The Duchess of Leeds

... at the time that John Dixon brought his family to America... was an American girl!

Louise Caton, daughter of a wealthy and famous Catholic businessman and politician from Baltimore, married Mr. D'Arcy before his father, the Duke of Leeds, died. When her father-in-law died, she became the Duchess of Leeds.

So what brought me to this story?

I was reading the bio of James Buchanan, the president just before Abe Lincoln and the Civil War, and she and her family was mentioned. Now I can't find the spot in the book, so I'm going on memory. James Buchanan never married (there are many rumors... and much talk even at the time... that he was our only gay president). However, he had lots of nieces and nephews, most of which he supported and served as guardian to in the 1840's and 1850's. (Many of his siblings, and several other friends, died as adults due to TB.) It seems that the Caton family took in some of these nieces and nephews of Buchanan, at least for a few summers, and the families were friendly. I'm not sure it was Louisa or one of her two sisters that James Buchanan wrote some "friendly" letters to for a few months. One theory is that the letters were a front. The other two sisters also married royals in England.

One of the things I found on the web is an old newspaper article (from New Zealand, no less) that appears to be a society notice about royal doings back in England. Another is a page in a Catholic Encyclopedia detailing brief facts about the Caton family.

Remember that there were major wars between the Catholics and the Protestants earlier in English history... the times of Henry VIII and Shakespeare. But the original owners of Leeds... that right... the owners....were Normans... which means they were French and thus Catholic. Things seemed to have improved by the 1840's since the Catholics were back in royal good standing.

Note: Upon proofing, I remembered something in the Encyclodpedia article that was interesting. It mentions that the Xavarians built the St. Mary's Industrial School on land that was known as The Duchess of Leeds Estate. I remember from boyhood reading of Babe Ruth's biography that he attended St. Mary's and learned to play baseball there!