Alexander Hamilton on Peggy’s Death, 1801
Woman mourning by tomb/ lith. of D.W. Kellogg & Co. (Library of Congress)
In 1801, Alexander Hamilton was in Albany, New York, on business. He extended his stay because his sister-in-law Peggy, who had been sick for two years, was very ill. On March 16 he wrote to his wife, Eliza, with the heartbreaking news that her sister had died.
A Letter from Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, March 16, 1801
[Albany, March 16, 1801]
On Saturday, My Dear Eliza, your sister took leave of her sufferings and friends, I trust, to find repose and happiness in a better country.
Viewing all that she had endured for so long a time, I could not but feel a relief in the termination of the scene. She was sensible to the last and resigned to the important change.
Your father and mother are now calm. All is as well as it can be; except the dreadful ceremonies which custom seems to have imposed as indispensable in this place, and which at every instant open anew the closing wounds of bleeding hearts. Tomorrow the funeral takes place. The day after I hope to set sail for N York.
I long to come to console and comfort you my darling Betsey. Adieu my sweet angel. Remember the duty of Christian Resignation.
Ever Yrs
A H
Source: Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, [March 16, 1801], Founders Online, National Archives. Original source: The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, vol. 25, July 1800 – April 1802, ed. Harold C. Syrett. New York: Columbia University Press, 1977, pp. 348–349.
A Letter from Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, March 16, 1801
[Albany, March 16, 1801]
On Saturday, My Dear Eliza, your sister took leave of her sufferings and friends, I trust, to find repose and happiness in a better country.
Viewing all that she had endured for so long a time, I could not but feel a relief in the termination of the scene. She was sensible to the last and resigned to the important change.
Your father and mother are now calm. All is as well as it can be; except the dreadful ceremonies which custom seems to have imposed as indispensable in this place, and which at every instant open anew the closing wounds of bleeding hearts. Tomorrow the funeral takes place. The day after I hope to set sail for N York.
I long to come to console and comfort you my darling Betsey. Adieu my sweet angel. Remember the duty of Christian Resignation.
Ever Yrs
A H
Source: Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, [March 16, 1801], Founders Online, National Archives. Original source: The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, vol. 25, July 1800 – April 1802, ed. Harold C. Syrett. New York: Columbia University Press, 1977, pp. 348–349.
Background
In 1801, Alexander Hamilton was in Albany, New York, on business. He extended his stay because his sister-in-law Peggy, who had been sick for two years, was very ill. On March 16 he wrote to his wife, Eliza, with the heartbreaking news that her sister had died.
Transcript
A Letter from Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, March 16, 1801
[Albany, March 16, 1801]
On Saturday, My Dear Eliza, your sister took leave of her sufferings and friends, I trust, to find repose and happiness in a better country.
Viewing all that she had endured for so long a time, I could not but feel a relief in the termination of the scene. She was sensible to the last and resigned to the important change.
Your father and mother are now calm. All is as well as it can be; except the dreadful ceremonies which custom seems to have imposed as indispensable in this place, and which at every instant open anew the closing wounds of bleeding hearts. Tomorrow the funeral takes place. The day after I hope to set sail for N York.
I long to come to console and comfort you my darling Betsey. Adieu my sweet angel. Remember the duty of Christian Resignation.
Ever Yrs
A H
Source: Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, [March 16, 1801], Founders Online, National Archives. Original source: The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, vol. 25, July 1800 – April 1802, ed. Harold C. Syrett. New York: Columbia University Press, 1977, pp. 348–349.
Excerpt
A Letter from Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, March 16, 1801
[Albany, March 16, 1801]
On Saturday, My Dear Eliza, your sister took leave of her sufferings and friends, I trust, to find repose and happiness in a better country.
Viewing all that she had endured for so long a time, I could not but feel a relief in the termination of the scene. She was sensible to the last and resigned to the important change.
Your father and mother are now calm. All is as well as it can be; except the dreadful ceremonies which custom seems to have imposed as indispensable in this place, and which at every instant open anew the closing wounds of bleeding hearts. Tomorrow the funeral takes place. The day after I hope to set sail for N York.
I long to come to console and comfort you my darling Betsey. Adieu my sweet angel. Remember the duty of Christian Resignation.
Ever Yrs
A H
Source: Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, [March 16, 1801], Founders Online, National Archives. Original source: The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, vol. 25, July 1800 – April 1802, ed. Harold C. Syrett. New York: Columbia University Press, 1977, pp. 348–349.
