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Source: The New York Post
Eliza Monroe Hay, the eldest girl of James Monroe, America’s 5th president, volition yet beryllium laid to remainder successful Virginia, astir 2 centuries aft her lonely decease successful France.
On Thursday, her remains volition beryllium interred astatine Hollywood Cemetery successful Richmond, reuniting her with her begetter and different household members, and bringing closure to a agelong play of neglect and obscurity.Hay died astatine the property of 53 successful 1840, acold from home, and was buried successful an unmarked sedate successful Paris. For galore years, fewer knew of her struggles oregon her hopeless attempts to instrumentality to the United States during her last years, highlighting the hardships faced adjacent by those from salient families.
Eliza Monroe Hay’s letters uncover fiscal struggles and beingness successful France
Two letters housed successful the College of William & Mary archives shed airy connected Hay’s plight. In her correspondence, she pleaded for assistance, describing her mediocre wellness and precarious concern successful a overseas state arsenic reported by The New York Post.“I americium present successful distress, successful sick health, & successful a overseas [sic] country,” Hay wrote successful 1839, revealing her vulnerability and fiscal struggles.Barbara VornDick, a retired teacher and writer of Eliza’s True Story: The First Biography of President Monroe’s Eldest Daughter, uncovered the letters.
Her probe aimed to close longstanding misconceptions astir Hay’s life, which often painted her arsenic a frivolous socialite who abandoned her duties for luxury abroad. Eliza Monroe Hay spent overmuch of her younker successful France, wherever her begetter had served arsenic a curate nether Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
She adjacent befriended the aboriginal queen of Holland during her schooling abroad.When President Monroe’s woman was often unwell, Hay stepped successful to assistance with authoritative duties, shaping the nationalist representation of the archetypal statesmanlike family.
Yet, contention followed her. She reportedly angered governmental circles by organising a backstage wedding for her younger sister, Maria, excluding galore expected guests, including diplomats and influential politicians. Despite these controversies, Hay devoted overmuch of her beingness to family.
She cared for her parents, supported her husband, and raised her grandchildren aft her ain girl Hortensia died young.
However, these responsibilities depleted her fiscal resources, leaving her struggling by 1838.
Eliza Monroe Hay yet returns location aft years successful France
After James Monroe’s decease successful 1831, his property was controlled by Samuel Gouverneur, Hay’s brother-in-law and cousin, who was notorious for gambling and alleged fraud. Hay’s entree to her inheritance was blocked, leaving her reliant connected precarious household connections and tiny earnings.VornDick’s probe revealed that during her clip successful France, Hay was repeatedly deceived and forced to combat for humble enactment from her father’s estate.
Tragically, she died without resolving these disputes, her sedate remaining unmarked successful Paris’s Père Lachaise Cemetery. Over time, Hay’s gravesite fell into disrepair. By 2018, French authorities warned the James Monroe Museum and Memorial Library that her remains risked exhumation and placement successful an ossuary unless enactment was taken.Through the Bringing Eliza Home Project, VornDick and collaborators initiated the repatriation process. Their efforts person ensured that Hay volition yet remainder beside her household successful Richmond, honouring her beingness and legacy. On October 23, 2025, Eliza Monroe Hay volition beryllium officially laid to remainder astatine Hollywood Cemetery, yet reunited with her household aft astir 2 centuries of separation.Also Read | Meet Japan’s ‘Iron Lady’ Sanae Takaichi: First pistillate Prime Minister facing large political, economic, and determination challenges
