Peter Schuyler / Elizabeth Schuyler

Elizabeth Schuyler

   

Pieter Schuyler

Very often, we speak kindly of the dead, even if we would rather do otherwise. Although in the case of Alexander Hamilton, we fear not many will give him that courtesy. He courted powerful men and despised many that he considered inferior to him. He made scores of enemies and few friends. Perhaps history will speak kindly of this man.

Peter Schuyler:  I am truly at a loss to tell you what went wrong. I suspected that Alexander was troubled for many years. In the beginning, he courted me because I was one of the main landowners in the Hudson Valley and although he had risen under George Washington, he did not have much of a financial base.

Elizabeth Schuyler: But Father, we knew that from the very beginning. We knew that he spent more money than he had. But Alex had always been a charmer. I would often tease him by saying he could convince a spotted owl that it was an eagle. He certainly convinced Washington that he should be put in charge of the nation’s finances despite the fact the he was always in debt himself.

Schuyler: Yes, we were all captivated by him but I was so surprised that he had so many people believing he was a scoundrel. I found that he was never very relaxed among our friends. We welcomed him very willingly into our family because you would not have had it any other way. You were indeed smitten by him.

Elizabeth: Yes, I was taken by him instantly and you know, Father that I was not as outgoing as Angelica and had little experience with men. General Washington saw fit to bring Alex on as his aide de camp and you as major general had no objections. Besides, Alex was so handsome. I could see the envy in the eyes of all the women when he took me for his bride.

Schuyler: It was this very success with women that caused you so much grief over the years. You my dear Eliza never said a word against him. And you never mentioned how your sister Angelica and Alex had eyes for each other. You loved the man he was and what he was brought him to an early death. As far as I’m concerned personally, he did provide me with a seat in the senate which I found very enlightening. I would have enjoyed returning to the senate for a second term but that was not to be.

Elizabeth: The man who became my husband, and gave me adoring children and joy each day did not have an easy start in life. When I heard people speak unkindly of Alex, I would cringe in horror. When I heard the word bastard describing his origins, I wanted to weep. Nevis, where he was born, was a backwater of the West Indies and a dreadful place for a boy to grow up in the poverty and grime of the streets. This man, through arduous work and skill rose to become the secretary of finance for America and head of the Federalist Party. Not only did he become a colonel but was promoted to general. And all this he achieved before his forty-ninth birthday—his age when he died.

Schuyler: He did not just die. He let his life run out. The power he had enjoyed for many years ended with the demise of the federalist faction. His influence in government came to an end. He lost his son in a senseless duel that might have been avoided. His few friends had deserted him and his enemies had grown in number. A man without a future must let his life run out.

After her husband’s death, Elizabeth continued to support the belief that Hamilton had authored George Washington’s farewell address and that Hamilton’s death strengthened his legacy and the political views he had espoused.