Lauther, Olive Chapman. Robert de Navarre: the last of the Bourbons. Arlington, Va: Cooper-Trent Division of Keuffel & Esser Co., 1970. p. 256.

In 1791 Robert de Navarre the grandson of the Royal Notary led a party of French Royalists via horseback and batteaux to Philadelphia, and met with Washington, Gen Arthur Ste. Clair and members of his cabinet to seek aid for the French exiles who were forced to seek refuge in other lands.

They secured about three hundered acres of land to establish an asylum for the Royal family and other Royalists if they could escape from France.

The site selected was about 500ft. above the Susquehanna River in the State of Pennsylvania. It was located on the old Sullivan Trail (now Route 6) between the towns of Wyalusing and Towanda. About forty or more houses were erected and it was hoped that the Queen Marie Antoinette and members of the Royal Family might here find refuge. This was not to be but the two brothers of the ill-fated Louis XVI visited here for a short time.

French

Emigres Collection

Mss. Coll. 34.  .25 ft.

Emigres by the tens of thousands, men and women of the court, noblemen, army and naval officers, priests, and loyalists were among the French who fled to this country when their lives were threatened by the Revolution and Napoleon. They settled in northern and central New York, Pennsylvania as well as various other parts of the United States. Azilum was the French Refugee Colony in Pennsylvania that was planned as a refuge for Queen Marie Antoinette and Royalist fugitives from Revolutionary Paris. Azilum was deserted when Napoleon offered the emigres full amnesty in 1803. The collection consists of files on French emigres to Maine, New York, the southern part of the United States (mostly North Carolina) and Pennsylvania. Includes many clippings about book reviews, articles on Louis XIV, the Dauphin, Marie Antoinette, Joseph Bonaparte (King of Spain, brother of Napoleon) and Marshal Peter Ney (soldier of the French Revolution under Napoleon Bonaparte). Also included is a booklet on the French Refugee Colony in Pennsylvania called "Azilum".

Bradsby, H. C. "Asylum Township." Chap. in History of Bradford County, 391-393. 1892.

Childs, Frances Sergeant. French Refugee Life In The United States, 1790 - 1800: An American Chapter Of The French Revolution. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 1940.

Craft, The Rev. David. "Asylum Township." Chap. in History of Bradford County 1770-1878.

Ingham, J. W. A Short History of Asylum Pennsylvania--founded in 1793 by the French exiles in America: The incidents that drove them from France. Their history while in America. Their return to France. Their descendants who remained. n. p.: 1916.

Murray, Elsie. Azilum French Refugee Colony of 1793. Athens, PA: Tioga Point Museum, 1940.

Murray, Louise Welles. The Story of Some French Refugees and Their Azilum, 1793-1800. Publ. 1903. 150p.

• French Azilum : Bradford, PA (bradford-pa.com); map
• French Azilum : Historic site (frenchazilum.org)
• French Azilum: Then and now. (Towanda/Wysox tourism)
• French Azilum: Ponda-Rowland B&B. (pondarowland.com)
• French Azilum: Joyce M. Tice (rootsweb.com)
• Azilum Township: Joyce M. Tice (rootsweb.com)
• French Azilum Collection: PA Archives (pema.state.pa.us)
• Talleyrand Ouvrages: visitor to Azilum (French site)
• Mss. Coll. 34: SLU Manuscript Coll. (stlawu.edu)
• Microfilm Records: Bradford Co. (Heritagequest.com)
• French Azilum: at FastSearch. (alltheweb.com)

The historic site is locate 8 miles off U.S. Route 6 on Route. l87 South near Towanda, Bradford Co., Pennsylvania. For more information or to receive a brochure of the historic site call 570-265-3376 or write: French Azilum, Inc,, RR 2 Box 266 Towanda, PA l8848.