Elizabeth was born in Albany, New York, the second daughter of Continental Army General Philip Schuyler, a Revolutionary War general, and Catherine Van Rensselaer Schuyler. Summer 2020 has been effectively canceled due to the pandemic, but this weekend, there's reason to celebrate at home. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. [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. The pair had eight children, and also took in Fanny Antill, the orphaned toddler daughter of a Revolutionary War colonel. Her oldest daughter, Angelica, suffered a nervous breakdown after her brother Philip's death. Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton - Quiet Heroines [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. 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.. Attractive, if not beautiful. Eliza would have grown up around slavery as her father was a slave owner. 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. He was stationed along with Washington in Morristown for the winter. True Story of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton's Life and Death - Esquire The scandal cost Hamilton any chance at the presidency, and the humiliating news became public when Eliza was pregnant with their sixth child. Along with giving birth to and raising eight children, she helped Hamilton write speeches and listened to early drafts of Washington's "Farewell Address" and excerpts from the Federalist Papers. But Eliza, understandably, is devastated, and responds by burning all the letters that Hamilton has ever sent her. Never remarrying, Eliza raised a brood of seven children as a single mother, while grieving the losses of her husband and eldest son, Philip who both died in duels. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. She was interred next to her husband in the graveyard of Trinity Church in New York City. The Orphan Asylum Society of the City of New York. 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]. But a series of events would soon rip that family apart. 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. The Schuyler Sistersreal historical figuresshow us that those bonds can exist and are possible. The Unlikely Marriage of Alexander Hamilton and His Wife, Eliza - Biography When he paid her a visit decades after the Reynolds scandal, she refused to speak with him. 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. 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. The Van Rensselaers of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck were one of the richest and most politically influential families in the state of New York. The Hamilton Free School was free of cost, because Eliza believed all children should have access to educationspecifically in order to read the Bible. "[15], In early 1780, Elizabeth went to stay with her aunt, Gertrude Schuyler Cochran, in Morristown, New Jersey. 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. Almost none of Elizabeth's own correspondence has survived, so her personality is gleaned largely from the impressions of others. 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. Their last child, born the next June in 1802, was named Philip in his honor. . Thrust into harsh financial straits, Elizabeth then witnessed her father's death in November 1804 and had to use both strength and ingenuity to keep her remaining family afloat. 2021 Associated Newspapers Limited. WATCH: Hamilton: Building America on HISTORY Vault. Eliza Schuyler Hamilton: 6 Things To Know About Her After You've Eliza was, at the time, pregnant with their sixth child. [20] There Eliza busied herself in creating a home for them and in aiding Alexander with his political writingsparts of his 31-page letter to Robert Morris, laying out much of the financial knowledge that was to aid him later in his career, are in her handwriting. Or part of her story, at leastafter her husband's death in 1804, Eliza lived another 50 years. 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. The orphaned immigrant had found a father figure, and Hamilton became like a son to the future president. 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. But Monroe had made copies of Hamilton's letters to Maria, and sent them to his arch-rival, Thomas Jefferson. She was rich, he was poor. She was the eldest daughter of Continental Army General Philip Schuyler, and a sister of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton and sister-in-law of Alexander Hamilton . 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. Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, portrayed by Phillipa Soo in the original Broadway run of Hamilton, was not just the wife of one of America's founding fathers. 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. The following year, a group of her husbands deep-pocketed friends bought the house and property from Eliza for $30,500 and promptly sold it back to her for $15,000, so that she would have money to take care of herself and her family. Active Widowhood She survived a miscarriage, her daughter's mental health issues, and, within four years, the deaths of her son, husband, sister, mother, and father. More. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. But despite these differences, the pair formed a lasting bond that has been the subject of numerous books and the award-winning musical, Hamilton. Eventually, Eliza Hamiltons school evolved into a scholarship fund that helps students from Washington Heights and Inwood attend Columbia University. Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton - New Netherland Institute Below, a primer on her real story. In June 1848, when Eliza was in her nineties, she made an effort for Congress to buy and publish her late husband's works. Chernow, Ron, Alexander Hamilton, Penguin Press, 2004, Randall, William Sterne, Alexander Hamilton: A Life, Harpers-Collins, 2003, Roberts, Warren, A Place in History: Albany in the Age of Revolution, 1775-1825, Albany: NY State University Press, 2010, Wikipedia, especially for main picture (portrait by Ralph Earl), Peter Douglas's Totidem Verbis Her oldest son Philip died in a duel, just as his father would three years later. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. . Contrary to the musical, the Schuylers had a total of eight children who survived to adulthood, including three sons. Reynolds spilled the beans about the affair, but also said that Hamilton had been involved in his pension scheme. [citation needed], When she was a girl, Elizabeth accompanied her father to a meeting of the Six Nations and met Benjamin Franklin when he stayed briefly with the Schuyler family while traveling. The affair put a big strain on their relationship, but they eventually reconciled. Alexander and Eliza married on December 14, 1780. Eliza Hamilton poured her energy into founding a free school and an orphanage in New York to help children in need. As biographer Ron Chernow has written, the deeply religious widow also believed passionately that all children should be literate in order to study the Bible.. After Vice President Aaron Burr killed Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804, Hamilton's widow, Elizabeth Schuyler "Eliza" Hamilton, had to find a way to go on without her. 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. In the first year, the society took in 20 children but had to turn away nine times as many, according to Mazzeo. They had met briefly a few years before, but now Alexander Hamilton was smitten, "a gone man," in the words of another aide. She had to sell her 35 acre estate in upper Manhattan. Did Eliza Hamilton remarry after Alexander died? How Alexander Hamilton's Widow, Eliza, Carried on His Legacy [8] Like many landowners of the time, Philip Schuyler owned slaves, and Eliza would have grown up around slavery. She also outlived her fifth child, her son William Stephen who was born on August 4, 1797 and died on October 9, 1850. In 1806, two years after Hamiltons death, Elizabeth became the co-founder of the Society for the relief of poor widows with small children. Only two years later Hamilton became involved in an affair with honor which led to his duel with Aaron Burr and his untimely death. She was educated and described as intelligent, attractive, and was frequently compared to her demure sister, Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, as being more sociable.

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