Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton: 50 years a Widow

 

In many modern portrayals of the Hamilton story, including the most famous one, the 2015 musical, Eliza Hamilton's story is only told as far as her husband's goes. She is rarely given credit for the 50 years she survived Alexander. While those years were spent in widow's black, Eliza was not still or complacent in her mourning. Besides vowing to see the memory of her husband honored and his legacy remembered, Eliza was a pioneer in expanding the domestic sphere of American women to include charitable work that made a significant impact in communities. After Alexander's death in 1804, Eliza began her own story.

The following excerpts from Women of the American Revolution:

"Eliza forged ahead, creating a life of her own for the first time. In 1805, she joined the board of the New York Society for the Relief of Poor Widows with Small Children, joining the ranks of women in the early nineteenth century in branching out from their homes to help form and improve society through benevolence. In March 1806, she was one of a group of women who formed the New York Orphan Asylum Society, as many of the small children of poor widows inevitably became orphans. Eliza perhaps also contemplated Alexander’s youth as an underprivileged orphan and transferred some of her love for him to young people in need."

Her example had a strong influence on her children, who ranged from 2-19 years old at the time of their father's death.

"Her son, James, shared an anecdote of this time in his memoir. ‘She found a little fellow in the arms of a fireman whose parents had been destroyed by the burning of their house. Being an orphan, she directed the fireman to take the little “McKavit” to the Orphan Asylum, on the Bloomingdale Road, giving him the means to hire a carriage to do so, and gave him her card.’ Many years later, Eliza found this young man a position at the Military Academy. When he was killed in the Mexican American War, he left all he had to the Orphan Asylum that had cared for him. This organization exists to this day as the Graham Windham in Brooklyn."

Eliza's work did not stop there!

"Her next project was a tuition-free school that would make education accessible to all children living in the relative wilderness surrounding Hamilton Grange. In 1818, when Eliza founded the Hamilton Free School near what is now West 187th and Broadway, it was the only school north of modern day 155th Street. Eliza was not involved in the day-to-day operations of the school but stayed engaged while focusing her efforts on the orphanage. The school provided free education until the building was destroyed by fire several years after Eliza’s death. . . .

Eliza tirelessly continued her work for poor women and orphans in New York City throughout most of the last fifty years of her life, petitioning the city for grants, increasing awareness of public needs, and personally overseeing the work of the orphan asylum for many of those years. ‘She was a most earnest, energetic, and intelligent woman,’ wrote her son, James. ‘Her engagements as a principal of the Widow’s Society and Orphan Asylum were incessant. In support of these institutions she was constantly employed, and as I once playfully told her, “Mamma, you are a sturdy beggar.” She replied, “My dear son, I cannot spare myself or others; my Maker has pointed out this duty to me, and has given me the ability and inclination to perform it.”’ "

Read more about Eliza in Women of the American Revolution! It is available at Pen & Sword, Amazon, Book Depository, Barnes & Noble, or your favorite book retailer. 

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The Funeral of Alexander Hamilton

 

Grave of Alexander Hamilton at
Trinity Church in NYC

Alexander Hamilton's death is a well-known event in US history, and Aaron Burr's reputation remains stained by his role in that fatal duel. Lesser-known are the details of Alexander's funeral, which took place on 14 July 1804, two days after his death. 

Elizabeth Hamilton and her children had no idea of the deadly appointment Alexander had made. John, their son who was not quite twelve-years-old at the time, remembered his father was emotional the night before, though he wouldn't know why until later.

 "The day before the duel I was sitting in a room, when, at a slight noise, I turned around and saw my father in the doorway, standing silently there and looking at me with a most sweet and beautiful expression of countenance. It was full of tenderness, and without any of the business pre-occupation he sometimes had. 'John,' he said, when I had discovered him, 'won't you come and sleep with me to-night?' His voice was frank as if he had been my brother instead of my father. That night I went to his bed, and in the morning very early he awakened me, and taking my hands in his palms, all four hands extended, he said and told me to repeat the Lord's Prayer. Seventy-five years have since passed over my head, and I have forgotten many things, but not that tender expression when he stood looking at me in the door nor the prayer we made together the morning before the duel. I do not so well recollect seeing him lie upon his deathbed, though I was there."

Eliza had gathered all of her surviving children to Alexander's deathbed, perhaps underestimating how difficult this situation would be for her dying husband. She held two-year-old Philip, named for his eldest brother who had died before his birth under eerily similar circumstances as their father, up to Alexander's lips, but he reportedly closed his eyes to the rest of them until they left, in too much physical pain to endure this emotional wound.

