She also became a founder of the Orphan Asylum Society, the citys first private orphanage, which built a Greenwich Village facility that provided a home for hundreds of children. Known as Eliza by friends and family, she was a tomboy at heart, with a potent mix of intelligence, warmth and determination. Later she was able to buy it back because executors decided that she could not be publicly dispossessed of her home. Judging by Hamilton's correspondence at the time, the feeling was mutual. He served several stints in the Continental Congress and was involved in planning a number of notable Revolutionary War battles, including the surprising Colonial victory at Saratoga in 1777, the first widespread British defeat and a turning point of the war. Eliza and the other activists soon set out to raise $25,000 to build a bigger facility on a donated parcel on Bank Street in Greenwich Village. } Hamilton followed three years later. We may earn a commission from these links. [48], After her husband's death in 1804, Eliza was left to pay Hamilton's debts. Eliza was also driven by her faith. Eliza and her husband would not get to enjoy their newly built home together long, for only two years later, in July 1804, Alexander Hamilton became involved in a similar "affair of honor," which led to his infamous duel with Aaron Burr and untimely death. 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. [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. Born Elizabeth Schuyler, and later known as Eliza Hamilton, Alexanders wife was the co-founder and deputy director of the first private orphanage in New York City. By now everyone knows that Eliza Hamilton, the wife of Alexander Hamilton, burned her husband's love letters before she diedand November 9th will be the 162nd anniversary of her death on that day in 1854 at the age of 97. But despite these differences, the pair formed a lasting bond that has been the subject of numerous books and the award-winning musical, Hamilton. Eliza wanted a full official apology from Monroe which he would not give until they met in person to talk about Alexander shortly before his passing. [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. The new film reminds us how risky it is", "Meet the Magnetic Schuyler Sisters, the Heart of Hamilton", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elizabeth_Schuyler_Hamilton&oldid=1141595644, Eliza appeared in the 1986 television series, This page was last edited on 25 February 2023, at 21:19. In a joking letter to a fellow aide he sounded more dispassionate: "Though not a genius, she has good sense enough to be agreeable, and though not a beauty, she has fine black eyes, is rather handsome, and has every other requisite of the exterior to make a lover happy. They became officially engaged in early April with her fathers blessing. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! [citation needed] There she met Alexander Hamilton, one of General George Washington's aides-de-camp,[1] who was stationed along with the General and his men in Morristown for the winter. [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. Elizabeth Schuyler was born on August 7, 1757, in Albany, New York, the second daughter of wealthy landowner and Revolutionary War general Philip Schuyler. Eliza died on November 9, 1854, at the age of 97. But a series of events would soon rip that family apart. The first, Elizabeth, named for Eliza, was born on November 20, 1799. In 1806, two years after her husband's death, she, along with several other women including Joanna Bethune, founded the Orphan Asylum Society. She had eight children with Hamilton during their rather short marriage of 24 years. And Eliza knew enough about his impoverished background to give cause for concern. ' As was common for young women of her time, Eliza was a regular churchgoer, and her faith remained unwavering throughout her lifetime. Her oldest daughter, Angelica, suffered a nervous breakdown after her brother Philip's death. She re-organized all of Alexander's letters, papers, and writings with the help of her son, John Church Hamilton, and persevered through many setbacks in getting his biography published. In 1772, after writing a powerful essay describing the devastation inflicted on Nevis by a recent hurricane, a group of local businessmen took up a collection to send young Hamilton to America to continue his education. Despite her advanced pregnancy and her previous miscarriage of November 1794, her initial reaction to her husband's disclosure of his past affair was to leave Hamilton in New York and join her parents in Albany where William Stephen was born on August 4, 1797. [17] Also while in Morristown, Eliza met and became friends with Martha Washington, a friendship they would maintain throughout their husbands' political careers. As wealthy socialites, both Schuyler sisters frequently attended officer's balls where they mingled with eligible young soldiers. Elizabeth was appointed second directress. When he visited the boarding house where she was staying to deliver the funds, Maria invited him to her room, where, as Hamilton would later write in his pamphlet about the affair, it became "apparent that other than pecuniary consolation would not be unacceptable.". Maria's husband, James Reynolds, caught wind of the affair, and began shaking Hamilton down for money. The two families were two of the wealthiest families of that time and it is safe to say that Dutch was probably still their main language in everyday life. A pictorial walk through time, Arent van Curler & the Flatts WATCH: Hamilton: Building America on HISTORY Vault. Soon after, Philip Schuyler died. Peggy Schuyler: Things You Probably Don't Know | Mental Floss Hamilton does this because he's been accused of financial wrongdoing, and wants to make it clear that the suspicious payments he made were to pay off the husband of his lover, Maria Reynolds, rather than "improper speculation." She survived a miscarriage, her daughter's mental health issues, and, within four years, the deaths of her son, husband, sister, mother, and father. Ruthless: Monopoly's Secret History (espaol), Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804), a Profile. