For various reasons, I tend not to be aware of pop culture. Because of this, I have been relatively late to the phenomenon that the musical Hamilton has become. When I first learned of it, it did not have any immediate appeal to me. A musical in hip-hop style about the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, did not sound like something that would be of interest to me. When I heard the soundtrack, though, I was amazed. Although there is some vulgar language in it, the story it tells is powerful. The very last song is titled, Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story, and it is about the achievements and accomplishments of Alexander Hamilton’s wife, Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton.
Below is a recording of this song from the original Broadway cast:
In this song, we learn that after Alexander Hamilton died, Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton lived 50 more years. During this time, she
- gathered information about the life of her husband by interviewing the soldiers that fought with him and sorting through all of his writings
- with the help of her sister, Angelica, made sure that the story of her husband was told
- raised funds to build the Washington Monument
- spoke out against slavery
- established the first private orphanage in New York City
Not only did this song make me want to learn more about Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, but it also inspired me to create this site.
So, who was this remarkable woman? Read on to learn more about her.
Elizabeth Schuyler was from a prominent colonial family
Elizabeth Schuyler (“Eliza”) was born on August 9, 1757, and she was the daughter Philip Schuyler and Catherine von Rensselaer. Her mother was from one of the richest and most politically influential families in New York. Her father was also from the wealthy Schuyler family, who were among the earlier Dutch settlers in the region. Eliza was the second of 8 children that survived to adulthood.
Philip Schuyler was active in colonial politics. He was a member of the New York Assembly from 1768 to 1775, and in 1775, he became a member of the Continental Congress.
When Eliza was 13 years old, she accompanied her father to Saratoga for a conclave of chiefs of the Six Nations. There she received an Indian name meaning “One-of-us.” In 1776, she met Benjamin Franklin when he visited her father at their house on his way to a diplomatic mission to Canada. He taught her to play backgammon while he was there.
She was good friends with Martha Washington
In 1780, Eliza stayed with her aunt in Morristown, New Jersey. It was there that she met her future husband, Alexander Hamilton. She also met Martha Washington when she was there, and the two became lifelong friends. She said that Martha Washington was always her “ideal of a true woman.”
Eliza’s sister, Margarita (“Peggy”), saved her family during the American Revolution
On August 7, 1781, a group of Tories and Native Americans invaded the Schuyler Mansion looking for Elizabeth’s father, Philip Schuyler. At the time Elizabeth and her older sister, Angelica, were both pregnant and ran upstairs to hide. They had left their youngest sister, Catherine, who was just an infant, downstairs. Peggy went downstairs to get the baby, but she was threatened by one of the Native Americans. When he asked her where her father was, she quickly replied that he had gone to town to get help. At this, the raiders left, and no one was harmed.
The Hamiltons had a large family
Eliza gave birth to her first son, Philip, on January 22, 1782. After that, they had 7 other children. Their youngest child was also named Philip and was born on June 1, 1802. The younger Philip was born a year after his older brother died in a duel defending the honor of his father.
In addition to their own children, the Hamiltons cared for an orphan, Frances Antill, who they took in when she was 2 years old. Frances lived with them for 10 years.
She was an active partner with her husband in his work
Eliza helped her husband in the ways that were common for wives at the time, such as taking care of the household, raising their children, and being a hostess for social gatherings. She also managed the household finances.
In addition to all of this, she assisted him with his writing. When Alexander was writing the Federalist Papers, she would often serve as an intermediary between him and his publisher. She also helped him when he was writing the treatise in defense of the National Bank by copying the final draft by hand so it could be delivered to George Washington.
In his biography of Alexander Hamilton’s life, Ron Chernow quoted a journal entry of a young man who interviewed Eliza later in life. In this interview, the young man recounted:
Old Mrs. Hamilton…active in body, clear in mind…talks familiarly of Washington, Jefferson, and the fathers. I told her how greatly I was interested….on account of her husband’s connection with the government. “He made your government,” said she. “He made your bank. I sat up all night with him to help him do it. Jefferson thought we ought not to have a bank and President Washington thought so. But my husband said, ‘We must have a Bank.’ I sat up all night, copied out his writing and the next morning, he carried it to President Washington and we had a bank.”
Chernow, Ron, Alexander Hamilton, Penguin Books, 2004, p. 353.
After her husband’s death, Eliza wanted to make sure that history recorded his role as the author of George Washington’s Farewell Address. In doing so, she also revealed her own role. She testified, “The whole or nearly all the “Address” was read to me by him as he wrote it and a greater part, if not all, was written by him in my presence.” Chernow, p. 508.
She oversaw the construction of their house, The Grange
Alexander and Eliza Hamilton began building their own home, which they called, The Grange, in 1800. Alexander had very specific ideas about how it should be built and left detailed instructions. He hired a prominent New York architect, John McComb, Jr. Alexander was often away because of work, which left Eliza to supervise the day to day development.
The Grange was much more expensive than they could afford at the time, but Alexander thought that he would be bringing in more money as he resumed his law practice after leaving the political arena.
Unfortunately, before that could happen, Alexander died in the famous duel with Aaron Burr in 1804. When he died, he left her and his children with crippling debt.
In order to survive and care for their 7 remaining children, Eliza had to lobby President Madison and Congress for Alexander’s army pension from his service in the American Revolution. After the Revolution, Alexander had waived his army pension to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.
The Grange had to be auctioned, but the executors bought it and sold it back to her for half-price. The Grange survives to this day, and it is now a National Memorial.
She co-founded the New York Orphan Asylum
Along with other evangelical women, Elizabeth Hamilton co-founded the first private orphanage in New York in 1806, less than two years after her husband’s death. She was on the board of directors and served as the second directress, which is the equivalent of the vice-president. In 1821, she became the first directress and continued in that role for 27 years.
Not only did she serve on the board of directors, but she also took an active role in the day-to-day operation for the organization. She was involved in every aspect, including fundraising, investigating complaints, managing the finances, and caring for the children. The New York Orphan Asylum Society exists to this day as a social service agency for children, and it is called Graham Windham.
In her 90s, she helped raise money for the Washington Monument
The musical, Hamilton, tells us that Elizabeth Hamilton helped raise money for the Washington Monument. It does not tell us that she did so when she was in her 90s. In 1848, when she was 91 years old, she moved in with her widowed daughter, Eliza, in Washington D.C. She frequently attended White House dinners, and she became friends with Dolly Madison. Along with Louisa Adams, the wife of John Quincy Adams, they helped to raise money to construct the Washington Monument.
When she was 95 years old and President Millard Fillmore was the 13th President of the United States, Elizabeth Hamilton was invited to dinner at the White House, and the First Lady, Abigail Filmore, gave up her chair to her.
Elizabeth Hamilton died on November 9, 1854, at the age of 97. She was buried next to her husband in the graveyard of Trinity Church in New York City.
See also:
When Was Alexander Hamilton Born?
Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton and Slavery
The Musical Hamilton and the Founding Narrative of the United States