Alexander Hamilton (1755 – 1804) is well known in United States history as one of the founding fathers of the nation. He was a trusted member of the cabinet of the first President of the United States, George Washington, and as such had great influence over various aspects of the new federation.
A politician and man of means, Hamilton founded the Federalist Party, the Bank of New York, and the New York Post newspaper. Also a writer and lawyer, he played a leading role in the promotion and interpretation of the newly adopted United States Constitution. He was also the principal author of American economic policies during the administration of George Washington.
Hamilton served as the first secretary of the United States Department of the Treasury and is credited with founding the country’s financial system. He championed the creation of the first bank in the United States in 1791 as well as the creation of the United States Mint.
Who were Alexander Hamilton’s wife and children?
Alexander Hamilton was married for 23 years to Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton. He met her in the early 1980s while stationed in Morristown, New Jersey as a military officer. Elizabeth Schuyler was born in Albany, New York, but visited her aunt in Morristown. Their relationship blossomed very quickly and they were married on December 14, 1780. The ceremony took place at Schuyler Mansion, the residence of the bride’s father located in Albany, New York.
Hamilton and his wife had eight children together, six sons and two daughters. Although primarily a homemaker, Elizabeth Hamilton also made a crucial contribution to her husband’s career in public service. She helped him with many of his well-known writings and after his death she worked hard to get his biography published. In 1906 she co-founded the New York Orphan Asylum Society alongside several other prominent women.
First son of Alexander Hamilton, Philip (1782 -1801) looked a lot like his famous father. He graduated from Columbia College in 1800 and later studied law. Sadly, he passed away at the age of 19 in an eerily similar way to his father.
Hamilton’s first daughter, Angelica, was born in 1784. It is said that she took a great interest in music growing up. However, the tragic death of her older brother Philip in 1801 caused her a mental breakdown from which she never fully recovered. It is written that she died in 1857 at the age of 72.
His third child and second son was Alexander Hamilton Jr. (1786-1875). Like his father, he studied law and was admitted to practice. He then served briefly in the US Army, after which he returned to practicing law. He also dabbled in the real estate business at some point in his life.
His third son, James Alexander Hamilton (1788 -1878) was also a lawyer by profession and a politician. He briefly served as Acting Secretary of State to United States President Andrew Jackson in 1829, after which he was appointed United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Hamilton’s fourth son, John Church Hamilton (1792 – 1882) was a lawyer, writer and historian. Among his famous publications is The Life of Alexander Hamilton: A History of the Republic of the United States of America, a combination of his father’s biography and American history.
The fifth son of the family was William Stephen Hamilton, born in 1797. He was a politician and a miner. In the late 1820s he established a lead mine, Digigings, in Hamilton, Wisconsin, but later renamed the settlement Wiota. He died in 1850 at the age of 53.
Eliza Hamilton Holly was the seventh child and second daughter. She was born in 1799. Married to Sidney Augustus Holly, she remained very close to her mother throughout her life. We know that she died at the age of 59 in 1859.
The last child in the family was Philip Hamiltona.ka “Little Phil”. Born in 1802, he was named Philip after the eldest son of the family who had died the previous year. He did not receive a high level of education, unlike his older siblings, due to the death of the breadwinner of the family, their father. However, he studied with one of his brothers in New York and managed to establish a successful law practice.
When and how did he die?
Alexander Hamilton died July 12, 1804. He died from a gunshot wound he sustained during a duel between him and Vice President Aaron Burr. The duel was the culmination of a long-running and acrimonious rivalry between the two politicians.
The enmity between these two took a dangerous turn following Hamilton’s defamation of Burr’s character in the run-up to the 1804 New York gubernatorial election, in which Burr was a contestant. The duel took place in the early hours of July 11, 1804, at a popular dueling ground in Weehawken, New Jersey. Dueling had already been banned in New Jersey prior to this encounter, but enforcement was not very strict.
Aaron Burr’s shot struck Hamilton in the lower abdomen damaging his internal organs and lodging in his lumbar vertebra. The paralyzed and fatally injured Hamilton was flown back to New York to the home of his friend William Bayard Jr. in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. He died the next day after visits from family members and close friends.