Ellen Channing Day

Ellen Channing Day Bonaparte (née Day; September 25, 1852 – June 23, 1924) was a member of a distinguished Connecticut family who is best remembered for her marriage to Attorney General Charles Joseph Bonaparte.

Family

Ellen Channing Day was born on September 25, 1852, in Hartford, Connecticut. She was the daughter of Thomas Mills Day of Hartford, an attorney. Her grandfather was Thomas Day, whose brother Jeremiah Day was president of Yale. Her mother was Anna Jones (Dunn) Day, originally of Boston. Ellen was also known as "Nellie."

Marriage While visiting friends in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Ellen met Charles Joseph Bonaparte, then a student at Harvard. Charles was the son of Jerome Napoleon "Bo" Bonaparte and his wife, Susan May Williams. Charles' father was the son of Jerome Bonaparte, King of Westphalia, and his first wife, Elizabeth Patterson of Baltimore. Charles made the acquaintance of Ellen while at a party in Cambridge, which had been "formed for purposes of amusement."

She would write an account of the Great Chicago Fire, as she was visiting the city with her mother when the fire occurred. Ellen and Charles were married in Newport, Rhode Island. They were not engaged until June 1875, due to a three-year visit to Europe Ellen had with her mother. Known for his Progressive values, he also created the Bureau of Investigation, which would later become the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The Bonapartes often lived at the Bella Vista estate in Baltimore. It was constructed by James Bosley Noel Wyatt and William G. Nolting. The couple were "stay-at‑homes," with Ellen not being particularly physically strong, and Charles experiencing heart problems. The Bella Vista would be destroyed in a fire in 1933.

Ellen died on June 23, 1924, in Washington D.C., at the age of 71. Joseph I. France recalled her as having been "a distinguished woman... although she was an invalid".