In Hamilton's closing number, "Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story," Eliza is framed as the driving force behind Hamilton's legacy. Americans knew a lot about Martha Washington (George Washington's wife), a lot about Dolly Madison (James Madison's widow), and a lot about Abigail Adams (John Adams' wife). [citation needed], Like most Dutch families of the area, her family belonged to the Reformed Dutch Church of Albany, which still stands; however, the original 1715 building, where Elizabeth was baptized and attended services, was demolished in 1806. One popular theory is that "Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story" ends with Eliza finally dying, 50 years after her husband's fatal duel. According to some accounts, the family was spared from any losses thanks to her sister Peggy's quick thinking: she told the soldiers that her father had gone to town to get help, causing them to flee from the area. Mother, Supporter, Humiliated Wife Her oldest son Philip died in a duel, just as his father would three years later. Attractive, if not beautiful. And Eliza knew enough about his impoverished background to give cause for concern. [29] At the first Inaugural Ball, Eliza danced with George Washington;[30] when Thomas Jefferson returned from Paris in 1790, she and Alexander hosted a dinner for him. Prominent military and political figures made frequent visits to the Schuyler homes, including a young officer named Alexander Hamilton, who briefly stayed with the family while traveling through Albany. But while his brilliance was apparent to those who met him, Hamilton was eager to prove himself on the field, not just with the pen. In 1797 Eliza was told of an affair that had taken place several years earlier between Hamilton andMaria Reynolds, a young woman who had first approached him for financial assistance. And I am grateful . Elizabeths depiction in the musical emphasizes both her importance in Hamiltons life and her work in propagating his legacy. Two years later on July 12, 1804, Hamilton died during a duel with Aaron Burr. Lin-Manuel Miranda and Phillipa Soo as Alexander and Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton. On September 25, 1784, Eliza gave birth to her second child, Angelica, named after Eliza's older sister. Hamilton, who had resigned as Treasury Secretary six years before, was in Albany on business that March when Peggy took a. [citation needed] Also there had been some talk in at least one letter of a "secret wedding,"[1] by early April they were officially engaged with her father's blessing (something of an anomaly for the Schuyler girlsboth Angelica and Catherine would end up eloping). She made huge sacrifices to send the children to school in town and to keep them at home with her, Tilar J. Mazzeo, author of the 2019 biography Eliza Hamilton: The Extraordinary Life and Times of the Wife of Alexander Hamilton, explains. Along with getting Alexander's works stored while Eliza was in her 90s, she remained dedicated to charity work. The Van Rensselaers of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck were one of the richest and most politically influential families in the state of New York. [54] With Eliza's help John C. Hamilton would go on to publish History of the Republic of the United States America, as Traced in the Writings of Alexander Hamilton and his Contemporaries. [52] In 1821, she was named first directress, and served for 27 years in this role, until she left New York in 1848. Hamilton followed the Army when they decamped in June 1780. [52] By the time she left she had been with the organization continuously since its founding, a total of 42 years. . As the New York Herald reported in 1856, the one-room school was antiquated and so dilapidated that it was unfit for use, though it still had a student body of 60 to 70 children. first directress in 1821. She also ensured that Hamiltons biography was published. [citation needed], In 1798, Eliza had accepted her friend Isabella Graham's invitation to join the descriptively named Society for the Relief of Poor Widows with Small Children that had been established the previous year. Legislators approved the application and the school received some annual city funding. [8] Like many landowners of the time, Philip Schuyler owned slaves, and Eliza would have grown up around slavery. .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}Every Candidate in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Race, These 10 Jimmy Carter Quotes Will Inspire You, 4 U.S. Presidents Who Won the Nobel Peace Prize, How Little-Known Jimmy Carter Won the 1976 Primary, George H.W. She survived a miscarriage, her daughter's mental health issues, and, within four years, the deaths of her son, husband, sister, mother, and father. In his 2004 biography of Hamilton, which Miranda used as the basis for the show, Ron Chernow wrote that Eliza destroyed her own letters to Hamilton, but her reasons remain unknown. While gone on the prisoner exchange, Hamilton wrote to Eliza continuing their relationship through letters. James McHenry, one of Washington's aides alongside her future husband, said, "Hers was a strong character with its depth and warmth, whether of feeling or temper controlled, but glowing underneath, bursting through at times in some emphatic expression. Philanthropy and "Hamilton: An American Musical", "American Experience | Alexander Hamilton | People & Events | Elizabeth Hamilton (17571854) | PBS", "James Alexander Hamilton - People - Department History - Office of the Historian", "George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation", "Why I'm Convinced Hamilton Is Actually Named After Eliza", "We got comfortable with Hamilton. "[28], The