Here is our thread on Angelica Hamilton!

Angelica Hamilton was born to Eliza Schuyler (below) and Alexander Hamilton (below) in New York City on September 25, 1784. Their second child and first daughter, she was born about two years after her older brother, Philip.

Marquis de Lafayette (below) wrote Hamilton on Oct. 8th from Albany: "With all the warmth of my long and tender friendship I Congratulate You Upon the Birth of Your daughter, and Beg leave to present Mrs Hamilton With my most Affectionate Respects.”

Angelica Hamilton wasn’t baptized as an infant like her brother. She was baptized at Trinity Church (below) in Manhattan at the age of 4. Her sponsors were her grandparents, father, and Eliza's older sister, who Angelica was named after, Angelica Schuyler Church.

Few records of Angelica’s education have survived, but she was likely taught basic reading, writing, arithmetic, and catechism. She likely learned embroidery as a young girl, too.

In 1793, at the age of nine, Angelica and her three siblings were taken to Albany to escape the Yellow Fever their parents contracted in Philadelphia. Even after her siblings returned home, Angelica remained in Albany.

A letter from Hamilton to his daughter that November reveals why Angelica stayed behind: she was taking French lessons. That same year, her aunts, 17-year-old Cornelia & 12-year-old Caty (both below), were taking lessons with an Albany tutor.

It’s unknown if Angelica took lessons with them or from a family member, but in his letter, her father (below) implored her to "behave in such a manner as will secure to you the goodwill and regard of all those with whom you are.”

If Angelica upset anyone, he told her to apologize, but to "act with so much politeness, good manners, and circumspection as never to have an occasion to make an apology.” This advice suggests she was tutored with other girls and not by her family.

The next year, Angelica Church (below) wrote Eliza from London: "Why did you not send Angelica with Mr. Lear; a year or two would have been useful to her and have delighted my children…” Eliza’s letters do not survive, so it is unknown why her daughter didn’t go.

By the end of that year, Angelica Church promised "Angelica shall have the very best piano that can be made in London, by the person who made her sisters I mean her cousins” Angelica Hamilton likely took piano and possibly singing lessons.

Angelica loved to play the piano throughout her life. Her siblings remembered her playing it often. Sometimes her father accompanied her and they sang together. Pictured below is her piano––the piano her aunt sent from London, now at @HamiltonGrngNPS.

Angelica spent a lot of time with her grandparents. In August of 1797, Schuyler (below) wrote Eliza that "Angelica is a good and attentive child, pleases her Grandmama and me very much” In 1799, he begged Eliza to "send at least Angelica & JA [James Alexander]”

In 1801, Angelica suffered the losses of her aunt Peggy (below) and her older brother, Philip. Contrary to popular belief, Angelica did not have an irreversible breakdown. Instead, her reaction to her brother's death may have indicated the beginning of a mental illness.

As the popular story goes, Hamilton got Angelica birds to console her, but nothing proves they’re related to her mental health. He wrote a friend in Dec. of 1802 "My daughter adds another request, which is for three or four of your peroquets [sic]. She is very fond of birds.”

On March 7, 1803, Catharine van Rensselaer Schuyler (below), Philip Schuyler’s wife of nearly 50 years, died suddenly. The loss was devastating to Schuyler. In his time of sorrow and need, he leaned on his beloved granddaughter.

In July of 1803, he wrote to Eliza: Angelica’s "endearing and unremitted attention hence sank deep into my heart, there and the amusement she afforded me has relieved many a painful moment and blunted the edge of reflection which in defiance of effort still arises.”

In July of 1804, Angelica’s father was killed dueling Aaron Burr. She, her younger siblings, and their mother went to Albany at Schuyler’s request. Sadly, when they left Schuyler Mansion, they would never see Philip Schuyler again. He died just a few months later.

Post-1804, there are references to Angelica traveling to visit family. At an undated time (likely the 1820s-30s), Angelica wrote to her traveling mom requesting different types of fabrics. Angelica’s letters have not survived, but Eliza’s have.

Eliza wrote that it was her "delight to give” Angelica "pleasure” and that she could have any fabric she desired (in this case, silk and velvet). Angelica lived with her family until at least the late 1830s.

Angelica's health seems to have deteriorated as time went on. When Eliza (below) traveled out west to visit her son William, she wrote her children at home multiple times asking after Angelica. Angelica was likely living with her youngest brother, Philip, at the time.

By the time Eliza moved to Washington D.C. in her 90s, Angelica was placed at Sandford Hall, an institution run by Dr. MacDonald. After their mother's death, Angelica’s younger sister Eliza wrote to her aunt Caty that the doctor gave her occasional reports on Angelica’s health.

Angelica’s siblings remembered her as an "eternal child” after their brother’s death, but the primary sources show otherwise. Angelica seemed to have periods of health and of illness, which could indicate that she had some form of a mental illness.

She died on February 6, 1857 at 72. She's buried at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Westchester, NY.

Her story is perhaps the most mistold out of her siblings. We hope this thread gives you an idea of her real story and who she really was.

If you have questions, leave them below!

SOURCES
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-03-02-0385
https://registers.trinitywallstreet.org/files/history/registers/display_detail.php?id=2675&sacr=baptism
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-15-02-0384
https://www.loc.gov/resource/mss24612.029_0641_0701/?sp=18
https://www.loc.gov/resource/mss24612.029_0641_0701/?sp=33 https://www.loc.gov/resource/mss24612a.04408/?sp=16

SOURCES (continued)

https://www.loc.gov/resource/mss24612a.04408/?sp=34
https://www.loc.gov/resource/mss24612a.04408/?sp=43
https://www.loc.gov/resource/mss24612a.04409/?sp=18
https://www.loc.gov/resource/mss24612a.04407/?sp=44
https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Letter_from_Alexander_Hamilton_to_Charles_Cotesworth_Pinckney_December_29_1802
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/117445502758131627/
Hamilton Papers; Columbia University
Private Collections
https://www.qchron.com/qboro/i_have_often_walked/the-former-sanford-hall-mental-institution-in-flushing/article_f286e312-d03b-5616-b10a-ab509d65a75c.html
HAMILTON by Ron Chernow