Edward Parker Deacon (October 2, 1844 – July 5, 1901)[1] was an American heir known for killing his wife's lover in her apartments at Cannes, France.
Early life
editDeacon was born in Paris on October 2, 1844, the "descendant of an old and once distinguished family" from Boston.[2] His parents were Edward Preble Deacon (1813–1851) and Sarah Annabella (née Parker) Deacon (1821–1900). He had a brother named Austin Deacon. His father had served as an attaché of the U.S. Legation in Paris under General Lewis Cass.[3]
His paternal grandparents were Commodore David Deacon and Anna Hutchinson Deacon. His maternal grandparents were Peter Parker and Elizabeth Allston (née Read) Parker. His maternal aunt, Ellen Parker, was the wife of Albert Gallatin Van Zandt, and his uncle, Harleston Parker, married Adeline Ellen Reynolds and was the father of architect J. Harleston Parker.
Personal life
editOn April 29, 1879, he married Florence Baldwin (1859–1919) in New York City. Florence, who spent much of her life in Rome, was the daughter of Rear Admiral Charles Henry Baldwin and Pamelia Caroline (née Tolfree) Baldwin.[4] Before their eventual divorce,[a] they were the parents of four girls (and one boy who died in infancy):[5]
- Gladys Marie Deacon (1881–1977),[6] who married Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough in 1921 after his divorce from Consuelo Vanderbilt.[b][9]
- Ida Audrey Deacon (1884–1904), who died unmarried at age 19 of heart disease.[8]
- Edith Florence Deacon (1887–1965), who was engaged to George Lee Peabody but he died before they married;[10] she later married Henry Gunther Gray, son of John Clinton Gray, in 1919.[11]
- Dorothy Evelyn Deacon (1891–1960), who married Prince Albert Radziwiłł, a grandson of Prince Antoni Wilhelm Radziwiłł,[12] in 1910.[13] They divorced and she married Count Paul Pálffy ab Erdöd;[c] they also divorced.[15]
Manslaughter and imprisonment
editOn February 19, 1892, Deacon discovered Emile Abeille, his wife's lover, in his wife's apartments at the Hôtel Splendide at Cannes. After breaking down the door to the apartment, Abeille hid behind a chair and Deacon shot several times, killing the man.[16][17] Deacon, who surrendered to the police immediately after the shooting, had "the sympathy of the entire American colony,"[18] and was released on 10,000 francs bail.[19] When Edward surrendered himself to the court,[20] Florence left France "in order to avoid the possibility of being subpoeaned as a witness at the trial."[21] "In court at Nice a verdict of manslaughter was handed in and Mr. Deacon was sentenced to one year's imprisonment."[1]
Deacon was "confined in the prison adjacent to the Palace of Justice" in Nice, France, where he was "entertained like a guest,"[22] After he was released from prison, he was pardoned by President Sadi Carnot,[1] Edward and Florence were divorced in 1893,[23] and Edward was awarded custody of the three older children.[24] He took them to the United States,[25] where he remained for the next three years.
Mental illness and death
editDeacon became mentally unstable and in 1899 he was "sent to the McLean Hospital for the Insane. He was at Newport when his derangement was first noticed and was expelled from a reading room there because he persisted in taking ice from a water pitcher to cool his head." Deacon died at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts on July 5, 1901.[1] After a funeral at Trinity Church, Newport, he was interred at Island Cemetery.[26] Shortly before his own death, he "came into possession, through the death of his mother, of a large trust fund."[27] His estate was left in four equal shares to his children with William P. Blake of Boston as executor.[28]
Deacon and her sisters returned to France to live with their mother.[24][29]
References
edit- Notes
- ^ In his application for divorce, Deacon claimed that "at St. Moritz, Switzerland during August and September, 1891, Mrs. Deacon was guilty of improper conduct with Emile Abeille, known by the assumed name of Edmond Adam and Payella. It is also alleged that Mrs. Deacon was guilty of improper conduct with Abeille at various places in Italy in 1891, at 12 Rue de Penthièvre, Paris in December 1891, and January, 1892; at the Hôtel de Noailles, Marseilles, in January and February, 1892: at the Hôtel Windsor at Cannes, in February, 1892, and at the Hôtel Splendide, at Cannes, in January 1892."[5]
- ^ She was rumoured to have been engaged to Wilhelm, German Crown Prince, Hermann von Keyserling,[7] and to Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 15th Duke of Norfolk.[8]
- ^ Count Paul Pálffy ab Erdöd (1890–1968) was married to eight different woman throughout his life, including Etti Ryan (née Countess von Wurmbrand-Stuppach), Louise de Saint-Exupéry (née Vilmorin).[14]
- Sources
