1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:03,640 Speaker 1: All right. Imagine a famous spouse with a big personality 2 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:07,080 Speaker 1: who hooks up with your sister, then cheats on you 3 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:10,920 Speaker 1: really publicly with somebody else, spends a huge amount of 4 00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:13,680 Speaker 1: time away from home, and finally gets shot and killed 5 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:17,720 Speaker 1: by arrival Alexander Hamilton. Right, but what about his wife? 6 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:22,360 Speaker 1: I'm Patti Steele. Eliza's life after the most famous duel. 7 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:31,400 Speaker 1: That's next on the backstory. The backstory is back. Can 8 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:34,479 Speaker 1: you imagine being married to a really famous person with 9 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:39,160 Speaker 1: like this fiery, impulsive but very witty personality, while your 10 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:43,280 Speaker 1: gentle calm always putting other people first. It sounds like 11 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:46,080 Speaker 1: a recipe for a tough relationship, right at least for 12 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:49,720 Speaker 1: the quieter spouse. That was the marriage of Alexander and 13 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:53,000 Speaker 1: Eliza Hamilton, and life with him during their twenty four 14 00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 1: year marriage was I don't know anything but relaxed. In 15 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:00,400 Speaker 1: those twenty four years when he wasn't constantly away. There 16 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:05,000 Speaker 1: were eight children, many political battles, Hamilton's affairs, including one 17 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:08,200 Speaker 1: with her sister, another with a woman who blackmailed and 18 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:11,959 Speaker 1: publicly humiliated him, the death in a duel of their 19 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:15,640 Speaker 1: oldest son, who was just defending his dad's honor. The 20 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:19,600 Speaker 1: mental illness of their oldest daughter, and finally the infamous 21 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:23,520 Speaker 1: death of Alexander Hamilton and yet another duel in eighteen 22 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:27,520 Speaker 1: oh four. Whew, what a life. But here's what's great 23 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:31,560 Speaker 1: about Eliza. Some people managed to make the challenges in 24 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 1: life into opportunities to blossom, and she defined that approach 25 00:01:36,319 --> 00:01:40,000 Speaker 1: to life. Eliza was born in seventeen fifty seven to 26 00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:44,400 Speaker 1: a really prominent family. Her dad, Philip Schuyler, was a politician, 27 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:48,240 Speaker 1: a general in the Continental Army, and a wealthy businessman. 28 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:53,080 Speaker 1: Her mother, Catherine, a socialite. They had fifteen children, eight 29 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:57,040 Speaker 1: of whom survived into adulthood. Now, on the other hand, 30 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:00,840 Speaker 1: Eliza fell in love with Alexander Hamilton, who was born 31 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:03,640 Speaker 1: out of wedlock in seventeen fifty five to a poor 32 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:06,920 Speaker 1: mother and a father who abandoned the family on an 33 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:10,400 Speaker 1: island in the British West Indies. When he was thirteen, 34 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:13,800 Speaker 1: his mother died, leaving him and his brother orphaned. But 35 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:16,799 Speaker 1: he was a smart and ambitious guy. Made his way 36 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:20,680 Speaker 1: to America, where he went to college. Eventually, Hamilton became 37 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 1: an aide to George Washington, becoming like a son to him, 38 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:28,320 Speaker 1: and that is how he met Eliza while Washington was 39 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:31,480 Speaker 1: meeting with her father. Hamilton knew as she was a 40 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:35,240 Speaker 1: catch for him with a wealthy, powerful father, and he 41 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:38,920 Speaker 1: went after her intensely, writing to her, I meet you 42 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:42,440 Speaker 1: in every dream, and when I wake, I cannot close 43 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:46,840 Speaker 1: my eyes for ruminating on your sweetness. But he also 44 00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:50,440 Speaker 1: wrote about her to a pal, sounding a little less passionate, saying, 45 00:02:50,919 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: though not a genius, she has good sense enough to 46 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:56,520 Speaker 1: be agreeable, and though not a beauty, she has fine 47 00:02:56,560 --> 00:02:59,960 Speaker 1: black eyes, is rather handsome, and has every other requie 48 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:04,279 Speaker 1: of the exterior to make a lover happy way more practical. 