Statue of Alexander Hamilton
near Hamilton Grange in NYC

The children were Angelica, now the oldest at nineteen. She had not been the same since her older brother had died and was mentally fragile for the remainder of her life. Next were a passel of brothers: Alexander Jr - 18, James - 16, John - 11, and William - 6. Little four-year-old Elizabeth was Angelica's only sister. 

The four boys, Alexander, James, John, and William, all sat upon the stage that was erected at Trinity Church for their father's funeral oration, given by his friend, Gouverneur Morris. The procession to the graveyard had been the most elaborate New York City had ever seen. Guns had been fired from the Battery, flags were flown at half mast as businesses closed and people lined the streets. Church bells rang as the state militia led the mourners through a sorrowful city.

It was reported that Alexander's sons sat 'with tears gushing from their eyes . . . bewailing the loss of their parent! It was too much. The sternest powers, the bloodiest villain, could not resist the melting scene.' Their mother, sisters, and youngest brother did not attend, as was customary at that time.

Gouverneur Morris gave an oration that he hoped would honor Hamilton while avoiding feeding the howl for vengeance that was raised against Aaron Burr. He said, 'Far from attempting to excite your emotions, I must try to repress my own, and yet I fear that instead of the language of a public speaker, you will hear only the lamentations of a bewailing friend. But I will struggle with my bursting heart, to portray that heroic spirit, which has flown to the mansions of bliss.' This was followed by a brief description of Hamilton's many achievements, from serving Washington during the Revolutionary War to serving as Secretary of the Treasury. Those listening were encouraged to 'Let him still be our model. Like him, after a long and faithful public service, let us cheerfully perform the social duties of private life. Oh! He was mild and gentle. In him there was on offence; no guile. His generous hand and heart were open to all.' 

Thomas's Massachusetts Spy
Singlesheet Extra from 25 July 1804

Alexander's boys must have taken the message to heart to 'Protect his fame - it is all he has left,' because they, especially James and John, dedicated much of their lives to doing just that, documenting their father's life and defending his name whenever necessary. 

Morris gave an inspiring oration, but he wrote more honestly in his private diary, where he admitted, 'this subject is difficult . . . He was indiscreet vain and opinionated. These things must be told or the character will be incomplete - and yet they must be told in such a manner as not to destroy the interest.' Perhaps it is true at all funerals that mourners focus on the positive aspects of the departed, but few had stoked the flames of controversy like Alexander Hamilton with his obstinate opinions, admission of adultery, and the scandalous circumstances in which he died.

Yet, his son, James, when writing decades later, remembered his father's 'gentle nature' that 'rendered his house a most joyous one to his children and friends.' James was thirty years older than his father had been that fatal July day when he wrote, 'His intercourse with his children was always affectionate and confiding, which excited in them a corresponding confidence and devotion.' 

In 1817, James A Hamilton was hired by the family of Gouverneur Morris to settle his estate. James called the situation 'a work of great labor' due to Gouverneur's complicated finances and land holdings which took over a year to settle, but he was pleased to serve the wife of the man who had so honored his own late father. 

Read more about Eliza Hamilton and her life after Alexander's death in Women of the American Revolution! It is available at Pen & Sword, Amazon, Book Depository, Barnes & Noble, or your favorite book retailer. 

Also available now at Audible and audiobooks.com!

You can also find more articles here.

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News of Hamiltonian Proportions

Portrait of Elizabeth Hamilton
by Henry Inman (1825)

Hello, dear readers! I know I have not been blogging as much as in the past, so if there is a topic you have been hoping I would cover, please let me know in the comments below. In the meantime, I have an excerpt from Women of the American Revolution that I would like to share with you. This comes from the chapter on Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, and if you only know her from the musical, you will love to learn more about the 50 years of her life that it doesn't cover! That is where this excerpt begins:

Eliza forged ahead, creating a life of her own for the first time. In 1805, she joined the board of the New York Society for the Relief of Poor Widows with Small Children, joining the ranks of women in the early nineteenth century in branching out from their homes to help form and improve society through benevolence. In March 1806, she was one of a group of women who formed the New York Orphan Asylum Society, as many of the small children of poor widows inevitably became orphans. Eliza perhaps also contemplated Alexander’s youth as an underprivileged orphan and transferred some of her love for him to young people in need. 