- ^ a b c d "EDWARD PARKER DEACON DEAD; Member of Wealthy Boston Family and Figure in Sensational Shooting in Paris a Victim of Brain Disease". The New York Times. 7 July 1901. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
- ^ "E.P. DEACON DEMENTED". The New York Times. 23 August 1897. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ "Killed by E. P. Deacon". The New York Times. February 19, 1892. p. 1. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ Times, Special to The New York (5 August 1924). "DUCHESS RECEIVES $50,000.; Former Gladys Deacon Is Beneficiary Under Will". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ a b "THE DEACONS AGAIN.; SUIT FOR DIVORCE BROUGHT BY THE HUSBAND IN THIS CITY". The New York Times. 29 December 1892. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ Apple Jr, R. W. (18 October 1977). "Dowager Duchess of Marlborough, Friend of Proust, Degas and Rilke". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ "CROWN PRINCE AND MISS DEACON.; Letter from Mrs. Edward Parker Deacon Regarding the Recent Reports". The New York Times. 15 August 1902. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ a b "MISS IDA DEACON DEAD.; A Younger Sister of Miss Gladys Deacon, the Famous Beauty". The New York Times. 24 May 1904. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ "MARLBOROUGH WILL WED GLADYS DEACON; Dukes Engagement to Former Friend of His Ex-Wife Announced in London.BRIDE-TO-BE WELL KNOWNHas Several Times Been Reported Engaged to Marry Members of European Nobility". The New York Times. 2 June 1921. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ Times, Special to The New York (10 September 1910). "DEACON WEDDING POSTPONED; Put Off Till January Because of Illness of George Lee Peabody". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ "MISS EDITH DEACON TO WED H. G. GRAY; Boston Girl, a Sister of Princess Radziwill of Poland, Engaged to New York Lawyer". The New York Times. 18 October 1916. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ "PRINCESS RADZIWILL DIES IN GERMANY; Widow of Prince Anton Succumbs at Her Kleinitz Palace at 75 Years, ONCE LEADER IN SOCIETY Her Grandson Married Dorothy Deacon -- Visited on Birthdays by Emperor William". The New York Times. 13 July 1915. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ "PRINCESS RADZIWILL WINS ANNULMENT; She Was Miss Dorothy Deacon and Was Married in London in 1910". The New York Times. 11 January 1922. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ "The Scandal That Shook Roman Society". Detroit Free Press. 27 August 1922. p. 83. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ Times, Wireless To the New York (13 January 1926). "SUES PRINCE RADZIWILL.; Ex-Wife, Formerly Miss Deacon, Demands Funds for Daughter". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ "KILLED BY E.P. DEACON.; THE AMERICAN COLONY AT CANNES, FRANCE, EXCITED". The New York Times. 19 February 1892. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ "THE DEACON FAMILY TROUBLES; EVENTS WHICH FINALLY LED TO THE KILLING OF M. ABEILLE". The New York Times. 17 May 1892. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ "THE TRAGEDY AT CANNES.; MR. DEACON HAS THE SYMPATHY OF THE ENTIRE AMERICAN COLONY". The New York Times. 20 February 1892. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ "DEACON RELEASED ON BAIL". The New York Times. 10 March 1892. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ "THE CANNES TRAGEDY.; MR. DEACON'S TRIAL WILL, PROBABLY BEGIN MAY 2". The New York Times. 7 March 1892. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ "MRS. DEACON LEAVES FRANCE.; HER HUSBAND SURRENDERS HIMSELF, BUT IS RELEASED". The New York Times. 30 April 1892. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ "DEACON NOW IN PRISON.; ENTERTAINED LIKE A GUEST -- EFFORTS TO SHORTEN HIS SENTENCE". The New York Times. 22 May 1892. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ "MR. DEACON'S DIVORCE.; THE CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH IT WAS GRANTED ON WEDNESDAY". The New York Times. 3 February 1893. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ a b Vickers, Hugo (7 February 2011). "Gladys, Duchess of Marlborough: the aristocrat with attitude". The Telegraph.
- ^ "EDWARD PARKER DEACON HERE.; HE HAS COME TO AMERICA TO STAY, BUT HE MAY GO BACK". The New York Times. 24 March 1893. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ "Deacon Interment at Newport". The New York Times. 8 July 1901. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ Times, Special to The New York (28 February 1901). "Want Guardian for Edward P. Deacon". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ "Guardian for Deacon Children". The New York Times. 30 July 1901. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ "SOCIAL EVENTS IN ORANGE.; Mrs. Deacon Living Near Llewellyn Park -- Dancing Parties Resumed". The New York Times. 29 October 1893. Retrieved 7 March 2022.