Marriage and Family
On February 16, 1833, the 22-year-old Benjamin married Natalie Bauché de St. Martin, the 16-year-old daughter of a prominent and wealthy New Orleans French Creole family. They were married in a Roman Catholic ceremony at the St. Louis Cathedral. He became a slaveholder and soon established a sugar cane plantation in Belle Chasse, Louisiana. His plantation and legal practice both prospered.
In 1842, the couple's only child, Ninette, was born. She was christened and raised as a Catholic. In 1847, Natalie Benjamin took the girl and moved to Paris, where she remained for most of the rest of her life. Benjamin traveled each summer to France to see his wife and daughter.
Read more about this topic: Judah P. Benjamin
Famous quotes containing the words marriage and/or family:
“That a marriage ends is less than ideal; but all things end under heaven, and if temporality is held to be invalidating, then nothing real succeeds.”
—John Updike (b. 1932)
“For most women who are considering it, single motherhood is not their first choice, but it’s not their last one either. They would prefer a husband in their family, but they’d rather have a family without one than no family at all.”
—Anne Cassidy. “Every Child Should Have a Father But....,” McCall’s (March 1985)