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. She died aged 97, in 1854. Hamilton rose to become a Revolutionary War hero, an advocate for the Constitution, and a rescuer of the nascent American government from financial ruin. Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton True Story | What To Know About Eliza Schuyler A number of other familiar historical figures also feature, from Hamilton's friend-turned-nemesis Aaron Burr to his mentor George Washington to his political rival Thomas Jefferson. googletag.cmd = googletag.cmd || []; Long-suffering yet intensely loyal, Elizabeth Hamilton buried her sister, her eldest son, her husband, and her father in the space of three turbulent years. Eliza Schuyler: What happened to Alexander Hamilton's wife Elizabeth She came from a well-established, highly-regarded family, he was an orphaned immigrant. Spelling was taught from Websters Elementary Spelling Book, a popular text of the time. The Van Rensselaers of theManor of Rensselaerswyckwere one of the richest and most politically influential families in the state ofNew York, so she came from a very different background to Hamilton, who arrived in the States as an orphan. On the Hamilton Free Schools shoestring budget, it could afford just one teacher, who also doubled as the schools janitor, according to the reminiscences of William Herbert Flitner, who attended the school in the 1840s. When he paid her a visit decades after the Reynolds scandal, she refused to speak with him. The Hamiltons had an active social life, and became well known among the members of New York Society. Below, a primer on her real story. The Van Rensselaers of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck were one of the richest and most politically influential families in the state of New York. But Eliza, understandably, is devastated, and responds by burning all the letters that Hamilton has ever sent her. Andr had once been a house guest in the Schuyler Mansion in Albany as a prisoner of war en route to Pennsylvania in 1775; Eliza, then seventeen, might have had a juvenile crush on the young British officer who had once sketched for her. Philip Schuyler shared similar politics with Hamilton, and, like Eliza and others, realized that Hamiltons star was on the rise thanks in no small part to his role at Washingtons side. Hamilton, while envious of Andr for his actions during the war, promised Eliza he would do what he could to treat the British intelligence chief accordingly; he even begged Washington to grant Andr's last wish of execution by firing squad instead of by hanging, but to no avail. In 1801, their eldest child, Phillip, died in a duel at at just 19-years-old. Hamilton died from wounds received during the duel in July 12, 1804. New Netherland Institute,PO Box 2536, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12220Phone: 518-992-3274 Email:nni@newnetherlandinstitute.org, Web Site CreditsDesign:ReZolv CreativeDevelopment:Web Instinct. Along with getting Alexander's works stored while Eliza was in her 90s, she remained dedicated to charity work. By early 1777, hed made enough of a name for himself that several Colonial generals asked him to join their staffs. According to Presnell, the years following Alexander's death were marked by poverty for Eliza and her children, though she did raise enough money to re-purchase the couple's home, the Grange. In 1796, Hamilton took aim at Jefferson in an essay that hinted at the sexual relationship Jefferson had with his slave, Sally Hemmings. FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. [citation needed], Eliza remained dedicated to preserving her husband's legacy. In August, her request was granted and Congress bought and published Alexander's works, adding them to the Library of Congress and helping future historians of Hamilton view his works today. All Rights Reserved. Hamilton depicts the Reynolds Affair, one of the country's earliest sex scandals. Eliza would have grown up around slavery as her father was a slave owner. Almost none of Elizabeth's own correspondence has survived, so her personality is gleaned largely from the impressions of others. Or part of her story, at leastafter her husband's death in 1804, Eliza lived another 50 years. 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. The True Story of Elizabeth Schuyler in 'Hamilton'. She had to sell her 35 acre estate in upper Manhattan. For the rest of her life, she experienced what Hamilton biographer Ron Chernow describes as an "eternal childhood," unable to live independently and referring always to her dead brother as if he. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Elizabeth also spent many months separated from her husband. [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. 