the country that he had saved at the cost of his life and her future.
Note: I also finally identified the mysterious “Louis de Berbieu,” who I will do a follow-up post about.
“Such kindness, deference & attention, as I met with on my arrival here, it impossible for me to describe to you.” She was atypically pleased when interacting with those used to working with the public, government officials and, unsurprisingly, diplomats. While their attention was appreciated, her example of it was quite specific. Whether it was the result of a mental quirk or because she had so few opportunities in which to obtain it, and it was probably both, she now measured proper respect by whether not officials were willing to exempt her baggage from customs inspection.
It is unknown how many trunks she took with her,[iv] but she didn’t want anyone looking through them—it was a violation. Her financial fixation was ever-present, but she no longer seemed to view herself as uniquely afflicted. Mr. de Berbieu was a widower—“certainly, a very cheerful looking one,” she marveled—especially as he had only one child, like herself. “Every where, reverses of fortune are met with,” she reflected. Still, there must have been something allowing his cheerfulness. “Perhaps it has not been his fate financially.”[v]
This was probably not only meant as a comparison with her own situation; financial turmoil had wracked America for years, especially since the Panic of 1873. In any event, his cheerfulness was not a front; he did everything in his power to welcome and support her, making a special effort to lure her out of her seclusion. “Each day, since I have been here,” she wrote, “a carriage with coachman & footman in livery, has called for me to drive, accompanied always, by the owner.”[vi]
She had many friends whose loyal friendship has gone unheralded—they do not loom large in the historical record, but they were there, when Mary willing to accept their kindness. “It is pleasant to be thus received, although of course, I am aware, it is entirely my own fault as in N.Y-& Phil, in keeping myself aloof from dear friends, who love me well.” She announced her intention “to act in a more civilized manner in the future,” and she seemed to mean it.[vii]
Once she settled in Pau, she wrote Myra Bradwell “I believe I told you that I had already some friends residing at Pau. They received me with the greatest affection and I have made some new acquaintances whom I like very much . . . I have received some delightful letters from friends, and some most distinguished ones who dwell in this land and most of them are natives, who give me so cordial a welcome to their shores.”[viii]
The Mysterious Baron: Now Identified
While the recipients of the high honor of being people Mary “liked very much” go unheralded, she identified two longtime friends: “An Austrian, Baron de Brenneke, who was in Washington while we were there,” and his wife. “They often visit me and are very accomplished people —plain and so elegant and consequently so unassuming.” I think that combination of adjectives was meant to convey that they were self-possessed.
Mary’s letters, which Peck had apparently read, had mentioned the Baron, but he had been rendered unidentifiable by her varied attempts to spell his name. In other letters, he was “Le Baron De Bennecker,” and his wife was “Baronne[ss?] de Brandenecker.”
Or was “Baron” a title, rather than a name? Calling his wife a Baronness (or, as Mary put it sometimes, “Mme La Barronesse”) seems to indicate it as much. Was it a French translation — was he the Baron of Brenneke? Did such a place exist in Austria? Or perhaps he was a Baron with no particular domain, and his last name just happened to be “de Brenneke.” I tried many combinations without much success.
But finally, extensive research paid off: when admitted in 1908 to the The Foreign Bird Club, his name was given as “Baron de Branneker,” and his residence was still Pau, so this was definitely the same guy, and he long outlived Mary. (The editor of the club’s publication extended a welcome to “Mr. De Branneker”!) [ix]
A Google search of this name and its variants returned only one match: the diary of William H. Seward. On April 27, 1860, before Lincoln had even been nominated, Seward wrote “I had an impromptu dinner yesterday. Baron Branneker, a Hungarian,—an intelligent and accomplished gentleman.”[x] Also present was Salmon P. Chase (“sound, handsome, and complacent”), indicating Branneker had some impressive Washington connections (and their respect), and verifying Mary’s claim that he had been in Washington during Lincoln’s administration.[xi] The Baroness also seems to have been impressive, a musician of some repute who composed a popular funeral march.[xii]
Not long after her arrival in Pau, Mary wrote to the “intelligent, accomplished” Baron, desiring to enlist his services in a mysterious matter. It is one of the few letters that survives from this period. In it, she spells his name correctly, no doubt because, as she told Myra Bradwell in a letter written the same day, she had just received a calling card from the Brannekers, and it was lying on the table next to her. She wrote a response to their overture:[xiii]
“B.on De Branneker
My dear sir:
I wish to see you, to consult you on a little business[xiv] desiring your advice which will not embarrass you, in the least by its responsibility. Therefore may I take the liberty, of requesting you to call on Saturday afternoon, at four & half o’clock (4 1/2) Saton, No 19. Second stage. I shall consider it a favor. Please present, my compliments to Mme La Barronesse Branneker,[xv] whilst I, remain, most respectfully
Mrs. A. Lincoln”
So what was this little business? A few days later, she wrote to Springfield banker Jacob Bunn and provided the only hint: “The Pension paper, accompanied by your note, with instructions, have been received. I return the paper to you, signed by the proper authorities. Mr Musgrave Clay, is the Consul, connected with the American Consulate. Le Baron De Bennecker, is one of the high authorities here & one of the Government officers.”
