Alexander Hamilton's children with his wife Eliza included six sons and two daughters — and plenty of family tragedy.
Public DomainAlexander Hamilton and his wife, Elizabeth Schuyler, had eight children together between 1782 and 1802.
The story of Alexander Hamilton’s children begins with an unexpected marriage. In December 1780, Alexander, an orphan with little social standing, wed Elizabeth “Eliza” Schuyler, the daughter of an American Revolutionary War general and influential New York politician.
The match was surprising by all accounts. For one, Alexander had been born out of wedlock on Nevis, now the Caribbean island of Saint Kitts and Nevis. He had made his way to the American colonies, where he became an an aide-de-camp for George Washington during the Revolutionary War. In this capacity, Alexander met Elizabeth Schuyler, possibly while visiting her father, General Philip Schuyler. The two soon began courting.
Schuyler’s parents, impressed by Alexander’s rising profile as Washington’s aide-de-camp, gave their blessing for a union between Eliza and Alexander. The two were married on Dec. 14, 1780, in Albany, New York.
During their 24-year-long marriage, the couple would have eight children together: Philip, Angelica, Alexander Jr., James, John, William, Eliza, and Philip. Each of Alexander Hamilton’s children lived eventful lives, but the family also suffered its fair share of tragedies over the years.
Philip Hamilton, The First Of Alexander Hamilton’s Children
Public Domain The Hamilton family home in New York called The Grange.
Philip Hamilton was born on January 22, 1782, in Albany, New York. That spring, Alexander Hamilton wrote to Richard Kidder Meade, an American Army officer, about how proud he was of his newborn son.
“He is handsome, his features are good, his eye is not only sprightly and expressive but it is full of benignity. His attitude in sitting is by connoisseurs esteemed graceful and he has a method of waving his hand that announces the future orator,” Alexander wrote, adding: “He stands however rather awkwardly and his legs have not all the delicate slimness of his fathers. It is feared He may never excel as much in dancing which is probably the only accomplishment in which he will not be a model. If he has any fault in manners, he laughs too much. He has now passed his Seventh Month.”
As a boy, Philip attended boarding school in Trenton, New Jersey. He excelled in his studies and later matriculated to Columbia College, where his father had also studied. Philip graduated in 1800, and began to pursue a career in law. However, trouble soon began brewing for the young man.
In November 1801, Philip ran into a 27-year-old lawyer named George Eacker while attending a play with a friend, Stephen Price. Four months earlier, Eacker had given a Fourth of July speech in which he suggested Alexander Hamilton might use his former position as inspector general of the U.S. Army to intimidate political opponents. Philip Hamilton hadn’t forgotten it.
Insulted on his father’s behalf, Philip confronted Eacker during the play. Eacker reportedly responded by calling Philip and Price “damned rascals” — and Philip and Price challenged Eacker to a duel.
Library of CongressThe pistols used Philip Hamilton and his father in their respective duels.
The duel took place on Nov. 23, 1801 in Weehawken, New Jersey, and was short and fatal. After Eaker shot Philip in the hip, Philip was rushed back to Manhattan — where he died the next day at the age of 19.
Philip Hamilton’s death devastated his family — especially his father. A friend who attended his burial wrote that they’d never seen “a man so completely overwhelmed with grief” as Alexander Hamilton was that day.
Three years later, Alexander Hamilton’s children suffered a new loss when Alexander died in a duel with Aaron Burr. Alexander also dueled in Weehawken, and even used the same set of pistols as his son.
Angelica Hamilton, Who Suffered A Nervous Breakdown After Her Brother’s Death
The second of Alexander Hamilton’s children, Angelica Hamilton was born on Sept. 25, 1784. She was named for her maternal aunt, Angelica Schuyler, and expressed an early love for music, dancing, and singing.
But Angelica’s life took a terrible turn when her older brother Philip, with whom she was close, was killed while dueling in 1801. Angelica was 17 years old at the time, and when she heard what had happened, she suffered a mental breakdown from which she never recovered.
Public DomainAngelica Schuyler Church, Alexander Hamilton’s sister-in-law and the inspiration for his daughter’s name. Rumor had it that Angelica Hamilton bore a striking resemblance to her aunt.
Although historians and psychologists have never been able to definitively identify the mental illness Angelica suffered, contemporaries described her behavior as forever child-like. Angelica oftentimes forgot people she knew well and hyper-fixated on birds. Indeed, she seemed frozen in time and would speak about Philip as if he were still alive.
