By Peggy Carroll
There is little doubt that another age of Alexander Hamilton is with us.
He is the hero of the phenomenally successful hip-hop musical that bears his name. It already has won a Pulitzer Prize and garnered a record 16 Tony award nominations.
And he is a hero of the people. When the Treasury Department hinted it was going to replace his picture on the $10 bill with that of a woman, there was an immediate outcry.
Hamilton was, after all, the first Secretary of the Treasury. He also is seen as a man of the people, a young immigrant whose talent and intellect brought him to the top.
Or course, he is a hero in Morristown, where his statue now stands next to Washington — whom he served as an aide — and Lafayette, on the Morristown Green. On Mills Street, an elementary school is named for Hamilton.
But there is a bit of a backlash. Critics note that if he was the genius behind the country’s economic system, he also was a heel to his nearest and dearest.
In fact, says ABC and NPR political correspondent Cokie Roberts in an op-ed piece in the New York Times, he was a “philandering liar,” a social climber and a poor role model to his eight children. Another Hamilton, she declared, should be on that $10 bill.
And Kat Long, in the Smithsonian magazine, said that the same Hamilton deserves a musical of her own.
That person: Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton.
She was Eliza to her husband, but to her friends and relatives in Morristown, she was Betsey – the young woman who came to visit relatives and was courted by Washington’s aide, Lt. Colonel Hamilton, in the house now known as the Schuyler- Hamilton House.
So what is Alexander Hamilton?
Hero?
There are those who say his contributions to the country outweigh his private failings.
Heel?
Others say that a self-admitted adulterer who left his family without resources does not deserve admiration.
What do you think?
A little of the backstory.
Elizabeth Schuyler was born in Albany, the second daughter of rich, prominent and powerful parents. Her father was Major General Philip Schuyler; her mother, Catherine van Rensselaer, a member of one of New York’s wealthiest families.
In the winter of 1780, when the Continental Army was wintering in Morristown, Betsey was invited to visit her father’s sister, who was married to Dr. John Copeland, who was assigned to Washington. The Copelands were living in the home of Dr. Jabez Campfield, a surgeon.
According to the Morristown Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, which today owns the Campbell house, Mrs. Copeland knew that her niece had met Hamilton the previous summer and been impressed. And he was was stationed at Washington’s headquarters, just a quarter of a mile away.
Hamilton, apparently, was equally impressed. By the end of April, they had an “understanding” and they were married in December at her family’s home.
His critics — including Cokie Roberts — claim that this marriage was the answer to Hamilton’s dreams, his wish to join the establishment. Elizabeth’s superior connections became his superior connections.
In time, Alexander went off to help shape the new nation’s financial philosophy – he was treasury secretary from 1791 to 1795. Elizabeth gave birth to eight children and ruled the household.
Eventually, they built an airy house they called The Grange in upper Manhattan. According to some biographers, Elizabeth also helped him draft speeches and gave him political support.
AN ACT OF INFIDELITY
Then came what is called “the Reynolds affair.”
In the summer of 1791, Alexander Hamilton received a visitor – Maria Reynolds, a 23-year-old blonde, who came to his Philadelphia home to ask for help. She said her husband, James Reynolds, had abandoned her. Hamilton, then 34, agreed to help her return to friends and family in New York. He arranged to visit her that evening with money for her journey.
When he arrived at the Reynolds home, Maria led him to an upstairs bedroom.
Hamilton and Maria Reynolds saw each other during the summer, while Elizabeth and the children were in Albany, and the fall of 1791—until James Reynolds came back.
Days later, Hamilton received a letter from Reynolds accusing him of destroying a happy home and proposed a solution: $1,000 up front. He also encouraged the affair, and made requests for more money along the way.
Then Reynolds was imprisoned for forgery and he asked Hamilton to help. Hamilton refused, and the angry Reynolds got word to Hamilton’s Republican rivals that he had information that could topple the Federalist official.
James Monroe with two Congressmen visited Reynolds in jail and his wife at their home and heard them label Hamilton a seducer and home wrecker. Reynolds also said that Hamilton was involved in his illegal financial schemes. The Republicans went to Hamilton for an exaltation, carrying letters Maria Reynolds said came from him, and came away convinced that adultery was his only sin.
But Monroe kept a copy of the letters and gave them to Hamilton’s adversary Thomas Jefferson (whose personal behavior was hardly praiseworthy).
Then in 1797, a Republican named James Callender heard of the letters – how is uncertain — and published a work called The History of the United States for 1796. He claimed Hamilton was involved in Reynolds’ speculation scheme and was “more licentious than any moral person could imagine.”
Hamilton, seemingly caught in a bind, responded by writing a confession of his affair – a confession he said that he could not make “without a blush.”
He told the whole story, from beginning to end, including the fact that he had brought the affair into his family home and had encouraged Elizabeth to remain in Albany so he could be free. He included the letters written by the hardly literate Maria Reynolds, which must have further rubbed salt into the wounds of the intelligent Elizabeth.
THE GOOD WIFE
Thus Hamilton stepped into the front of the long line of politicians who have publicly admitted cheating on their marriage vows. And Elizabeth became the model of a “good wife.”
Think here of Dina McGreevey, looking pole-axed, as her husband James announced he was a gay American and resigned as governor of New Jersey.