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. Eliza, who had to struggle to pay for her own childrens education after her husbands death, could empathize. 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. Eliza Hamilton poured her energy into founding a free school and an orphanage in New York to help children in need. She met Alexander Hamilton in 1780, when both were in their early 20s. Her oldest son Philip died in a duel, just as his father would three years later. Eliza Schuyler Hamilton: 6 Things To Know About Her After You've Elizabeth remained dedicated to preserving her husbands legacy. He eventually became a prominent landowner, with tens of thousands of acres in the Albany area. 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.. Get the latest on new films and digital content, learn about events in your area, and get your weekly fix of American history. Angelica first appears in Hamilton during the song . Born in August 1757, she was one of eight surviving children of Philip Schuyler and Catherine Van Rensselaer. Eliza was a source of valuable advice and wisdom to Hamilton as his political career began to take off after the war. ("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."). "[41] After returning home to Eliza on July 22[42] and assembling a first draft dated July 1797,[43] on August 25, 1797, Hamilton published a pamphlet, later known as the Reynolds Pamphlet, admitting to his one-year adulterous affair in order to refute the charges that he had been involved in speculation and public misconduct with Maria's husband James Reynolds.[44]. Peggy Schuyler - Wikipedia Not even wealth could lower that very high death rate. The pair had eight children, and also took in Fanny Antill, the orphaned toddler daughter of a Revolutionary War colonel. [23], After Yorktown, Alexander was able to rejoin Eliza in Albany, where they would remain for almost another two years, before moving to New York City in late 1783. In those days, the still-isolated area didnt have any free public schools, and paying tuition at a private academy was too much for parents to afford, according to Don Rice, president of the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum Alliance, a community institution that has helped to preserve the history of the area. Eliza and the other women arranged to rent a small two-story house on Raisin Street in Greenwich village and hired a married couple to care for the young residents. [25] On September 25, 1784, Eliza gave birth to her second child, Angelica, named after Eliza's older sister. Alexander and Elizabeth (he called her Eliza or Betsey) were married at the Schuyler home on December 14 of that same year, and Hamilton was warmly received into the family. [5][6][7], Her family was among the wealthy Dutch landowners who had settled around Albany in the mid-1600s, and both her mother and father came from wealthy and well-regarded families. She only came back to her marital house in New York in early September 1797 because the local doctor had been unable to cure their eldest son Philip, who had accompanied her to Albany and contracted typhus. In the early months of the war, he formed an artillery company and later served at the battles of White Plains, Trenton and Princeton. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton: Alexander Hamilton's Beloved Wife In 1797, Hamilton had an affair with Maria Reynolds. Elizabeth Hamilton died on November 9, 1854, at the age of 97. When Elizabeth Eliza Schuyler married .css-47aoac{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#A00000;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-47aoac:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}Alexander Hamilton in December 1780, the pair would have seemed like a great mismatch on paper. The Van Rensselaers of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck were one of the richest and most politically influential families in the state of New York. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. [4] When Eliza Hamilton died in November 1854 at age 97, the uptown school was still in existence, but it clearly had seen better days. Angelica Schuyler Church died in New York City in March 1814 at the age of fifty-eight. Her eldest son Philip died that November in a reckless duel, and Hamilton himself followedfewer than three years later. The Unlikely Marriage of Alexander Hamilton and His Wife, Eliza, Photos: GraphicaArtis/Getty Images; Kean Collection/Getty Images, Every Candidate in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Race, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. We remember Maria's older brother dying in a brawl with Tony from West Side Story. Meet the influential author and key figure of the Harlem Renaissance. Hamilton attended Kings College, now Columbia University, and dived headfirst into the political debate and heady atmosphere that was pre-war New York City. See how you do with some of the questions a petitioning citizen must answer. Introduced at the very start of the musical, in the song Alexander Hamilton, Elizais central to the plot, and adds an important female voice to a show about politics and Americas Founding Fathers. After two more months of separation punctuated by their correspondence, on December 14, 1780, Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler were married at the Schuyler Mansion. In those roles, she raised funds, collected needed goods, and oversaw the care and education of over 700 children. When Do New Episodes of 'Mandalorian' Come Out? She had seven siblings who lived to adulthood, including Philip Jeremiah Schuyler . 