My Dear Hamilton

Elizabeth Schuyler (called Eliza or Betsy) was born in Albany, New York, in 1757 to Phillip Schuyler and Catherine Van Rensselaer, both members of prominent Dutch families. Eliza grew up with relative privilege in Albany where her family owned enslaved people. Due to her father’s position, Eliza met many prominent figures of the American Revolution such as Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and others. She also had relationships with members of the Iroquois Nation, whom she met when accompanying her father to a meeting of the Six Nations. Around 1780, Eliza visited her uncle, the personal physician to Washington, and met Martha Washington—who would become a good friend and mentor—and the general’s aide-de-camp, Alexander Hamilton. The two quickly fell in love and talked of eloping, but the couple married at the Schuylers’ manor on December 14, 1780.

Eliza is known for her relationship with Hamilton and standing by him after his infidelity became public. While much is known about her husband due to his extensive personal and public writing, few first-hand accounts of Eliza exist. She was a dedicated philanthropist and founded the Orphan Asylum Society, which established the first private orphanages in Manhattan. After her husband’s death, she worked to uphold his legacy and advocated for the government to buy and preserve his writings. She died at the age of 97 and is often considered one of America’s “founding mothers” for her contributions to the Revolution. Ron Chernow’s 2004 biography of Alexander Hamilton emphasizes Eliza’s role in preserving her husband’s work and legacy, a sentiment that was echoed in the blockbuster musical Hamilton (2015) in which Eliza is featured as a main character. At the time of the publication of My Dear Hamilton in 2018, there was no complete biography of Eliza.