The Schuylers owned enslaved people and Philip was reportedly "the largest owner of enslaved people in Albany during his time. But by the final act of the play, one of the most compelling characters to emerge is Elizabeth (Eliza) Schuyler Hamilton. Flitner recalled that the school provided students with textbooks, and that they studied arithmetic by doing calculations on slates. Hamilton grew up as an orphan from the Caribbean and was able to come to America to study when benefactors paid his way. 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. Ron Chernow, who wrote the biography that inspired Miranda's musical, credits . She was portrayed by Eve Gordon and was referred to as Betsy. [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. Thrust into harsh financial straits, Elizabeth then witnessed her father's death in November 1804 and had to use both strength and ingenuity to keep her remaining family afloat. Elizabeth Schuyler was born on August 7, 1757, in Albany, New York, the second daughter of wealthy landowner and Revolutionary War general Philip Schuyler. Elizabeth stayed with her aunt in Morristown, New Jersey in early 1780, and there she met Alexander Hamilton, one of George Washingtons aides-de-camp. Philip also hailed from a prominent family and he commanded a militia during the French and Indian War of the 1750s. He was born on January 22, 1782 and died on November 23, 1801 at the age of 19. "I Meet You in Every Dream" In 1787, Eliza sat for a portrait, executed by the painter Ralph Earl while he was being held in debtors' prison. Eliza was buried near her husband in the graveyard of Trinity Church in New York City. What Eliza Hamilton Left Behind | The New York Public Library Church, 13 July 1797", "Letter from Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, 21 July 1797", "Draft of the "Reynolds Pamphlet", July 1797", "Printed Version of the "Reynolds Pamphlet", 1797", "Guide to the Records of Graham Windham 1804-2011 MS 2916", "Who tells Eliza's story? Angelica first appears in Hamilton during the song . Elizabeth also appeared in the 1986 TV series, George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation. The Orphan Asylum Society, meanwhile, evolved into Graham Windham, a private nonprofit social services agency that provides parenting support and mental and behavioral health treatment for 5,000 children and families each year. "[28], The Hamiltons had an active social life, often attending the theater as well as various balls and parties. [4] Andr had once been a house guest in the Schuyler Mansion in Albany as a prisoner of war en route to Pennsylvania in 1775; Eliza, then seventeen, might have had a juvenile crush on the young British officer who had once sketched for her. Hamilton insisted upon his innocence, and the matter was kept private for years. But while his brilliance was apparent to those who met him, Hamilton was eager to prove himself on the field, not just with the pen. [4] She had seven siblings who lived to adulthood, including Angelica Schuyler Church and Margarita "Peggy" Schuyler Van Rensselaer, but she had 14 siblings altogether. His mother, Rachel Faucette, had been born there to British and French Huguenot parents. According to the Smithsonian Magazine, Eliza was a beloved figure and entertained often: "Some visitors sought her imprimatur for new legislation, while others went simply to bask in the glow of history." It is said that after returning home from meeting her, Hamilton was so excited he forgot the password to enter army headquarters. (As the musical shows, Hamilton also got pretty flirty with Eliza's vivacious older sister, Angelica. How Alexander Hamilton's Widow, Eliza, Carried on His Legacy Elizabeth at the age of 94, three years before her death. Her two famous sisters were Angelica Schuyler Church and Margarita Schuyler Van Rensselaer. He had particularly fond dealings with Philip Schuyler and Elizabeth's eldest sister Angelica, a beautiful and charming woman. These figures indicate the enormously high death rate among young children. Schuyler sisters Peggy, Eliza, and Angelica in. The first, Elizabeth, named for Eliza, was born on November 20, 1799. Sign up for the American Experience newsletter! History of the Republic would set the bar for future biographies of Alexander Hamilton that would grow as time went on. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Its unlikely that Eliza was involved on a day-to-day basis, according to Mazzeo. Spelling was taught from Websters Elementary Spelling Book, a popular text of the time. Unlike two of Elizas sisters (including Angelica) who had eloped due to family doubts about their husbands, Eliza received her fathers blessing. But Eliza, understandably, is devastated, and responds by burning all the letters that Hamilton has ever sent her. "[28] Two years later, Colonel Antill died in Canada, and Fanny continued to live with the Hamiltons for another eight years, until an older sister was married and able to take Fanny into her own home. She came from a well-established, highly-regarded family, he was an orphaned immigrant. Elizabeth was appointed second directress. He then returned to Morristown where Elizabeth's father had also arrived in his capacity as representative of the Continental Congress. In 1821 Elizabeth was appointed first directress of the Society and served for 27 years in that position until she left New York in 1848. available to watch from the comfort of your own couch, Eliza destroyed her own letters to Hamilton, save his writings and fiercely defended his legacy, Orphan Asylum Society of the City of New York, the first school in the neighborhood of Washington Heights, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. 