49 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:08,880 Speaker 1: In seventeen eighty, Eliza married Hamilton at her family's mansion, 50 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:13,519 Speaker 1: but she had an older sister, Angelica, who was beautiful 51 00:03:13,639 --> 00:03:16,920 Speaker 1: and charming and smart, and despite being married to a 52 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 1: powerful guy herself, she had a whole bunch of flirtations 53 00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 1: and maybe more with other powerful men, including Thomas Jefferson, 54 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:29,679 Speaker 1: the Marquis de Lafayette, and her brother in law Alexander Hamilton. 55 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:33,959 Speaker 1: In one letter, Angelica even told Elizabeth that she loved 56 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:37,520 Speaker 1: Alexander very much, and if you were as generous as 57 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:40,120 Speaker 1: the old Romans, you would lend him to me for 58 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:44,000 Speaker 1: a little while. Wow. I wonder how Eliza felt about that. 59 00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:47,520 Speaker 1: Most historians do agree that the pair had an affair, 60 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 1: but Hamilton had other affairs as well, and one of 61 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 1: them was humiliating, both personally and publicly. In seventeen ninety seven, 62 00:03:56,960 --> 00:04:01,640 Speaker 1: Hamilton became the first major American politician publicly involved in 63 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:06,000 Speaker 1: a sex scandal. Six years before, Hamilton had had an 64 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,120 Speaker 1: affair with twenty three year old Maria Reynolds while he 65 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:12,760 Speaker 1: was living alone in Philadelphia as Secretary of the Treasury. 66 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:16,400 Speaker 1: She came to his house claiming her husband was abusive 67 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:19,240 Speaker 1: and had abandoned her, and she wanted to go home 68 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:21,359 Speaker 1: to her family in New York, but she didn't have 69 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:25,359 Speaker 1: any money. Hamilton delivered thirty dollars to her boarding house, 70 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:29,000 Speaker 1: and while he was there, she took him into her bedroom, and, 71 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:32,839 Speaker 1: as he put it, some conversation ensued, from which it 72 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 1: was quickly apparent that other than financial consolation would be acceptable. 73 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:41,800 Speaker 1: I'll bet turns out Maria's husband, who had not abandoned her, 74 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:45,840 Speaker 1: knew about the affair and actually was probably orchestrating it 75 00:04:45,839 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 1: from the beginning. At first, he threatened to tell Eliza 76 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:53,560 Speaker 1: Hamilton what was going on, unless Alexander gave him a 77 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:57,239 Speaker 1: thousand bucks, which Hamilton then handed over. But he also 78 00:04:57,320 --> 00:05:00,680 Speaker 1: told Hamilton he could keep seeing his wife, which he did, 79 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:04,040 Speaker 1: and soon there were demands for more money, which Hamilton 80 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:07,640 Speaker 1: gave them. Well. The affair ended after a year or so, 81 00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:11,160 Speaker 1: but six years later Reynolds was caught in an illegal 82 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:14,680 Speaker 1: scheme to make money from the government. He claimed Hamilton 83 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:18,559 Speaker 1: was part of that scheme. So Hamilton decides the best 84 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:20,719 Speaker 1: way out is to write a tell all about the 85 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:24,120 Speaker 1: sexual affair and also make it clear he has nothing 86 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:27,479 Speaker 1: to do with the illegal money making affair. In the 87 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:30,719 Speaker 1: pamphlet he put out, he wrote, the bare perusal of 88 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:33,520 Speaker 1: the letters from Reynolds and his wife is sufficient to 89 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:36,719 Speaker 1: convince my greatest enemy that there's nothing worse than the 90 00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:42,480 Speaker 1: affair than my irregular and indelicate amour. Wow, smooth talker, 91 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:46,160 Speaker 1: and guess what. It worked. But the affair did put 92 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:49,760 Speaker 1: an end to any further political dreams for Hamilton. Obviously 93 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:54,960 Speaker 1: no criminal charges, and it humiliated Eliza. The press attacked 94 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:58,760 Speaker 1: her as well, saying, art thou a wife see him 95 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:02,040 Speaker 1: whom thou hast chown for the partner of this life? 96 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:05,839 Speaker 1: Lolling in the lap of a