Alexander Hamilton (151 page)

Christine McKay, consulting archivist at the Bank of New York, made available bank records concerning the secret trust fund set up for Hamilton’s family. She also passed along the revelatory letter written by Dirck Ten Broeck that shows Hamilton’s positive frame of mind the day before the duel. Brian Thompson and Meg Ventrudo at the Museum of American Financial History furnished me with early newspaper articles that I hadn’t found elsewhere. Eugene Tobin, president of Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, was a consistently cheerful supporter of this project. At Trinity Church, archivist Gwynedd Cannan trawled through baptismal records and pew rentals and provided key information on Hamilton’s religious life. Christopher Keenan and John Daskalakis, park rangers at the Hamilton Grange National Memorial, responded patiently to questions, as did Judith Mueller and Kathy Hansen at the Federal Hall National Memorial on Wall Street. At the New York Society Library, Mark Piel, Edmee B. Reit, and Sara Holliday helped with the reading habits of Hamilton and Burr. Steven Wheeler at the New York Stock Exchange responded to questions about its early history.

Finally, to round out my New York sources, I would like to thank Fred Bassett, senior librarian at the New York State Library in Albany; Darwin Stapleton and Tom Rosenbaum at the Rockefeller Archive Center, which owns Schuyler papers; Vin Montuori, vice president of marketing for the
New York Post;
Roy Fox, curator of the King Manor Museum in Jamaica, Queens; and the staff of the Morris-Jumel Mansion in Washington Heights.

In New Jersey, Kathy Grimshaw at the Passaic County Historical Society in Paterson, New Jersey, helped me unearth revealing documents of the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures. James Lewis of the New Jersey Historical Society provided background on Hamilton’s first American teacher, Francis Barber. I profited from a trip to the Morristown National Historical Site and the Joint Free Public Library of Morristown and Morris Township, as well as a tour of the Schuyler Hamilton House in Morristown, conducted by Phyllis R. Sanftner. At Princeton University, three eminent classicists—Edmund Keeley, Robert Fagles, and Edward Champlin—tried to unravel the thorny riddle of what Hamilton meant when he coined the code name “Savius” for Burr in 1792. They convinced me that the name probably didn’t refer to an extremely obscure figure in Roman history, Saevius Plautus, who is identified in St. Jerome’s “Chronicle” as having defiled his son and then committed suicide during the subsequent trial. This story has led some recent writers to claim that Hamilton, in making his “despicable” charge against Burr, accused him of incest with his daughter, Theodosia—a hypothesis originated by Gore Vidal in his entertaining novel
Burr.
To my mind, the Savius mystery remains unsolved.

The Library of Congress contains the largest haul of Hamilton papers, including many of the letters printed in his collected papers. I would like to thank the staff of the Manuscript Division, especially Jeffrey M. Flannery. Ditto for Nicholas Graham and the staff of the Massachusetts Historical Society, another source of original papers. I am further indebted to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and to Rob Cox and Roy Goodman of the American Philosophical Society. At the Christ Church Preservation Trust, I had an illuminating chat about Hamilton’s religion with Neil Ronk. At Yale University, Ellen Cohn, chief editor of the Benjamin Franklin Papers, was kind enough to survey Franklin’s still-unpublished papers for any stray references to Hamilton. In England, Valerie Cromwell of the History of Parliament Trust sketched in background information about John Barker Church. David Hildebrand of the Colonial Music Institute provided lyrics and learned commentary on the songs that Hamilton might have sung right before the duel.

Fellow historians were generous in responding to my queries. My special thanks to David McCullough, who graciously encouraged me to undertake this project. Two knowledgeable Hamilton hands, Joanne Freeman of Yale and Carol Berkin of Baruch College and the CUNY Graduate Center, responded to miscellaneous questions with alacrity. James F. Gaines of Mary Washington College regaled me with a wonderful disquisition on Molière’s nurse. Others who provided support, suggestions, or research materials include Joseph McCarthy, who has made a documentary film about Lord Stirling; Leon Friedman, a First Amendment expert and an aficionado of
The Federalist Papers;
Schuyler Chapin, a direct descendant of General Philip Schuyler; Walter Russell Mead, who has analyzed Hamiltonian foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations; Roxana Robinson, who showed me an unpublished Hamilton document; Scott P. Lindsay, president of the Alexander Hamilton Historical Society; and two people who offered help with Hamilton family genealogy: Alexander Hamilton (no direct descendant of the treasury secretary) and Louis Auchincloss. My thanks as well to Hamilton descendants John Rhinelander, Mary Rhinelander McCarl, and Tony Rhinelander.