Hamiltons had an active social life, often attending the theater as well as various balls and parties. She recruited biographers to do a proper work on her husband (the task eventually fell to a son), hired assistants to organize his papers, even wore a little bag around her neck with pieces of a sonnet he had composed for her in 1780. She was educated and described as intelligent, attractive, and was frequently compared to her demure sister, Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, as being more sociable. In the year before the duel, Eliza's mother Catherine had died suddenly,[47] and only a few months after Hamilton's death Eliza's father died as well. [citation needed], In 1787, Eliza sat for a portrait, executed by the painter Ralph Earl while he was being held in debtors' prison. Artifacts of domestic life in lower Manhattan, De Hooges Memorandum Book [citation needed] The New York Orphan Asylum Society continues to exist as a social service agency for children, today called Graham Windham. She then sold it and moved into a townhouse owned by her son, now known as the Hamilton-Holly House, where she lived for nine years with two of her grown children, Alexander Hamilton Jr. and Eliza Hamilton Holly and their respective spouses. FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. Elizabeth and Alexander Hamilton had eight children: The Hamiltons also raised Frances (Fanny) Antill, an orphan who lived with them for ten years beginning in 1787 when she was 2 years old. Angelica Schuyler Church died in New York City in March 1814 at the age of fifty-eight. The Hamilton Free School, established in northern Manhattan (not far from where the couple had lived) offered education to students of families who couldnt afford private education for their children. [17] Also while in Morristown, Eliza met and became friends with Martha Washington, a friendship they would maintain throughout their husbands' political careers. WATCH: Hamilton: Building America on HISTORY Vault. Elizabeth also appeared in the 1986 TV series, George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation. Born in 1757, Eliza was the second daughter of Revolutionary War general Philip Schuyler and Catherine van Rensselaer, a member of one of New York's richest families. The Orphan Asylum Society of the City of New York. She kept in touch with Hamilton through letters, and married him in 1780. He found work at a local import-export firm, where he quickly impressed his bosses. Eliza Hamilton wanted to find a way to honor Hamilton's memory, in the place where their last home had been together, says Mazzeo. One of the ways she found solaceand honored his memorywas to found two institutions in New York that supported lower-income children. It is said that after returning home from meeting her, Hamilton was so excited he forgot the password to enter army headquarters. [19] Soon, however, Washington and Hamilton had a falling-out, and the newlywed couple moved, first back to Eliza's father's house in Albany, then to a new home across the river from the New Windsor headquarters. Eliza was an ardent supporter of her husband, but it wasnt always plain sailing in their marriage. So of the original 14 siblings only five survived. The Hamilton Free School was free of cost, because Eliza believed all children should have access to educationspecifically in order to read the Bible. [45] During this time, Alexander commissioned John McComb Jr. to construct the Hamilton family home. Alexander had heard of Earl's predicament and asked if Eliza might be willing to sit for him, to allow him to make some money and eventually buy his way out of prison, which he subsequently did. [36] Meanwhile, she continued to raise her children (a fifth, John Church Hamilton, had been born in August 1792) and maintain their household throughout multiple moves between New York, Philadelphia, and Albany. We don't get that often in fiction. Elizabeth spent her final years in New York and Washington D.C., where she socialized with leaders including Presidents Tyler, Polk, Pierce, and Fillmore. By this time, two of her siblings, Peggy and John, had also died. "I Meet You in Every Dream" Catherine,. When Eliza Hamilton died in November 1854 at age 97, the uptown school was still in existence, but it clearly had seen better days. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Catherine, also known as Kitty, was the daughter of one of New York States oldest, richest and most prominent Dutch families. Alexander's wife lived for many decades after her husband's death. Born in 1757, Eliza was the second daughter of Revolutionary War general Philip Schuyler and Catherine van Rensselaer, a member of one of New Yorks richest families. Before their eighth child was born, however, they lost their oldest son, Philip, who died in a duel on November 24, 1801. In 1806, two years after her husbands death, she, along with several other women, founded the Orphan Asylum Society. In 1806, two years after her husband's death, she, along with several other women including Joanna Bethune, founded the Orphan Asylum Society. We may earn a commission from these links. [40], In 1797, an affair came to light that had taken place several years earlier between Hamilton and Maria Reynolds, a young woman who had first approached him for monetary aid in the summer of 1791. In short she is so strange a creature, that she possesses all the beauties, virtues and graces of her sex without any of those amiable defects which from their general prevalence are esteemed by connoisseurs necessary shades in the character of a fine woman.. The three sisters were three of seven siblings who lived to adulthood. That 'Hamilton' Boycott Completely Backfired, may focus on its namesake founding father, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. Hamilton insisted upon his innocence, and the matter was kept private for years. Hamiltons wife Eliza Schuyler was a key part of his life, but she was also an important historical character in her own right. But at the time of Hamiltons death, he still had a mortgage and owed money to the builders, and his wife struggled under the weight of all that debt. Eliza Hamilton poured her energy into founding a free school and an orphanage in New York to help children in need. Her oldest daughter, Angelica, suffered a nervous breakdown after her brother Philip's death. 