From The Jersey Sierran, July - September 2022
By Joanne Pannone, Chair, Central Jersey Group
In February, the Hunterdon Warren and Central Jersey groups of the NJ Chapter of the Sierra Club hosted talks on the 60-acre Bonaparte estate in Bordentown City and the Abbott Marshlands, which are adjacent.
D&R Greenway Land Trust President and CEO Linda Mead discussed the Bonaparte estate acquisition from Divine Word Missionaries in 2020. Abbott Marshlands Board President Pat Coleman described how the Abbott Marshlands were a homeland of the Lenape tribe.
On the bluffs in Bordentown, Napoleon Bonaparte’s eldest brother Joseph lived on an estate called Point Breeze. Joseph Bonaparte was the king of Naples from 1806 to 1808 and then the king of Spain from 1808 to 1813. After Napoleon was defeated in 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo and sent into exile, Joseph Bonaparte fled to the United States.
Built in 1816, the mansion was the largest residence in the United States at the time. It was replaced after a fire, and Bonaparte continued to live on the estate until 1838. This area was almost lost to a large warehouse development. A land acquisition team led by Bordentown Mayor James Lynch and Mead was able to save the property.
Mead has led D&R Greenway since 1997. Over more than 30 years, Linda has helped preserve over 20,000 acres of land in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, including Greenway Meadows and Coventry Farm in Princeton, and St. Michaels Farm Preserve in Hopewell Township. She is adept at fundraising and structuring complex land preservation transactions.