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History in the Hills: Royal connections

Last week, my wife and I were saddened with the news of the death of Queen Elizabeth II in the United Kingdom. Since the news broke, we have been watching the coverage of all the state events taking place in the U.K. on the BBC. It is certainly a monumental moment in world history that last happened more than 70 years ago.

There aren’t many folks who personally remember when the queen became monarch, so it is a big deal. Reflecting on our feelings made me wonder why it is something that I, an American, would be concerned about. I never met her, anyone in her family or have ever been over the pond to her country. Just a very small part of my family tree goes back to England, having left there some 280 years ago or more. Yet her passing still inspires grief in us.

For me personally, it is a loss of a person who experienced so much of history. She witnessed the depressions of the 1930s, World War II, the prosperity of the 1950s, social revolutions in the 1960s, challenges of the 1970s and 1980s, technology changes of the 1990s and 2000s and, finally, a global pandemic. She met world leaders, popes and presidents in her 70 years on the throne. She very much was a personality larger than life and it seemed that the 96-year-old would always be here taking a role in world events into eternity, adding to her experience, knowledge and influence. Unfortunately, that is not the human condition. Every beginning has an end, and her story is now at a close.

I tried every which way to connect Queen Elizabeth to our area. I can’t say that I was successful in discovering one, although I am sure someone out there somewhere has one. Certainly, the queen never visited Weirton or Steubenville, but we do have a few royal connections during our history that are worthy of mention.

The most recent connections are due to Franciscan University of Steubenville, of which Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg and her younger brother, Prince Sebastien of Luxembourg, are alumni. These siblings are sixth and seventh in line to the Luxembourger throne.

Going a bit further back in the past, another connection with royalty in our area occurred with the wedding of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, and Grace Kelly. Steubenville’s own Carolyn Shaffer served as one of Kelly’s bridesmaids. Carolyn worked in The Hub, and my grandmother, Lois Carpini, worked with her in the children’s department right after World War II. She remembers that Carolyn was very nice, and they had a few conversations together. During Steubenville’s sesquicentennial in 1947, Carolyn was crowned queen of the festivities.

According to an article written in the Herald-Star in 2019, in November of 1947, she moved to New York City, taking up residence in the Barbizon Hotel and became a Ford model, and it is there where she met Grace Kelly. They became close friends. When Kelly was going to marry Prince Rainier, Carolyn was included in the wedding party. Carolyn’s daughter, Nyna Giles, wrote a book called “The Bridesmaid’s Daughter” which explores her relationship with her mother and her later mental health struggles. The book debuted in 2018 and is certainly worth reading.

Another royal connection from our area is from the 1880s when a Steubenville native became a staple in the court of King Karl of Wurttemberg. Richard Manse Jackson was born near East Springfield in 1846. His father was allegedly the cousin of Confederate Gen. Thomas Stonewall Jackson, and it is reported that he died at the very moment his son was born. When he was 12, in 1858, his family moved to Steubenville.

Jackson was a very gifted musician and taught at the female seminary for the Rev. Charles Beatty. According to historian Joseph Doyle in his 1910 work on the history of Steubenville and Jefferson County, Jackson was a regular pianist and organist at St. Paul’s and Hamline churches in Steubenville. In 1873, he was encouraged to travel to Europe to continue his studies. He traveled with other Steubenville musicians and artists including singer, and later opera star, William MacDonald, vocalist Miss Lizzie Brosi and well-known Steubenville artist Eliphalet Andrews.

Jackson was to study at the Stuttgart Conservatory of Music in Germany, but he permanently injured his arm and was forced to give up music. To make ends meet, Jackson became employed in 1876 as an assistant to the American Consul in Stuttgart and it was there that he met King Karl I of Wurttemberg in a public park.

King Karl was interested in this American from Ohio and appointed him Reader to the King which, according to an article that appeared in the Detroit Free Press in November of 1888, meant that he became “the king’s companion, one whom he can meet in ordinary human intercourse without formalities, as he cannot meet, of course, the nobility. Yet no suspicion of the menial attaches to the ‘reader,’ and he is not expected to treat the king with any degree of obsequiousness. It is a place of high confidence and honor.”

Because of his high place in the king’s court, Jackson was given the title of Baron Von Jackson once he renounced his American citizenship. Baron Von Jackson became privy councilor to his majesty and was given gifts, including rare paintings and a large income. Because of his position, he had audiences with the leading kingdoms and personalities of Europe, including the kings of Holland and Saxony, the Emperor of Austria, Czar of Russia, and Pope Leo XIII. He fell in love with the king’s niece, the Grand Duchess Vera Konstantinovna of Russia, first cousin of Czar Alexander III of Russia, but his position in the king’s court was too low to marry a grand duchess.

Because of Jackson’s position in the court of the king, rumors surfaced accusing King Karl of having an intimate relationship with Jackson. In any case, there was a fair amount of distrust surrounding Jackson since he was an American and had the ear of the king. Despite the scandals, Jackson stuck it out and retained his position in the court.

In 1891, King Karl died, but he provided a pension for his friend. A few years later Baron von Jackson left Wurttemberg and Europe and returned to Steubenville for a time, eventually moving in with a sister in Ohio. His story ends as quietly as it began.

So, our area does have a few connections with royalty. They may not be as well known as the late Queen Elizabeth, but they still play a noble and important part of our history.

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