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[10][11] Her upbringing instilled in her a strong and unwavering faith she would retain throughout her life. Maria's husband, James Reynolds, caught wind of the affair, and began shaking Hamilton down for money. I pray you to exert yourself and I repeat my exhortation that you will bear in mind it is your business to comfort and not to distress.[46]. She had eight children with Hamilton during their rather short marriage of 24 years. [16] In fact, they had met previously, if briefly, two years before, when Hamilton dined with the Schuylers on his way back from a negotiation on Washington's behalf. Dutch people, places, miscellany, Timeline of the Netherlands & Scandinavia in North America As was common for young women of her time, Eliza was a regular churchgoer, and her faith remained unwavering throughout her lifetime. After a short honeymoon at the Pastures, Eliza's childhood home, Hamilton returned to military service in early January 1781. They had met briefly a few years before, but now Alexander Hamilton was smitten, "a gone man," in the words of another aide. More, Housed in the New York State Library, the NNRC offers students, educators, scholars and researchers a vast collection of early documents and reference works on America's Dutch era. He published the pamphlet in order to refute the charges that he had been involved in public misconduct with Marias husband James Reynolds, and to avoid accusations of embezzlement. She continued to help Hamilton throughout his political career, serving as an intermediary between him and his publisher when he was writing The Federalist Papers, copying out portions of his defense of theBank of the United States,and staying up late with him so he could readWashingtons Farewell Addressout loud to her as he wrote it. [9] Despite the unrest of the French and Indian War, which her father served in and which was fought in part near her childhood home, Eliza's childhood was spent comfortably, learning to read and sew from her mother. In 2010, it partnered with the New York State Office of Cultural Education to establish the New Netherland Research Center, with matching funds from the State of the Netherlands. [32] In addition, she managed their household,[9] and James McHenry once noted to Alexander that Eliza had "as much merit as your treasurer as you have as treasurer of the United States. In 1818, she opened the first school in the neighborhood of Washington Heights (where, decades later, Lin-Manuel Miranda would grow up). But Monroe had made copies of Hamilton's letters to Maria, and sent them to his arch-rival, Thomas Jefferson. The Full Lyrics to Look at Us Now (Honeycomb), Inside Riley Keoughs 'Daisy Jones' Transformation, Tracy Oliver on That Harlem Season 2 Finale, Aminah Nieves on Those Shocking 1923 Scenes. "She has good nature, affability and vivacity unembellished with that charming frivolousness which is justly deemed one of the principal accomplishments of a belle. He was born on January 22, 1782 and died on November 23, 1801 at the age of 19. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. Hamilton met Maria Reynolds in Philadelphia in 1791, when she visited the then-Secretary of the Treasury to request financial support for her struggling family. In 1780, Hamilton wrote Angelica a letter describing his infatuation with Eliza: Hamilton and Eliza married that year. The Hamiltons had an active social life, and became well known among the members of New York Society. The accomplishment she's proudest of, she says in the song, is founding the first private orphanage in New York City, inspired by Hamilton's own experience of being orphaned at a young age. Even so, according to Gill, Eliza eventually became unable to afford the estates upkeep, and in 1813, she was forced to sell it and move to humbler quarters downtown. 2021 Associated Newspapers Limited. He was born out of wedlock, a status that his political opponents would later seize on. In early 1780, Elizabeth went to stay with her aunt in New Jersey where she met Hamilton, who was one of General George Washingtons aides-de-camp at the time. Schuyler sisters Peggy, Eliza, and Angelica in. However, We know that Mrs. Hamilton did regularly visit the school and give out awards on prize days, so she remained involved with the school's central mission and with celebrating its achievements.. Ruthless: Monopoly's Secret History (espaol), Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804), a Profile. She was present at such historic moments as when Hamilton began to write The Federalistand composed his defense of a national bank. The affair was supposedly encouraged by Marias husband James Reynolds who then asked Hamilton for hush money to keep the affair out of public knowledge, which he paid. ("The world has no right to my heart / the world has no place in our bed / they don't get to know what I said."). Elizas initial fears that her family would disapprove of the relationship were soon eased.
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