Here's what you need to know about the real-life founding mother. Her father, Philip Schuyler, was a revered American Revolutionary war general, and her mother was. Its unlikely that Eliza was involved on a day-to-day basis, according to Mazzeo. She had outlived her husband by 50 years, and had outlived all but one of her siblings (her youngest sister, Catherine, 24 years her junior). [17] Also while in Morristown, Eliza met and became friends with Martha Washington, a friendship they would maintain throughout their husbands' political careers. Eliza was beside him as he died. Her relationship with Hamilton grew quickly, even after he left Morristown, only a month after Elizabeth, 22 years old, arrived there. She is respected as an. Elizabeth did not spend her days in sorrow or self-pity. is registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Eliza would weather a storm of pain and embarrassment following very public revelations of Hamiltons adultery. Philip also hailed from a prominent family and he commanded a militia during the French and Indian War of the 1750s. Her lines in the play, "Im just sayin, if you really loved me, you would share him," are drawn from a letter the real Angelica wrote to Eliza, in which she joked, "I love him very much and if you were as generous as the Old Romans you would lend him to me for a while."). After her husbands death, Eliza Hamilton remained for a time in The Grange, the clapboard two-and-a-half-story home located on what is now W. 143rd Street just east of Amsterdam Avenue in Harlem, where she was surrounded by gardens filled with tulips, hyacinths, lilies and roses, according to historian Jonathan Gill. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. As wealthy socialites, both Schuyler sisters frequently attended officer's balls where they mingled with eligible young soldiers. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. When did Eliza Schuyler Hamilton have her second child? While she was in her nineties she helped Dolly Madison to raise money for the Washington Monument. She died aged 97, in 1854. Mother, Supporter, Humiliated Wife His mother, Rachel Faucette, had been born there to British and French Huguenot parents. See how you do with some of the questions a petitioning citizen must answer. Portrayed by Phillipa Soo, Eliza played a key role in safeguarding her husband's legacy after his death. Spelling was taught from Websters Elementary Spelling Book, a popular text of the time. But she held onto her grudge against Monroe. Also known as Eliza or Betsy, she was from a prominent Dutch family in Albany, New York. Hamilton attended Kings College, now Columbia University, and dived headfirst into the political debate and heady atmosphere that was pre-war New York City. As was common for young women of her time, Eliza was a regular churchgoer, and her faith remained unwavering throughout her lifetime. 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]. Eliza was giving much of her time to her other big projecthelping to found the citys first private orphanage in lower Manhattan. He was born c. 1755 on the island of Nevis, in the British West Indies. Hamilton followed three years later. "I meet you in every dream," Hamilton wrote in one of his swooning letters, "and when I wake I cannot close my eyes for ruminating on your sweetness." Hamilton, who had resigned as Treasury Secretary six years before, was in Albany on business that March when Peggy took a. 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. [citation needed], In 1787, Eliza sat for a portrait, executed by the painter Ralph Earl while he was being held in debtors' prison. By focusing on children, Eliza found connection to her late husbands legacy. In Hamilton's closing number, "Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story," Eliza is framed as the driving force behind Hamilton's legacy. Two of those deaths could have been quite easily avoided if the male culture had been less prone to duels. These figures indicate the enormously high death rate among young children. 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." [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 early 1780, Elizabeth went to stay with her aunt in New Jersey where she met Hamilton, who was one of General George Washingtons aides-de-camp at the time. Contrary to the musical,. After her husband was shot by Aaron Burr, Eliza was left to pay off his debts. Their last child, born the next June in 1802, was named Philip in his honor. 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. But Monroe had made copies of Hamilton's letters to Maria, and sent them to his arch-rival, Thomas Jefferson. Hamilton would reach the heights of government and power but be tripped up by his own arrogance, ambition and hubris. She married Hamilton in 1780 and he died in a duel in 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. Hamilton: Building America on HISTORY Vault. In November 1833, at the age of 76, Eliza resold The Grange for $25,000, funding the purchase of a New York townhouse (now called the Hamilton-Holly House) where she lived for nine years with two of her grown children, Alexander Hamilton Jr. and Eliza Hamilton Holly, and their spouses. Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton was the wife of Alexander Hamilton, one of America's founding fathers. 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. 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. Because of Hamiltons army service, the family moved around quite a bit during their early married life but eventually they settled in New York City in late 1783. 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.. Her father, Philip J. Schuyler, was a general in the Continental Army, politician, and businessman. Hamilton met Maria Reynolds in Philadelphia in 1791, when she visited the then-Secretary of the Treasury to request financial support for her struggling family. In 2010, it partnered with the New York State Office of Cultural Education to establish the New Netherland Research Center, with matching funds from the State of the Netherlands. Elizabeth Schuyler was born on August 9, 1757, the daughter of the Revolutionary War leader Major General Philip Schuyler. See him, whom thou has chosen for the partner of this life, lolling in the lap of a harlot!!" But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! [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. A lifelong reader who was largely self-educated, he soon set his sights far beyond his tiny island home. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. In the early months of the war, he formed an artillery company and later served at the battles of White Plains, Trenton and Princeton. [citation needed], In 1798, Eliza had accepted her friend Isabella Graham's invitation to join the descriptively named Society for the Relief of Poor Widows with Small Children that had been established the previous year. In the winter of 1779-1780, Eliza met Alexander Hamilton, an upstart from the West Indies who had emigrated to America and risen to become General . Embrace all my darling Children for me. When he paid her a visit decades after the Reynolds scandal, she refused to speak with him. ' [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. [22] Meanwhile, the war came close to home, when a group of British soldiers stumbled upon the Pastures, looking for supplies. [12] She was said to have been something of a tomboy when she was young;[13][pageneeded] throughout her life she retained a strong will and even an impulsiveness that her acquaintances noted. She moved to Washington, D.C. in 1848 to live with a daughter, became a celebrated guest at the White House, and died just a few months after her 97th birthday. Only two years later Hamilton became involved in an affair with honor which led to his duel with Aaron Burr and his untimely death. The real Eliza Schuyler died at the old age of 97, and outlived the musical's other characters. 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. "[28], The Hamiltons had an active social life, often attending the theater as well as various balls and parties. The True Story of Elizabeth Schuyler in 'Hamilton'. He eventually became a prominent landowner, with tens of thousands of acres in the Albany area. [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. Eliza, who had to struggle to pay for her own childrens education after her husbands death, could empathize. 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 But a series of events would soon rip that family apart. Not even wealth could lower that very high death rate. READ MORE: What Was Alexander Hamilton's Role in Aaron Burr's Contentious Presidential Defeat? [27][28], For other people named Elizabeth Hamilton, see, Last edited on 25 February 2023, at 21:19, Margarita "Peggy" Schuyler Van Rensselaer, Learn how and when to remove this template message, George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation, "Hamilton, Elizabeth Schuyler (09 August 175709 November 1854), statesman's wife and charity worker", "Women of the Republican Court: Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton (17571854)", "Mrs. Philip John Schuyler (Catherine van Rensselaer)", "Schuyler-Malcolm-Cochran Family Papers: Manuscripts and Special Collections: New York State Library", "Dutch Reformed Church In Albany, New York", "Guide to the Records of Graham Windham 18042011", "To Alexander Hamilton from James McHenry, 3 January 1791", "Letter from Henry Knox to Alexander Hamilton, 24 November 1794", "Letter from Alexander Hamilton to George Washington, 1 December 1794", "Letter from Alexander Hamilton to Angelica Schuyler Church, 6 March 1795", "To Alexander Hamilton from John B. When Do New Episodes of 'Mandalorian' Come Out? 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.