Eliza led this organization from its formation in a small rented home in May 1806, and quickly realized more space was needed. A lottery grant from New York City Council raised $5000 toward a new building with more space for children’s quarters, as well as rooms for schooling, religious studies, and trade skill training. In Eliza’s lifetime, hundreds of children would receive housing, care, and education through the Orphan Asylum Society that she founded.

Her son, James, shared an anecdote of this time in his memoir. ‘She found a little fellow in the arms of a fireman whose parents had been destroyed by the burning of their house. Being an orphan, she directed the fireman to take the little “McKavit” to the Orphan Asylum, on the Bloomingdale Road, giving him the means to hire a carriage to do so, and gave him her card.’ Many years later, Eliza found this young man a position at the Military Academy. When he was killed in the Mexican American War, he left all he had to the Orphan Asylum that had cared for him. This organization exists to this day as the Graham Windham in Brooklyn.

Portrait of James Alexander Hamilton
by Aimee Thibault

The above quote from James Hamilton's memoir is not the only one I included in Eliza's chapter. In fact, I became so interested in his observations and experiences that I decided to write about him next! I hope that my dear readers will be as enchanted by James as I am. This third son of Alexander and Eliza lived to be 90 years old and was an intellectual observer of the Early Republic from the American Revolution through the Civil War. 

James Alexander Hamilton: Son of the American Revolution will be published by Pen & Sword History. Until then, here is a bit more of his personal story included in Eliza's chapter:

Eliza tirelessly continued her work for poor women and orphans in New York City throughout most of the last fifty years of her life, petitioning the city for grants, increasing awareness of public needs, and personally overseeing the work of the orphan asylum for many of those years. ‘She was a most earnest, energetic, and intelligent woman,’ wrote her son, James. ‘Her engagements as a principal of the Widow’s Society and Orphan Asylum were incessant. In support of these institutions she was constantly employed, and as I once playfully told her, “Mamma, you are a sturdy beggar.” She replied, “My dear son, I cannot spare myself or others; my Maker has pointed out this duty to me, and has given me the ability and inclination to perform it.”’ 

The world of women’s charity work of the early nineteenth century was one into which Eliza fit perfectly and helped define. She was able to extend her love for family and children to include those who needed her. As her children grew and had families of their own, she spent increasing time helping other women raise their children and serving as a substitute mother to those who had lost their own. Eliza not only was able to be a part of the raising of dozens of children, she had the connections necessary for the fundraising that was vital to any charitable organization.

She had connections with those who had resources but continued to struggle with the financial situation in which her husband had left her. In a letter to her son, James, dated 11 May 1827, Eliza reveals her continued need and her gratitude toward those who assisted her. ‘My Dear Son: Your unremitting kindness and attentions, and in this last instance of providing for my comfort, demands my most ardent and affectionate thanks….As all good acts are recorded in the habitation where your father now is, I have no doubt this one will be proclaimed to him, and have thus given him another motive to implore continued blessings upon you.’ 

Read more about Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton in Women of the American Revolution!

Available at Amazon, Book Depository, Pen & Sword, Barnes & Noble, and other major book retailers.

Marriage of Elizabeth Schuyler and Alexander Hamilton

Elizabeth Schuyler married Alexander Hamilton in the midst of the Revolutionary War on 14 December 1780. Despite Hamilton’s obscure heritage and lack of wealth, General Philip Schuyler had welcomed him to court his daughter. Though he lacked many things, Hamilton was a close aide to General Washington and had already begun making a name for himself with his fiery combination of courage, intellect, and patriotism for his adopted country. General Schuyler’s acceptance of Hamilton is clear in a letter written upon the couple’s engagement. ‘You cannot, my dear sir, be more happy at the connexion you have made with my family than I am. Until the child of a parent has made a judicious choice, his heart is in continual anxiety; but this anxiety was removed the moment I discovered on whom she had placed her affections.’

Elizabeth, called Eliza or Betsy by friends and family, was enraptured as well. Being married to Alexander Hamilton would bring challenges and heartbreak into her life, but she never wavered in her loyalty to him, even when she outlived him by a half century. 

As Hamilton's wife, Eliza attended America's first Inaugural Ball and danced with George Washington. She also endured public scandal with Alexander's publication of the Reynold's Pamphlet. They had eight children together, the eldest of whom died in a duel less than three years before his father did in eerily similar circumstances.

After Alexander's death, Eliza became one of America's early female activists. She was deeply devoted to her work for New York City's first orphanage, and she also began a free school and was involved in other charitable works. 