Angelica Hamilton’s condition only worsened as she got older. Eventually, she was placed under the supervision of Dr. MacDonald in New York. She would remain under the doctor’s care until her death in 1857 at the age of 72.
“Poor sister, what a happy release will be hers. Lost to herself a half century,” her little sister, Eliza, would later write, according to Ron Chernow’s 2004 biography Alexander Hamilton.
Today, Angelica Hamilton is buried at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in New York.
Alexander Hamilton Jr., A Successful Lawyer — Who Defended Aaron Burr’s Ex-Wife
Alexander Hamilton Jr. was born on May 16, 1786, in New York City. The third of Alexander Hamilton’s children, and the second son of Alexander and Eliza Hamilton, Alexander Jr. followed in the footsteps of his father and older brother by pursuing an education — and later a career in law. But he would also have other adventures along the way.
Like Philip Hamilton, Alexander Jr. attended boarding school in Trenton and later attended Columbia College. He graduated in the summer of 1804, just a few weeks after his father’s death.
Despite the terrible tragedy, Alexander Jr. continued to pursue a career in law. He also gained military experience, traveling to Europe to fight against Napoleon, and returning to the United States to serve in the War of 1812.
Public DomainAlexander Hamilton Jr. served in the War of 1812, but likely did not see active combat.
Alexander Hamilton Jr. also had some other extraordinary experiences in his life. In the 1830s, in a strange twist of fate, he represented Aaron Burr’s ex-wife during their divorce proceedings. Later, during a trip out west with his own wife, Alexander Hamilton Jr. also happened to cross paths with Abraham Lincoln. The future president was then working a grocery story, and left an impression on Alexander Jr. because of his story-telling.
Alexander Hamilton Jr. would pass away on August 2, 1875, at the age of 89 in New York City, and was buried in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
James Alexander Hamilton, One of Alexander Hamilton’s Children Who Became Secretary Of State
Public DomainJames Alexander Hamilton, the fourth of Alexander Hamilton’s children.
The fourth of Alexander Hamilton’s children, James Alexander Hamilton was born on April 14, 1788. He described his childhood as idyllic and loving, though of course it was punctured by tragedy. When he was 13, his brother Philip died and his sister descended into mental illness; when James was 16, his father was killed by Aaron Burr in their infamous duel .
Despite these sad events, James followed in the footsteps of his father and brothers. He graduated from Columbia and, in 1810, began to study law. That same year, James also followed in his father’s footsteps by marrying into a prominent American family, the Morrises. The grand-uncle of his wife, Mary Morris, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Her relatives also included a Supreme Court chief justice and a mayor of New York City.
They would have five children together and reside in a mansion that James called “Nevis,” after his father’s birthplace. Today, Nevis serves as Columbia University’s physics and biology research labs.
Antigng/Wikimedia CommonsNevis today.
Like his older brother, James also served in the War of 1812 and, like his father, he soon involved himself in American politics. A strong supporter of Andrew Jackson — James even helped Jackson write his inaugural address, just as his father had once helped Washington — James was later rewarded by the president for his loyalty. James served briefly as Secretary of State, and was later appointed U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
James Alexander Hamilton passed away on Sept. 24, 1878, in Irvington, New York at the age of 90. He is buried with his family in Sleepy Hollow, New York.
John Church Hamilton, The Historian Who Compiled His Father’s Work
Public DomainJohn Church Hamilton, the fifth of Alexander Hamilton’s children.
The fifth of Alexander Hamilton’s children, John Church Hamilton was born on August 22, 1792, in Philadelphia. Though Hamilton was only 12 when his father was killed, he recalled the night before the tragic event in clear detail during an interview with The Philadelphia Times near the end of his life.
“I recall a single incident about it with full clearness,” John told the newspaper in 1878, when he was 85. “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 continued: “‘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.”
Despite the early tragedy, John followed his the footsteps of his father and brother. He graduated from Columbia College, pursued a career in law, and served in the War of 1812. John, like his father, even served as aide-de-camp to a future president: William Henry Harrison. However, John Church Hamilton decided to pursued a different path in life than his brothers.
Public DomainJohn Church Hamilton, circa 1825-1830.
According to his obituary in The New York Times, John left his law career and instead “devoted himself to the study of history.” Specifically, John was focused on his father’s history.
After collecting letters and other writings, John published his father’s works in a seven-volume collection, The Works of Alexander Hamilton: Containing His Correspondence, and His Political and Official Writings, Exclusive of the Federalist, Civil and Military. He also wrote a seven-volume biography of his father, Life of Alexander Hamilton: A History of the Republic of the United States of America, and published a new edition of the Federalist Papers.
