Alexander Hamilton

On December 14, 1780, Alexander Hamilton married Elizabeth Schuyler, the daughter of Revolutionary War general, Philip Schuyler. They enjoyed a very close relationship, and had eight children; Philip, Angelica, Alexander, James, John, William, Eliza and Philip.

In the summer of 1791, Hamilton met Maria Reynolds, married to some James Reynolds. Eventually the two began an illicit affair that lasted until June 1792. The incident did not have any impact upon his marriage; but many believe it robbed him his chance to become the next US President.

On June 27, 1804, Hamilton was challenged in a duel by Aaron Burr, who felt the other man had insulted him. After a series of attempts to reconcile failed Hamilton decided to accept the offer, but throw away the shots.

Alexander Hamilton was born out of wedlock in Charlestown, the capital of the island of Nevis, in British West Indies. His father, James Hamilton, was a Scottish trader and his mother, Rachel Fawcett Lavien, was a married woman of British and French Huguenot descent.

There is an ambiguity about the year of Alexander’s birth. Although he himself listed his birthday as January 11, 1757 a probate paper drafted after his mother’s death in 1768, listed him as 13 years old, making 1755 the year of his birth.

Younger of his parents two sons; he had an elder brother called James Hamilton. He also had a half brother called Peter, born out of his mother’s marriage to John Michael Lavien.

In 1765, as Alexander turned eleven, the family moved to St. Croix. Very soon their father abandoned the family, ostensibly to save Rachel from a charge of bigamy. Living in the lowest rung of white society, Rachel began to run a store in Christiansted while Alexander took up a job.

By then, Lavien had posted a public summon for her to appear before a divorce court. In it, he declared her a whore who had given birth to illegitimate children. It made them subject of malicious gossips and made life all the more difficult.

Soon after Rachel’s death, Alexander Hamilton found home with Thomas Stevens, a merchant. According to many, Stevens might have been Hamilton’s biological father because Hamilton had a striking resemblance with Stevenson’s son, Edward. That only Alexander was given a home, not James, could be another reason for this assumption.

Sometime now, Alexander found employment with Beekman and Cruger, an import-export firm owned by a New Yorker called Nicholas Cruger, while his brother, James, became an apprentice with a local carpenter. Eventually the two brothers separated and never met again.

Cruger instantly took a liking to young Hamilton and began to give him instruction in global finance. Very soon, the young boy was inspecting cargoes, preparing bills of lading and advising captains. As the company also dealt in slaves, he also came in contact with the darker side of life.

After work, Hamilton spent his time reading in the library of Reverend Hugh Knox, gaining extensive knowledge in literature, history and science. Concurrently, he also started publishing an occasional poem in the local paper. In 1772, he impressed his readers with a vivid account of the hurricane.

In October 1772, Cruger and Knox pulled in their resources to send young Hamilton to Elizabethtown, New Jersey. Here, living with William Livingston, at that time a leading intellectual, he enrolled at Elizabethtown Academy and concentrated on filling the gaps in his education.

In 1773, Hamilton was sent to New York City, where he enrolled at King’s College to study medicine as a private student, officially matriculating in May 1774. Although his mentors had hoped that he would return to St. Croix to set up his own practice it was not to be.

In September 1774, as the First Continental Congress was being held in Philadelphia, Hamilton began to take interest in its proceeding. Very soon he started supporting the Patriots against the Loyalists, convinced that they had valid grudges against England.

In December 1774, 17 year old Hamilton wrote his first published article in support of the Patriots’ cause against Samuel Seabury’s pamphlets supporting the Loyalist view points. Entitled ‘A Full Vindication of the Measures of Congress’, it consisted of 35 pages.

His second article, ‘The Farmer Refuted’ was published in February 1775. He also wrote two articles attacking Quebec Act of 1774. Fifteen installments of ‘The Monitor’, published anonymously in New York Journal might have also been written by him.