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. 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. As was common for young women of her time, Eliza was a regular churchgoer, and her faith remained unwavering throughout her lifetime. [20] There Eliza busied herself in creating a home for them and in aiding Alexander with his political writingsparts of his 31-page letter to Robert Morris, laying out much of the financial knowledge that was to aid him later in his career, are in her handwriting. Both were descendant from third generation Dutch immigrants. When he paid her a visit decades after the Reynolds scandal, she refused to speak with him. But she remained steadfastly loyal to him, and after his death in 1804, it was Eliza who would ensure Hamiltons contributions to the founding of America were never left out of the history books. In real-life Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton lived to. By this time, two of her siblings, Peggy and John, had also died. Still eager to find glory in battle, he turned them all down. Her eighth and last child, Philip (Little Phil), was born on June 1, 1802. Hamil-Fam: The Death of Peggy Schuyler - It's Hamiltime! Angelica lived abroad for over fourteen years, returning to America for visits in 1785 and 1789. A dutiful daughter, she eschewed the elopements chosen by three of her sisters and instead conducted a traditional, if whirlwind, courtship with the dashing young aide she found at George Washington's headquarters in February 1780. Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, portrayed by Phillipa Soo in the original Broadway run of Hamilton, was not just the wife of one of America's founding fathers. The character grows quite fond of her friend Alexander Hamilton (Lin-Manuel Miranda), but ultimately backs off when he begins a romance with her sister Eliza (Phillipa Soo). Eliza was also able to collect Alexander's pension from his service in the army from congress in 1836 for money and land. [28] Later, James Alexander Hamilton would write that Fanny "was educated and treated in all respects as [the Hamiltons'] own daughter. Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton at age 94 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. Both her mother and father came from wealthy and well-regarded families. When he visited the boarding house where she was staying to deliver the funds, Maria invited him to her room, where, as Hamilton would later write in his pamphlet about the affair, it became "apparent that other than pecuniary consolation would not be unacceptable.". She was rich, he was poor. Some parts of his 31-page letter to Robert Morris, laying out much of the financial knowledge that was to aid him later in his career, are actually in her handwriting. She loves owls, hates cilantro, and can find the queer subtext in literally anything. The affair put a big strain on their relationship, but they eventually reconciled. So James decided to take his story to Hamilton's political rivals, and was paid a jail cell visit by none other than future president James Monroe. "[41] After returning home to Eliza on July 22[42] and assembling a first draft dated July 1797,[43] on August 25, 1797, Hamilton published a pamphlet, later known as the Reynolds Pamphlet, admitting to his one-year adulterous affair in order to refute the charges that he had been involved in speculation and public misconduct with Maria's husband James Reynolds.[44]. [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. To clear his name in the more serious financial allegations, Hamilton released the Reynolds Pamphlet, in which he admitted to the affair but denied any criminal misdeeds. He was stationed along with Washington in Morristown for the winter. Hamilton Ending: What Eliza Does And Why She Does It Hamilton followed the Army when they decamped in June 1780. is registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. By early 1777, hed made enough of a name for himself that several Colonial generals asked him to join their staffs. 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. True Story of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton's Life and Death - Esquire The Orphan Asylum Society of the City of New York. [55] The writings that historians have today by Alexander Hamilton can be attributed to efforts from Eliza. It also operates a school for at-risk youth. In 1780, Hamilton wrote Angelica a letter describing his infatuation with Eliza: Hamilton and Eliza married that year. The two families were two of the wealthiest families of that time and it is safe to say that Dutch was probably still their main language in everyday life. The Real Story Of The Schuyler Sisters - BUST A lifelong reader who was largely self-educated, he soon set his sights far beyond his tiny island home. The orphaned immigrant had found a father figure, and Hamilton became like a son to the future president. More, Housed in the New York State Library, the NNRC offers students, educators, scholars and researchers a vast collection of early documents and reference works on America's Dutch era. See how you do with some of the questions a petitioning citizen must answer. Hamilton depicts the Reynolds Affair, one of the country's earliest sex scandals. She was the eldest daughter of Continental Army General Philip Schuyler, and a sister of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton and sister-in-law of Alexander Hamilton . Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. Her father, Philip J. Schuyler, was a general in the Continental Army, politician, and businessman. Peggy Schuyler was born in Albany, New York on September 19, 1758, the third daughter of Catherine Van Rensselaer Schuyler (1734-1803) and Philip Schuyler (1733-1804), a wealthy patroon and major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. When he paid her a visit decades after the Reynolds scandal, she refused to speak with him. All Rights Reserved. She re-organized all of Hamiltons letters, papers, and writings with the help of her son, John Church Hamilton, and persevered through many setbacks in getting his biography published. Before their eighth child was born, however, they lost their oldest son, Philip, who died in a duel on November 24, 1801. Eliza and the other activists soon set out to raise $25,000 to build a bigger facility on a donated parcel on Bank Street in Greenwich Village. Thanks to her fathers role in the war and her familys social status, these years were a time of excitement for Eliza as well. The organization still exists today, as the children and families-supporting New York City non-profit Graham Windham. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. During that winter Elizabeth also became friends with Martha Washington, a friendship that would remain throughout their husbands political careers. In 1797 Eliza was told of an affair that had taken place several years earlier between Hamilton andMaria Reynolds, a young woman who had first approached him for financial assistance. "[12] Much later, the son of Joanna Bethune, one of the women she worked alongside to found an orphanage later in her life,[14] remembered that "Both [Elizabeth and Joanna] were of determined disposition Mrs. Bethune the more cautious, Mrs. Hamilton the more impulsive. Born in 1757, Eliza was the second daughter of Revolutionary War general Philip Schuyler and Catherine van Rensselaer, a member of one of New York's richest families. Eliza remained dedicated to preserving her husbands legacy. In 1797, Hamilton had an affair with Maria Reynolds. Hamilton rose to become a Revolutionary War hero, an advocate for the Constitution, and a rescuer of the nascent American government from financial ruin. In Hamilton's closing number, "Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story," Eliza is framed as the driving force behind Hamilton's legacy. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. 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. 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. Maria's husband, James Reynolds, caught wind of the affair, and began shaking Hamilton down for money. Eliza, who had to struggle to pay for her own childrens education after her husbands death, could empathize. Soon after, Philip Schuyler died. Eliza Hamilton and her benefactors moved quickly, and by the end of May, theyd already built a one-room, 1,050-square-foot schoolhouse with a slanted roofbig enough for 40 to 60 studentsaround what is now Broadway between W. 187th and W. 189th streets. Hamiltons prospects were far less promising. Eliza later said of Mrs. Washington, "She was always my ideal of a true woman."[12][18]. Historian Jenny L. Presnell writes, "The entire Schuyler family revered Alexander as a young political genius." She also appears in the 2015 Broadway Musical Hamilton, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda. [31] After Alexander became Treasury Secretary in 1789, her social duties only increased: "Mrs. Hamilton, Mrs. [Sarah] Jay and Mrs. [Lucy] Knox were the leaders of official society," an early historian writes. But Monroe had made copies of Hamilton's letters to Maria, and sent them to his arch-rival, Thomas Jefferson. Eliza wanted a full official apology from Monroe which he would not give until they met in person to talk about Alexander shortly before his passing. Elizabeth did not believe the rumors at first, but eventually Hamilton lived up to it. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. Ron Chernow said that her efforts to preserve Hamilton's memory were important to his 2005 biography of the founder, especially as, with Hamilton's Republican foes in power after his death, there wasn't much in the way of public efforts to record his life. Because his mother had never divorced her first husband, Hamiltons father, James, abandoned the family, likely to prevent Rachel from being charged with bigamy. Eliza Hamilton wanted to find a way to honor Hamilton's memory, in the place where their last home had been together, says Mazzeo. Where Did the 'Perfect Match' Couples End Up? Meet the influential author and key figure of the Harlem Renaissance. A few years later she became the co-founder of the Orphan Asylum Society. They had met briefly a few years before, but now Alexander Hamilton was smitten, "a gone man," in the words of another aide. Elizabeth "Eliza" Schuyler Hamilton was born in Albany, New York, on August 9, 1757. She was educated and described as intelligent, attractive, and was frequently compared to her demure sister, Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, as being more sociable.