She passionately defended her husband's name until her death on 9 November 1854.

Learn more about Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton in Women of the American Revolution!  It is available at Pen & Sword, Amazon, Book Depository, Barnes & Noble, or your favorite book retailer. 

Also available now at Audible and audiobooks.com!

You can also find more articles here.

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The Tragedy of Angelica Hamilton

On 25 September 1784, Alexander and Eliza Hamilton welcomed into the world their first daughter, Angelica, named for Eliza's closest sister. Little Angelica was baptized four years later at Trinity Church alongside her older brother, Philip, and younger brother, Alexander Jr, on 12 October 1788. Her affection for her brothers was undoubtedly encouraged in the growing, close-knit Hamilton family, but it would lead to Angelica's tragic downfall.

Trinity Church, New York City

Trinity Church was a familiar place to Angelica. Her mother, Eliza (Schuyler) Hamilton, made a priority of bringing her children to services, where they rented pew 92, even if her husband was often too busy to join them. Her father might not have always been at her side in church, but Angelica still had fond memories of singing and playing piano with him at home. As the first United States secretary of the treasury, Alexander was always busy, but he strived to make time for his growing family.

Alexander Hamilton

As familiar to Angelica as the bustling city of New York were the rolling fields of her grandfather's Albany farms. Philip and Catherine Schuyler often hosted Eliza and her children when they escaped the heat of the city, leaving Alexander behind to work. Angelica was too young to be aware of her father's more nefarious escapades. During one of her trips away from her father, Alexander wrote to Angelica to encourage her in her studies.

I was very glad to learn, my dear daughter, that you were going to begin the study of the French language. We hope you will in every respect behave in such a manner as will secure to you the good-will and regard of all those with whom you are. If you happen to displease any of them, be always ready to make a frank apology. But the best way is to act with so much politeness, good manners, and circumspection, as never to have occasion to make any apology. Your mother joins in best love to you. Adieu, my very dear daughter.

Angelica loved her family and had every reason to anticipate a bright future as the eldest daughter of the famous Alexander Hamilton. She was closest to her older brother, Philip, and her life unraveled when he participated in a duel with George Eacker on 23 November 1801. Philip was shot and died the next day.

His parents were grief-stricken by the loss of their 19-year-old son. Robert Troup, who was present at Philip's deathbed, reflected, 'Never did I see a man so completely overwhelmed with grief as Hamilton had been.' Eliza, pregnant with their eighth child, was so delirious with grief that it was feared she might suffer a miscarriage. The son she gave birth to on 2 June 1802 was named Philip after his deceased older brother.

Angelica was 17-years-old when Philip was killed, and she never recovered from the shock and grief of the event. Her parents tried every treatment available at the time, but early nineteenth-century mental healthcare left much to be desired. Angelica lived until 1857 speaking of her brother as if he had never died.

Hamilton Grange, New York City

The Hamiltons were in the process of building The Grange when Philip died, and they moved to the home that they had planned with such optimistic future hopes shortly after his death. Visitors can still see the piano that Angelica played with her father there. Although Angelica was courting age, she did not receive suitors and never left the care of her mother as her mental health steadily declined. Her conditioned worsened when Alexander was also killed in a duel not three years after his son on 12 July 1804.

Angelica took refuge in playing her piano and speaking to her dead brother as if he were still there, while often failing to recognize other family members. She eventually required the continuous care of a doctor and was placed in the Bloomingdale Insane Asylum directed by Dr James Macdonald sometime after 1825 but before Eliza's sale of The Grange in 1833.

Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton

In 1837, Eliza traveled to western territory in order to visit her son, William. She wrote to her youngest son, Philip, asking him to 'write to me and let me know how Angelica is.' Philip had either agreed to visit his sister at the asylum during their mother's absence or Angelica was being cared for in Philip's home. Angelica died on 6 February 1857, but her life had truly ended with her brother's long before. Her sister, Eliza, said of Angelica's eminent death, 'Poor sister, what a happy release will be hers. Lost to herself a half century!!'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Additional reading:

Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow

Reminiscences of James A Hamilton by James Hamilton

The Intimate Life of Alexander Hamilton by Allan McLane Hamilton

Women of the American Revolution by Samantha Wilcoxson is available from Pen & Sword History.

Also available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and your favorite bookseller.

Now you can listen to Women of the American Revolution on Audible or audiobooks.com.