Or of Silda Spitzer, her face frozen, standing next to her husband Eliot as he admitted being a client of a prostitution service and resigning as governor of New York.
Both women eventually filed for divorce. Even Maria Reynolds divorced her blackmailing husband.( Her attorney was Aaron Burr.)
Elizabeth saw it differently. She mended fences, took Hamilton back and had two more children with him.
Not that the confession saved Hamilton’s career or his reputation. He blamed Monroe for leaking the letters (and Elizabeth was cool to Monroe ever after).
Nor was the affair the only damage he did to his family, according to his critics.
He was into dueling, apparently. He challenged Monroe, who refused. His oldest son also took up dueling – and was killed — three years before Hamilton’s fateful meeting with Burr.
Hamilton did not even tell Elizabeth of his planned duel , sending her a note that was to be delivered only if he lost. He died the day after the meeting, with her and their children at his side.
And he left her in the midst of tragedies. Her father died, her daughter had a mental breakdown, and the family was in severe financial straits. Elizabeth was virtually penniless, and friends tried to raise money to support her. She lost the family home and had to scrape together the money to re-purchase it.
She threw herself into charity work, helping to found the first private orphanage in New York and directing it for decades. She alsoworked tirelessly to restore and polish Alexander’s reputation. She collected his papers, which her son edited (they have become invaluable to historians and biographers), and insisted that he and not James Madison had written the final version of Washington’s Farewell Address.
Cokie Roberts says Elizabeth even tried to buy up all the copies of her husband’s published confession – which the publisher kept churning out knowing she would pay for them.
If living long is a reward, Elizabeth received it. She died at age 97.
But say, Roberts and Long, she has not been remembered as she should be.
For all she did for Alexander Hamilton, before and after his death, should she be on the $10 bill with her husband? Should there be a musical called Betsey?
Let us know what you think.
The Schuyler-Hamilton House is at 5 Olyphant St. Morristown and is open from 2 to 4 p.m. Sundays. Tours may arranged. For information, call 973-539-7502. The National Grange Hamilton Memorial in Manhattan is operated by the National Park Service.
Our founding fathers werent perfect, but perfect for the job!! Robert Begely captured just some of AH’s accomplishments:
–He became George Washington’s most able and trusted aid during the Revolutionary War. Hamilton joined the war at age eighteen. Two years later, General Washington, having observed his competence and leadership skills, promoted him to aide-de-camp. Washington entrusted Hamilton to attend high-level meetings and to help draft letters to governors, generals, and Congress. Later Hamilton issued orders on behalf of Washington. At Yorktown he commanded an infantry, eluded enemy fire, captured soldiers, and helped force the British to surrender.
–Hamilton wrote most of the Federalist Papers, which ensured ratification of the Constitution. Before it was ratified, the Constitution faced tremendous opposition. Hamilton’s essays—part of a series of newspaper articles outlining how the republican form of government would function—demonstrated the advantages of a central government with built-in checks to prevent abuses of power.
–Hamilton served as first Treasury Secretary and stabilized the economy. When George Washington became president, the economy was in shambles. Hamilton spearheaded the establishment of a gold-based dollar, ensured that the war debt was paid, and stated that, in justice, the purchasers (instead of the original holders) of war bonds would be paid their current value. This demonstrated that the federal government respected property rights and the sanctity of contract. A group of merchants admired Hamilton so much that they paid for a fifteen-foot marble statue of him—a statue that stood on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange before it was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1835.
–Hamilton helped shape Washington’s foreign policy based on American self-interest. In 1793, when England and France were once again at war, both nations demanded America’s support. Hamilton advised Washington on the Neutrality Proclamation, which declared that America would not become entangled in foreign affairs but would be friendly to both nations and impartial in their dispute. Hamilton advocated a paid military, founded the U.S. Coast Guard, and introduced a bill to establish West Point Military Academy.
–Hamilton opposed slavery. He grew up in the slave-based Caribbean and was disgusted with the brutality and rights violations he observed. He wanted slavery eradicated. Most people believe the abolition movement began in the 1830s, but in 1785 Hamilton formed the New York Manumission Society, an organization dedicated to abolishing slavery in New York and instrumental in doing so.
There is so much to comment on here so I will limit my thoughts to one topic, that he left is family without resources. Hamilton may have left his family without cash but he did not leave them empty handed. Just being a wife or child of Hamilton had value. Many friends, including the Society of the Cincinnati were there to lend a hand or a job or a military commission when needed. And Elizabeth, a Schuyler and did not rely on her family financially much during Hamilton’s life, she would not be forgotten by them afterward. Most of the boys were able to attend college and find wives with last names like Livingston, vanden Heuval, and McLane. One should also remember the early life of Alexander Hamilton; illegitimate, an orphan, and an immigrant. For someone, more disadvantaged than his children, he did okay. While not intentional, leaving his children in a slightly better position than his own, forced them to live an early life like his and at the ends of their lives none of them were wanting.
Can you imagine honoring every long-suffering, devoted wife in history? Even if you did, I’m not sure Elizabeth Schuyler would be the first in line, given how she was born white, wealthy, married a prominent–if not flawed–man, did great charitable work and lived to be 97. All in all, I’d say she had an excellent run. No, leave it for women like…oh, I don’t know…maybe Harriet Tubman who was born a slave with no money or rights and whose bravery helped free many slaves.