His official title appears to have been “Director of the Union Syndicate,” and one of his duties was encouraging tourists to come to Pau through advertisements in European newspapers, particularly London ones. His pitch went as follows: “Mild climate (neither fog nor snow), curative and alleviative of chest diseases. English colony. Every accessory to the enjoyment of life or implement of health.”[xvi]
It seems another of his duties, official or voluntarily assumed, was making sure she was not caught up in red tape when it came to receiving her monthly pension payments, a cumbersome process even when delicately arranged. The dramatic way in which Mary describes it makes it sound like some sort of criminal enterprise; it is possible that the only way to accomplish this was evading some sort of regulatory structure, and was not strictly legal. Or it may have been as simple as the fact that processing paperwork through the bureaucratic systems of two countries via mail that had to cross the ocean on a steamer was a truly elaborate undertaking.
At least she could count on assistance from Baron De Branneker and his wife, who remained friendly with her throughout the years she spent in Pau. Little is known about their later years, other than that the Baron was interested in birds.
Notes
[i] Interestingly, one article dismissed it as a transparent attempt to gain publicity for the movie, suggesting that Mary Lincoln was of enough interest to get the public’s attention.
[ii] The Springfield Union, June 4, 1964.
[iii] Letters referenced in this chapter, unless otherwise specified, can be found in Lincoln, Mary Ann Todd, Justin G. Turner, Linda Levitt Turner, and Fawn M. Brodie, Mary Todd Lincoln: Her Life and Letters (New York, NY: Knopf), 1972.
[iv] One would hope that the dozens she ended up with were not all accumulated during her stay in Pau, but it cannot be ruled out. Before her departure, Ninian notified Robert that her brother-in-law “will give her the use of a room in the 2d story of the building occupied by him as a store, to keep her trunks in.” See Ninian Edwards to Robert Lincoln, November 12, 1875, in Emerson, Jason, Mary Lincoln's Insanity Case. University of Illinois Press. Kindle Edition.
[v] Mary Lincoln to Edward Lewis Baker, October 17, 1876, Emerson, Jason. Mary Lincoln's Insanity Case. University of Illinois Press. Kindle Edition.
[vi] Ibid.
[vii] Ibid; Her friendship with the Orleans family reference has been treated dismissively, but she seems to have been close with them in Europe, and no one could have written a nicer condolence letter after Lincoln’s death: “Nobody pretends to offer you any consolations, for what mean the voices of the whole world when the only voice which we long to hear once more is silent for ever? But the expressions of symp[a]thy are, perhaps, more acceptable when they come from one who has gone himself through the terrible ordeal of great and untimely family losses.” See Louis Philippe D'Orleans to Mary Lincoln, Mary 5, 1865, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.
[viii] Mary Lincoln to Myra Bradwell, December 1, 1876, in Pritchard, Myra Helmer, The Dark Days of Abraham Lincoln’s Widow, as Revealed by Her Own Letters,Kindle Edition.
[ix] I finally discovered his name in, of all things, a publication of The Foreign Bird Club. He was listed as a newly elected member: “Baron de Branneker, 8, Passage Bonado, Pau, Basses Pyrenees, France.” The editor had nominated “Mr. De Branneker” for membership. Whatever name he went by, he sounds like a cultivated man, having been sought by the editor. However, the editor sowed confusion—was Baron a title, or his first name? See National British Bird and Mule Club, and Foreign Bird Club. Bird Notes. Brighton: Foreign Bird Club, 19021925. https://books.google.com/books?id=E5CY4Wz9stIC&dq=baron+de+branneker&source=gbs_navlinks_s
[x] Seward, William H., and Frederick William Seward, Seward at Washington, as Senator and Secretary of State. A memoir of his life, with selections from his letters. New York: Derby and Miller, 1891.
[xi] I have not found any references to his activities during his Washington years.
[xii] In 1882, a London paper advertised a funeral march composed by “the Baroness De Branneker Beridez.” Where the Berider comes from, and how it differs from Beridez, is unclear. “This celebrated sacred march, long played at private concerts and churches, both in the United Kingdom and on the Continent, has been published in a cheap form.” See The Graphic: An Illustrated Weekly Newspaper, September 16, 1882.
[xiii] Mary Lincoln to Baron De Branneker, December 1, 1876. This letter appears to have surfaced in the papers of a philatelist who collected “covers,” or envelopes. Presumably the letter was inside one--his files also contained the Eliza Slataper letters. See Stern, Edward, History of the "free Franking" of Mail In the United States. New York, N. Y.: H. L. Lindquist, 1936; Stone, Irving, “The Trip that Abraham Lincoln Promised Mary,” in Celebration: 60 Years Of Good Reading From 60 Authors Chosen By The Literary Guild, New York: Nelson Doubleday, Inc., 1987, 120. https://archive.org/details/celebration60yea00unkn/
[xiv] Mary Lincoln generally used the term “little business” to refer to financial matters, such as transferring, receiving money, paying bills, collecting rent from Robert, or receiving and returning signed pension papers.
[xv] It is not clear why the Baroness had the French title “Mme” and article “La” before her name but not the “de” in the middle.
[xvi] The advertisement furthers confusion as to his name, because it was signed “Baron BRANNEKERBERIDER.”