John Vernou Bouvier III was born in East Hampton, New York. His nickname, "Black Jack", referred to his perpetually dark-tanned skin and his flamboyant lifestyle. Bouvier's great-grandfather, Michel Bouvier, was a French cabinetmaker from Pont-Saint-Esprit, in the southern Provence region. Michel immigrated to Philadelphia in 1815 after fighting in the Napoleonic Wars, married, was widowed, and then married Louise Clifford Vernou. In addition to crafting fine furniture, Michel Bouvier had a business distributing firewood. To support that business, he acquired large tracts of forested land, some of which contained a large reserve of coal. Michel further grew his fortune in real estate speculation. His sons, Eustes, Michel Charles, and John V. Bouvier Sr., distinguished themselves in the world of finance on Wall Street. They left their fortunes to their only remaining male Bouvier heir, Major John Vernou Bouvier Jr., who used some of the money to buy an estate known as Lasata in East Hampton, Long Island. Major John Vernou Bouvier, Jr., a successful attorney, and Maude Frances Sergeant had five children, of whom John Vernou Bouvier III was the eldest. Their other children were William Sergeant "Bud" Bouvier, who was born in 1893 and died from alcoholism in 1929; Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale, who was born in 1895 and became the wife of Phelan Beale, Sr. and the mother of Edith Bouvier Beale, Phelan Beale, Jr., and Bouvier Beale; and twins Maude Reppelin Bouvier Davis and Michelle Caroline Bouvier Scott Putnam. John Vernou Bouvier III attended Philips Exeter Academy and Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School. He then studied at Columbia College, his father's alma mater, where he played tennis for two years before transferring to the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale University. While attending Yale, he was a member of the Book and Snakesecret society and the Cloister Club. He graduated in 1914.
Career and military service
Upon his graduation, he went to work as a stockbroker at his father and uncle's firm: Bouvier, Bouvier & Bouvier. In 1917, he left the firm to join the United States Navy. When the Navy proved to be too strenuous, he transferred to the United States Army, where he served as a major. Bouvier was discharged in 1919, whereupon he went back to work as a stockbroker on Wall Street.
Personal life
Bouvier married Janet Norton Lee, the daughter of real estate developer James T. Lee, on July 7, 1928, at St. Philomena's Church in East Hampton. They had two daughters, Jacqueline Lee "Jackie" Bouvier and Caroline Lee Bouvier. Bouvier's drinking, gambling, and philandering led to the couple's divorce in June 1940. Bouvier never remarried. In June 1942, Janet Lee Bouvier married Hugh Dudley Auchincloss, Jr. Janet reportedly did not want her ex-husband to escort his daughter, Jacqueline, down the aisle for her 1953 wedding to John F. Kennedy, so Jacqueline was instead escorted by her step-father. However, some reports indicated Bouvier was too intoxicated to escort his daughter, leading Auchincloss to step in to give the bride away. By the mid-1950s, Bouvier had sporadic contact with his daughters and family. He spent the majority of his time drinking alone at his New York City apartment located at 125 East 74th Street.
In the spring of 1957, Bouvier was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. He checked into Lenox Hill Hospital on July 27, 1957 to undergo chemotherapy. On August 1, he fell into a coma. He died two days later, on August 3, aged 66. His funeral, which was arranged by his daughters Jacqueline and Lee, was held at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan after which his body was buried in the Bouvier family plot at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Cemetery in East Hampton, New York.
