Alexander Hamilton (general)

Alexander Hamilton (November 15, 1815 – December 10, 1907) was a major general in the New York State Militia during the American Civil War, and was the oldest grandson of Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury of the United States.[1][2]

Alexander Hamilton
Major General Alexander Hamilton
Personal details
Born	Alexander Hamilton November 15, 1815 New York City
Died	December 10, 1907 (aged 92) Tarrytown, New York
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Smith Nicoll ​ ​ (m. 1842; died 1873)​ Sarah Elizabeth Bodine ​ ​ (m. 1878; died 1901)​
Children	Alexander Henry James Marie John
Parents	John Church Hamilton Maria Eliza van den Heuvel
Relatives	See Hamilton family
Alma mater	Columbia College
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	New York State Militia
Rank	Major general
Battles/wars	American Civil War

Early life and education

Hamilton was born on November 15, 1815. He was the eldest of fourteen children born to John Church Hamilton (1792–1882) and Maria Eliza van den Heuvel Hamilton (1795–1873).[3] Hamilton had 13 younger siblings,[3] Maria Williamson (1817–1822), Charlotte Augusta (1818–1896), John Cornelius Adrian (1820–1879), Schuyler (1822–1903), James (1824–1825), Maria Eliza (1825–1887), Charles Apthorp (1826–1901), Robert P. (1828–1891), Adelaide (1830–1915), Elizabeth (1831–1884), William Gaston (1832–1913), Laurens (1834–1858), and Alice (1838–1905).[3]

His paternal grandparents were Alexander Hamilton, a Founding Father of the United States, and Elizabeth Schuyler. His maternal grandfather was Baron John Cornelius van den Heuvel, the one-time governor of Dutch Guiana.[4]

He graduated from Columbia College, and at a "very early age he had the management of a large amount of real estate for the family and others."[3]

Career

Hamilton joined the 11th Regiment of the New York Artillery, where he became a second lieutenant. When the Civil War broke out, he became the aide-de-camp to Major General Charles W. Sandford, and took part in active campaigns in Virginia.[5][6]

He was promoted to Major General in the New York Militia for his use of a gas balloon constructed by Thaddeus S. C. Lowe for military observation during the war.[1] He later reported directly to President Abraham Lincoln. He was placed in charge of troops during the New York Draft Riots in 1863.[1]

He was the author of a life of Oliver Cromwell, and a book of poetry.[3][5] His book Dramas and Poems was published in 1887.[7] For his literary work, he added his mother's surname to his own in order to distinguish himself from his similarly named relatives, publishing under the name Alexander Hamilton, of "Heuvel".[7]

Personal life

He was cited as "remarkable for his cultured mind, speaking a number of languages," and as a "mathematician and penman."[3] He was a Republican, and attended an Episcopal church. In 1890 he was elected a member of the New York Society of the Cincinnati, by virtue of descent from his grandfather Alexander Hamilton.

In 1842, Hamilton married Elizabeth Smith Nicoll (1819–1873), a daughter of Henry Woodhull Nicoll. Elizabeth's sister, Mary Louisa Nicoll, was the wife of Gen. Henry Constantine Wayne.[8] Together, they were the parents of five children, three of whom survived to adulthood:[3]

• Rev. Alexander Hamilton (1847–1928), who married Adele Walton Livermore.[8]
• Henry Nicoll Hamilton (1849–1914), who married Mary Amelia Fish.[8]
• James Bowdoin Hamilton (1852–1853), who died in infancy.[8]
• Marie Elizabeth Hamilton (1855–1897), who married Francis Henderson of Virginia.[8]
• John Church Hamilton (1859–1865), who died in childhood.[8]

His second marriage, in 1878, was to Sarah Elizabeth Bodine.[3] In 1893, he was brought to court to prove his sanity, after threatening to kill his second wife.[9][10]

Hamilton died of influenza on December 10, 1907, at his home in Tarrytown, New York.[1][5]

References

1. "Gen. Hamilton Dead. Grandson Of Washington's Aid Succumbs To Grip In Old Age". The New York Times. December 11, 1907. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
2. Marquis, Albert Nelson, ed. (1909). "Alexander Hamilton". Who's Who in America. 5. Chicago: A. N. Marquis & Company. p. 802.
3. Reynolds, Cuyler; Cutter, William Richard (1914). "(II) John Church Hamilton". Genealogical and Family History of Southern New York and the Hudson River Valley: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Building of a Nation. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. pp. 1384–1390. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
4. "GEN. SCHUYLER HAMILTON DEAD; | Grandson of Alexander Hamilton, Who Distinguished Himself in the Mexican and Civil Wars". The New York Times. March 19, 1903. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
5. "Obituary Notes – General Alexander Hamilton". The Publishers' Weekly. R. R. Bowker Company. 72 (1872): 1938. December 14, 1907.
6. Butler, Benjamin Franklin (1917). Private and Official Correspondence of Gen. Benjamin F. Butler: During the Period of the Civil War, Vol. 3 (February 1863 – March 1864). Plimpton Press. pp. 208–209 – via Google Books.
7. Hamilton, Alexander, of "Heuvel" (1887). Dramas and Poems. Dick & Fitzgerald – via Internet Archive.
8. Woodhull Genealogy: The Woodhull Family in England and America. H.T. Coates. 1904. p. 99. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
9. "Is Gen. Hamilton Insane". The New York Times. August 11, 1893. Retrieved June 4, 2010. A Legal Inquiry Caused By His Second Wife. Alleged To Be Under The Influence of a Mrs. Freeman In This City. He Is A Grandson of the Famous Alexander Hamilton, an Uncle Of Robert Ray, And Was Distinguished, In The Civil War. Said To Have Threatened Repeatedly To Take His Wife's Life. See also OCR text at Newspapers.com.
10. "General Hamilton Speaks Out. He Will Account for Himself at Any Time Before a Proper Tribunal". The New York Times. August 16, 1893. Retrieved June 3, 2010. Gen. Alexander Hamilton, when seen to-night at the home of his son, the Rev. Alexander Hamilton, rector of Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Lyons Plains, town of Weston, six miles from here, was willing to express himself freely and fully in regard to the stories told in the press about him.