RE: Captain Charles Eugene Jule Marie Nungesser

If anyone is interested in the famous World War I pilot's ancestry, I will briefly describe it here. Although I obviously don’t have all the answers, I do have documentation to support the below ancestry for Captain Charles E J M Nungesser.

Eugene Nungesser (b. unk; d. unk) married Leontine Clavel (b.unk; d. aft 1934). They had four children:
1) Marcel Eugene Nungesser (b.unk; d. unk),
2) Leon Eugene Nungesser (b.unk; d.unk),
3) Charles Eugene Jules Marie Nungesser (b. March 15, 1892, d. abt May 8, 1927), and
4) Robert Eugene Nungesser (b. July 19, 1903; d. December 25, 1990).
Leontine Clavel was often referred to as “Mademoiselle Nungesser”. I have a picture of her standing in front of the Nungesser/Coli Memorial on the coast of Etretat, Normandy about September 1928.

Charles E J M Nungesser married (on July 28, 1923) Consuelo Hatmaker (b. abt 1903; d.unk).

Consuelo Hatmaker was a Madison Avenue socialite. Consuelo's father was James R. Hatmaker. Her mother was Nellie V. Sands. Nellie Sands married into the money made by her first husband, Captain Joseph Raphael DeLamar. Captain DeLamar made millions in gold mining in 1878 Leadville, Colorado, as well as politics. Nellie and Captain DeLamar had one daughter, Alice A. DeLamar (half-sister to Consuelo). Nellie’s second husband was to James R. Hatmaker. After her divorce, Nellie Sands married a third time to American Captain William Waters. Originally, it was planned to be a mother-daughter double wedding, between Captain Waters and Nellie Sands, and Captain Nungesser and Consuelo Hatmaker. Consuelo’s father objected, so Charles Nungesser and Consuelo waited several months.

To my knowledge, Charles Nungesser and Consuelo Hatmaker had no children. From what I have researched, almost as soon as the marriage began, Charles tried to convince Consuelo to move to Paris with him. She refused, wanting to stay in the socialite lifestyle of New York City. So, Charles moved to Paris, and Consuelo stayed in New York. Basically, as soon as the marriage started, they were separated. They officially divorced on September 9, 1926. Charles Nungesser did not remarry. His disappearance was only 8 months later. Ironically, the widow Consuelo eventually returned to Paris, then marrying Alfredo Sides on October 7, 1934.

The brothers of Charles E J M Nungesser followed different paths.As far as I know, his brothers Leon and Marcel stayed in France. From one of these brothers, I believe the French politician Roland Nungesser was born. Roland Nungesser served as the Secretary of Economy and Finance to French Premier George Pompidou in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. However, I am not positive of his relationship to Charles Nungesser. Charles Nungesser’s youngest brother, Robert, moved to San Francisco, and eventually to Washington, D.C., with many places along the way. His family still lives in Maryland.

If you are interested in what my sources are, send me an e-mail at Chris.Canter@wcom.com. I hope this helps.