Helene Josephine MOULTON
Biography

The following was taken from the Boston Transcript :
In the year 1886 a dispatch from Berlin announced that the brutal and heartless "Count Von Hatzfeld," with the customary meanness of the so-called "German nobility," had succeeded in his attempt to get divorced from his beautiful American wife, formerly Miss Moulton, in order that he might receive the appointment of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, it being held that he was disqualified to appear — with a wife whose grandmother once sang in public — at a court in the veins of whose chief dignitaries, ran the blood of thieves, assassins and debauchers. In the language of the scribe of the period :

The Countess Von Hatzfeld was born in New York about the year 1852. Her mother, whose maiden name was Ceasarina Metz, was the daughter of Julius Metz, a former music teacher of that day. Mrs. Metz had been an actress before her marriage, and the daughter was a distinguished beauty, and being very accomplished was a great belle in New York society. Miss Metz married a Mr. Moulton of Albany who soon after coming to New York made investments in real estate which were highly successful. The result of the union was a boy and a girl. The boy's name was Charles Moulton. The girl was the lady whose marriage with Count Von Hatzfeld has just been dissolved. About ten years after the birth of the children the Moultons went to Paris, where they made their home henceforth, and the father materially increased his wealth by an association with the famous Baron Haussmann.

About 1868 Charles Moulton married Miss Lillie Greenough of Boston. This lady was famous for her wonderful soprano voice, which has delighted a great many audiences. About six years ago Charles Moulton died, and soon after ward, his widow came to this country, where she made the acquaintance of Baron Von Hageman, the Danish Minister, whom she married several years ago. Miss Moulton, mean while having been carefully educated, grew up to be a charming, graceful and accomplished young lady. When about seventeen she attracted the notice of the Empress Eugenie by her graceful skating on the lake in the Bois de Boulogne. She thereafter was prominent in the society of the Imperial Court where she made many friends. At this time she became acquainted with Count Von Hatzfeld, who was then the German Ambassador at Paris. From the first there was a strong mutual attachment between the young people, which, in 1869, culminated in a marriage, which was particularly gratifying to the lady's family, and in Parisian society, was considered a brilliant match. A German gentleman, now residing in New York, who has held official positions, both in the army and the civil service of Prussia, and who claims to be familiar with the rules and usages governing official life in Berlin, speaking of the divorce, said: "There is no written law on the subject, and acceptability at court depends altogether on customs and usage. The present usage owes its existence to the Empress Augusta, who, inheriting the severely strict ideas characteristic of the House of Hohenzollern, is extremely particular in her ideas of propriety. Nobility, however, is not among the requisites for reception into the court circle, and the peasant is on a par with the prince in that respect. There are two causes which are fatal to a woman's favor at court ; one is, connection with the stage either directly or through being related to any one who has performed in public ; the other consists in having been divorced or related to any one who has been divorced."

This gentleman, upon being informed of the incidents of the countess's life and antecedents, said that even though there were no other reasons, the facts that her grandmother had been an actress and her sister-in-law a concert singer, were enough to have prevented the count from being received in official circles.


Title Moulton Annals
Author Henry William Moulton
Editor Claribel Moulton
Publisher Edward A. Claypool, 1906



Learn more about the life of     Helene Josephine MOULTON.

Visit , New York, USA
Discover the people who lived there, the places they visited and the stories they shared.