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. Peggy Schuyler died young. Only two years later Hamilton became involved in an affair with honor which led to his duel with Aaron Burr and his untimely death. Eliza Hamilton Was Not Helpless - McSweeney's Internet Tendency In 1842, she moved to Washington D.C., where she remained a prominent member of society until her death. Her relationship with Hamilton grew quickly, even after he left Morristown, only a month after Elizabeth, 22 years old, arrived there. [8] The relationship between Eliza and Hamilton quickly grew; even after he left Morristown for a short mission to negotiate a prisoners exchange, only a month after Eliza had arrived. Adieu best of wives and best of Women. More. A lifelong reader who was largely self-educated, he soon set his sights far beyond his tiny island home. The women of Hamilton : Angelica, Eliza and Maria Reynolds Angelica Schuyler Church - Wikipedia Hamilton Ending: What Eliza Does And Why She Does It These figures indicate the enormously high death rate among young children. In 1780, Hamilton wrote Angelica a letter describing his infatuation with Eliza: Hamilton and Eliza married that year. "[28] Two years later, Colonel Antill died in Canada, and Fanny continued to live with the Hamiltons for another eight years, until an older sister was married and able to take Fanny into her own home. The widow couldnt afford a bigger place, but a group of wealthier women in the area decided to help. Two years before the duel, Elizabeths mother, Catherine had died, and only a few months after Hamiltons death, her father also died. He was stationed along with Washington in Morristown for the winter. Embrace all my darling Children for me. Angelica Schuyler And The True Story Behind 'Hamilton' Take this quiz about the debate over the Constitution. Elizabeth at the age of 94, three years before her death. [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. . He had been stationed along with the General and his men in Morristown. But when George Washington asked him to become his aide-de-camp, Hamilton embarked on what was, arguably, the second most important relationship of his life. What Was Alexander Hamilton's Role in Aaron Burr's Contentious Presidential Defeat. History, Archaeology & Art illuminate a Life on the Hudson, New Amsterdam Kitchen But she remained steadfastly loyal to him, and after his death in 1804, it was Eliza who would ensure Hamiltons contributions to the founding of America were never left out of the history books. She died in 1854, at the age of 97, one of the nation's last remaining links to its founders. In November 1804, Gen. Philip Schuyler died, leaving Elizabeth Hamilton without both of her parents. According to documents unearthed in the early 1900s by the New-York Historical Society, Eliza started out by finding a small house near Fort Washington, the Revolutionary War fort that was located at the intersection of present-day Fort Washington Avenue and W. 183rd Street, to be repurposed as a schoolhouse. [26] At this time, she now had three young children (her third, Alexander, was born in May 1786) and may have been pregnant at the time with her fourth, James Alexander, who would be born the following April. Timeline of the Netherlands & Scandinavia in North America. How Alexander Hamilton's Widow, Eliza, Carried on His Legacy She would spend much of her long widowhood working to secure Hamilton'splace in American history. Q: Can you introduce us to Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton? In 1818, she opened the first school in the neighborhood of Washington Heights (where, decades later, Lin-Manuel Miranda would grow up). While apart, Alexander wrote her numerous letters telling her not to worry for his safety; in addition, he wrote her concerning confidential military secrets, including the lead-up to the Battle of Yorktown that autumn. [10][11] Her upbringing instilled in her a strong and unwavering faith she would retain throughout her life. Eliza descended from some of America's most prominent early families Born in August 1757, she was one of eight surviving children of Philip Schuyler and Catherine Van Rensselaer. Two of those deaths could have been quite easily avoided if the male culture had been less prone to duels. 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. The following year, Jefferson supporter James Callender published a pamphlet accusing Hamilton of having skeletons in his own closet. After moving to Washington, D.C., she helped Dolley Madison and Louisa Adams raise money to build the Washington Monument. // cutting the mustard Where Is The Cast Of Broadway's 'Hamilton' Now? Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton was born on August 9, 1757 in Albany, New York and died on November 9, 1854 in Washington, D.C. at the advanced age of 97. 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. She is most unmercifully handsome and so perverse that she has none of those pretty affectations which are the prerogatives of beauty," he wrote in a letter to Eliza's sister Angelica, per Smithsonian Magazine. Eliza and Alexander continued to live together in a caring relationship in their new home that can be seen in letters between the two at the time.