It was my longtime agent, Melanie Jackson, who saw, with a touch of clairvoyance, that Hamilton should be my next biographical subject and that I should give a breather to the tycoons of the Gilded Age. She has been an indispensable figure in my career, a matchless business manager, literary adviser, and trusted friend, all rolled into one. Her assistant, Andrea Schaefer, ably fielded many questions these past few years.

My editor, Ann Godoff, performed an astonishing feat of acrobatics as she kept this project moving along smoothly despite her departure from Random House and her creation of The Penguin Press. Never once did I feel adrift: the good ship
Hamilton
continued to sail along, protected by Ann from the smallest ripples. Her editorial comments, as usual, were invaluable and her dedication to the book exemplary. During this busy start-up period, I benefited from the good-natured support of her assistant, Meredith Blum. I feel lucky to have again secured the copyediting services of the meticulous Timothy Mennel, assisted by senior production editor Bruce Giffords, and to have Lynn Goldberg, Mark Fortier, Tracy Locke, and Rachel Rokicki aboard for publicity. Gabriele Wilson created a beautiful cover that captures the mood of the book with uncanny precision. Sandra J. Markham provided knowing assistance with the picture section, as did Amanda Dewey, and Michelle McMillian created the interior design. I thank Sigrid Estrada for the excellent jacket photo.

It will come as no surprise to readers of my previous books that at this point I will pause and genuflect to my selfless wife, Valerie. She has shared all of my exhilaration and despair, trooped along on research trips, suffered tropical heat and inedible food, listened to me read aloud every line of the book, and functioned as a perceptive surrogate editor. Whatever her own private woes, she refused to let them interfere with the completion of this book. For a comparable case of love and loyalty, one would have to turn to Eliza Hamilton.

N
otes

Abbreviations

CU-DWCP Columbia University, New York, N.Y., De Witt Clinton Papers

CU-FFP Columbia University, Fish Family Papers

CU-HFP Columbia University, Hamilton Family Papers

CU-HPPP Columbia University, Hamilton Papers Publication Project

CU-JCHP Columbia University, John Church Hamilton Papers

LC-AHP Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., Alexander Hamilton Papers

LC-WPP Library of Congress, William Plumer Papers

LPAH The Law Practice of Alexander Hamilton.
Ed. Julius Goebel, Jr., et al. 5 vols. New York: Columbia University Press, 1964–1981.

MHi-TPP Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, Timothy Pickering Papers

NYHS-DGFP New-York Historical Society, New York, N.Y., De Groot Family Papers

NYHS-MM New-York Historical Society, Miscellaneous Microfilms

NYHS-NPP New-York Historical Society, Nathaniel Pendleton Papers

NYHS-NYCMS New-York Historical Society, New York City Manumission Society Papers

NYHS-RTP New-York Historical Society, Robert Troup Papers

NYHS-WVNP New-York Historical Society, William Van Ness Papers

NYPL-AYP New York Public Library, Abraham Yates, Jr., Papers

NYPL-JAHP New York Public Library, James A. Hamilton Papers

NYPL-KVB New York Public Library, Pamphlet Collection for New York election, spring 1804

NYPL-PSP New York Public Library, Philip Schuyler Papers

NYSL New York State Library, Albany, N.Y.

PAH The Papers of Alexander Hamilton.
Ed. Harold C. Syrett et al. 27 vols. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961–1987. (Unless otherwise stated, all letters cited are written either to or from Alexander Hamilton. Documents written neither by nor to Hamilton are cited only by volume and page number.)

Prologue: The Oldest Revolutionary War Widow

1.
Atlantic Monthly,
August 1896.

2. CU-HFP, box 3, letter from Elizabeth Hamilton Holly to John C. Hamilton, February 27, 1855.

3. Cooke,
Alexander Hamilton,
p. vii.

4. Malone,
Jefferson and His Time,
vol. 2, p. 271.

5. Cooke,
Alexander Hamilton,
p. 149.

6.
The Political Science Quarterly,
March 1890.

7. Knott,
Alexander Hamilton and the Persistence of Myth,
p. 87.

8. Ibid., p. 259.

One: The Castaways

1. Van Doren,
Benjamin Franklin,
p. 312.

2. Hubbard,
Swords, Ships, and Sugar,
p. 40.

3. Ibid., p. 33.

4.
PAH,
vol. 25, p. 88, letter to William Jackson, August 26, 1800.

5. Ibid.

6. Flexner,
Young Hamilton,
p. 9.

7.
PAH,
vol. 25, p. 89, letter to William Jackson, August 26, 1800.

8. Ramsing,
Alexander Hamilton’s Birth and Parentage,
p. 4.

9. Hamilton,
Intimate Life of Alexander Hamilton,
p. 11.

10. Ramsing,
Alexander Hamilton’s Birth and

Parentage,
p. 8.