In addition to preserving his father’s legacy, John Church Hamilton also worked on building a legacy of his own. He married Maria Eliza van den Heuvel, the daughter of a prominent Dutch merchant, in 1814, and had fourteen children with her.
The two lived a private, quiet life together until 1873, when Heuvel passed away. John followed suit on July 25, 1882, at the age of 89.
William Stephen Hamilton, The Frontiersman Who Settled Unhappily Out West
Public DomainThe sixth of Alexander Hamilton’s children, William Stephen Hamilton’s portrait is often erroneously used to represent his older brother, Philip.
The sixth of Alexander Hamilton’s children, William Stephen Hamilton was born Aug. 4, 1797, in Albany, New York. William was almost seven years old when his father was killed in a dual, and he would ultimately forge a very different path than most of his family.
Unlike his older brothers, William did not attend Columbia College. He briefly attended school the United States Military Academy at West Point — he never graduated — and then moved west to Illinois.
Though far from home, William showed his family’s tendency for involvement in politics and the military. He was elected to serve in the Illinois House of Representatives, joined the Illinois militia, and fought in the Black Hawk War after moving to the territory of Wisconsin.
Then, William Stephen Hamilton moved even further west — to California. Following rumors about the Gold Rush, William decided to try his luck as a prospector. However, he never struck it rich. He seemed to come to regret his decision, once remarking that he’d “rather have been hung in the ‘Lead Mines’ than to have lived in this miserable hole.”
William died in Sacramento, California from cholera and dysentery on October 9, 1850, at the age of 53. He never married nor had any children.
Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0The grave of William S. Hamilton in Sacramento Historic City Cemetery.
Today, he is buried at the Sacramento Historic City Cemetery.
Eliza Hamilton Holly, One Of Alexander Hamilton’s Children Who Helped Preserve Her Father’s Legacy
Public Domain Eliza Hamilton Holly, the seventh of Alexander Hamilton’s children and his second daughter.
The seventh of Alexander Hamilton’s children, Eliza Hamilton Holly was born on Nov. 20, 1799, in New York City. Eliza was frequently ill as a child, which meant that her parents doted on her. Her father called her “Little Betsey,” and was sadly killed when Eliza was just four years old.
As an adult, Eliza married a New York City merchant named Sidney Augustus Holly. After about 17 years of marriage, however, Holly tragically died, leaving Eliza as a young widow. Eliza never remarried, and instead moved to Washington D.C. with her mother. Showing the Hamilton knack for striking up friendships with politicians, they entertained guests like William Seward and President Millard Fillmore at their home.
But when her mother died in 1854, Eliza turned her attention to supporting her brother, John, and his project of preserving their father’s legacy.
“I feel the same spark ignite,” she wrote to John in 1855, “to seek the fulfillment of [Mother’s] words ‘justice shall be done to the memory of my Hamilton.’ Those words so often uttered by our Mother, she cannot have a child who does not proudly recognize them.”
That said, Eliza Hamilton Holly only lived for five more years after the death of her mother. Eliza died in Washington D.C. on Oct. 17, 1859.
Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0The tombstone of Eliza Hamilton Holly in Sleepy Hollow, New York.
She is buried at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery alongside her family.
Philip Hamilton, The Last Of Alexander Hamilton’s Children
Public DomainPhilip Hamilton, the last of Alexander Hamilton’s children.
Philip Hamilton was born on June 1, 1802. His mother was pregnant with him when his older brother, Philip, was killed, and decided to honor the first Philip’s memory by giving his name to her new baby.
Called “Little Phil,” Philip was the last of Alexander Hamilton’s children and was only two years old when his father was killed. Unlike many of his siblings, Philip did not attend college nor did he join the military, largely due to financial stress caused by his father’s death. That said, Philip was able to follow in his brothers’ footsteps and became a lawyer.
He followed in their footsteps in another way too — like his brother William, Philip briefly moved out west during the Gold Rush. But he and his wife, Rebecca, moved back to New York just a few years later. Philip focused on his law practice and he and Rebecca had two sons.
Known as a “lawyer of the poor,” Philip Hamilton also frequently sought to help those less fortunate than himself. He was an abolitionist, and reportedly used his home as a stop on the Underground Railroad.
Public Domain Philip and Rebecca McLane Hamilton’s home in Poughkeepsie, New York.
Philip and his family lived a quiet life until his death on July 9, 1884, in Poughkeepsie, New York. Today, he is buried at Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery.
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