Judah Benjamin - The Jewish Confederate

[Gene C]

That's right. He also had an unusual marriage. He married his wife Natalie when she was 16. She later became known as being notoriously promiscuous.

"In 1845, after eleven years of marriage, Natalie took their daughter and moved to Paris. Natalie joined Benjamin briefly after his election to the Senate in 1852, but returned again to Paris because of scandalous rumors about her in Washington.

Though they never divorced, the couple rarely lived together again as husband and wife. Benjamin made a trip each summer to France to see his wife and child. His lifelong devotion to his wife has been well documented, and theirs was a romantic but tragic marriage that doomed Benjamin to much loneliness." From the Civil War Women Blog. http://civilwarwomenblog.com/natalie-benjamin/