11.
The American Genealogist,
January 1945.

12. Mitchell,
Alexander Hamilton: Youth to Maturity,
p. 7.

13. Schachner,
Alexander Hamilton,
p. 1.

14.
The American Genealogist,
January 1945.

15.
PAH,
vol. 16. p. 276, letter to George Washington, April 14, 1796.

16. Ibid., vol. 2, p. 539, letter to Margarita Schuyler, January 21, 1781.

17. Ibid., vol. 25, p. 88, letter to William Jackson, August 26, 1800.

18.
Kilmarnock Standard,
April 5, 1924.

19. Castle,
John Glassford of Douglaston,
pp. 22–23.

20. LC-AHP, reel 29, “Agreement of November 11, 1737.”

21. Ragatz,
Fall of the Planter Class in the British Caribbean,
pp. 16–17.

22.
PAH,
vol. 25, p. 89, letter to William Jackson, August 26, 1800.

23. Ibid.

24. LC-AHP, reel 29, letter from John Hamilton to Thomas Reid, 1749 [n.d.].

25. Ibid.

26. St. Kitts Archives, Government of St. Kitts and Nevis, Basseterre, St. Kitts.

27.
PAH,
vol. 25, p. 89, letter to William Jackson,

August 26, 1800.

28. Hamilton,
Life of Alexander Hamilton,
vol. 1, p. 42.

29. Hamilton,
Intimate Life of Alexander Hamilton,
p. 13.

30.
PAH,
vol. 3, p. 573, letter from Hugh Knox, July 28, 1784.

31. Schachner,
Alexander Hamilton,
p. 8.

32. Hamilton,
Life of Alexander Hamilton,
vol. 1, p. 42.

33.
PAH,
vol. 26, p. 774, “Comments on Jews,” n.d.

34. Hamilton,
Life of Alexander Hamilton,
vol. 7, pp. 710–11.

35.
London Magazine,
August 1753.

36. Ibid.

37. Brookhiser,
Alexander Hamilton,
p. 14.

38. Andrews,
Journal of a Lady of Quality,
p. 127.

39. Nevis Historical and Conservation Society, RG MG 2.25, Charlestown, Nevis.

40. Emery,
Alexander Hamilton,
p. 13.

41.
The William and Mary Quarterly,
April 1952.

42. Ramsing,
Alexander Hamilton’s Birth and Parentage,
p. 8.

43. Ibid.

44.
PAH,
vol. 21, p. 77, letter to William Hamilton, May 2, 1797.

45. Ibid.

46. Ibid., vol. 22, p. 223.

47. Tyson and Highfield,
Kamina Folk,
p. 46.

48. Flexner,
Young Hamilton,
p. 31.

49.
PAH,
vol. 20, p. 458, “From Ann Mitchell”[1796].

50. Ramsing,
Alexander Hamilton’s Birth and Parentage,
p. 28.

51.
PAH,
vol. 15, p. 331, “To the College of Physicians,” September 11, 1793.

52. Ibid., vol. 1, p. 369, letter from Edward Stevens,

December 23, 1777.

53. MHi-TPP, reel 51.

54. Ibid.

55. Lodge,
Alexander Hamilton,
p. 286.

Two: Hurricane

1. Hamilton,
Life of Alexander Hamilton,
vol. 1, p. 44.

2. NYHS-NPP, “Draft Obituary Notice for Hamilton,” n.d.

3.
PAH,
vol. 1, p. 4, letter to Edward Stevens, November 11, 1769.

4. Ibid., p. 21, letter to Nicholas Cruger, late 1771 or early 1772.

5. Ibid., p. 23, letter to Tileman Cruger, February 1, 1772.

6. Ibid., p. 24, letter to Captain Newton, February 1, 1772.

7.
Royal Danish American Gazette,
January 23, 1771.

8. Flexner,
Young Hamilton,
p. 39.

9.
PAH,
vol. 1, p. 7.

10.
Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society,
vol. 69, April 1951.