Harlot. Wow, not too 97 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:09,159 Speaker 1: painful for her, right, You'd think this was enough upset 98 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:12,120 Speaker 1: for one lifetime. But then in eighteen oh one, the 99 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:16,599 Speaker 1: Hamilton's oldest son, Philip, then only nineteen, heard a speech 100 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:20,200 Speaker 1: by a guy who claimed his dad, Alexander Hamilton, would 101 00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:23,839 Speaker 1: try to overthrow President Thomas Jefferson. So he felt the 102 00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:27,039 Speaker 1: need to defend his dad's honor and challenge the guy 103 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:30,159 Speaker 1: to a duel. Fair to say, it didn't end well. 104 00:06:30,279 --> 00:06:34,599 Speaker 1: Young Philip was shot and killed. Then Philip's death caused 105 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:37,720 Speaker 1: his seventeen year old sister to have a mental breakdown, 106 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:41,760 Speaker 1: from which she never recovered. Finally, we get to Hamilton's 107 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:45,640 Speaker 1: duel with then Vice President Aaron Burr. The political enemies 108 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:48,120 Speaker 1: met on the shores of the Hudson River and Weehawk 109 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:51,760 Speaker 1: in New Jersey on July eleventh, eighteen oh four. Shots 110 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 1: were fired, Hamilton fell and was taken to a friend's 111 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:57,760 Speaker 1: home in Greenwich Village, where he died the next day. 112 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:01,080 Speaker 1: He was forty eight years old. So at forty six, 113 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:04,680 Speaker 1: Eliza was a widow with seven surviving children, and in 114 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:08,200 Speaker 1: the previous three years she had lost her husband, her son, 115 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:11,600 Speaker 1: her mother, and father and her sister. But here's the thing. 116 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:16,440 Speaker 1: She truly blossomed into her own being after Alexander's death. 117 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:20,920 Speaker 1: She was a fabulous woman for another fifty years. First, 118 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:25,720 Speaker 1: and foremost, she spent those years totally resurrecting her husband's reputation, 119 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:29,840 Speaker 1: finding a biographer to tell his story, organizing his papers, 120 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:33,720 Speaker 1: speaking about him, virtually assigning him a place as a 121 00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:37,560 Speaker 1: Founding father. She also helped found New York's first private 122 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 1: orphanage in eighteen oh six and worked there for almost 123 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:44,400 Speaker 1: forty years, taking care of more than seven hundred children. 124 00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:47,800 Speaker 1: She raised her own children and maintained the family home 125 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:51,640 Speaker 1: in Upper Manhattan, which is now an historic site, and 126 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:54,600 Speaker 1: she did it with very little money. Her husband left 127 00:07:54,600 --> 00:07:56,800 Speaker 1: her in debt and she wasn't left much money by 128 00:07:56,800 --> 00:08:00,400 Speaker 1: her father. Finally, she moved to Washington, d C. In 129 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:03,440 Speaker 1: eighteen forty eight and worked to raise money to build 130 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:06,480 Speaker 1: the Washington Monument, and she was in demand as a 131 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:08,960 Speaker 1: dinner guest at the White House and all over DC. 132 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:12,760 Speaker 1: Because of her ties to Colonial America, the Founding Fathers, 133 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:18,360 Speaker 1: and her vivid storytelling. Eliza Hamilton led a strong, fascinating 134 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:22,200 Speaker 1: life that allowed her to continue to blossom until She 135 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:25,640 Speaker 1: finally died in eighteen fifty four at the age of 136 00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:36,960 Speaker 1: ninety seven. I hope you like the Backstory with Patty Steele. 137 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:40,440 Speaker 1: I would love it if you'd subscribe or follow for 138 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:44,240 Speaker 1: free to get new episodes delivered to you automatically, and 139 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:46,080 Speaker 1: feel free to DM me too if you have a 140 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:48,760 Speaker 1: story you'd like me to cover. On Facebook, It's Patty 141 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:54,520 Speaker 1: Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. 142 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:58,640 Speaker 1: The Backstory is a production of iHeartMedia, Premier Networks, the 143 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:02,560 Speaker 1: Elvis Duran Group, and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is 144 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:06,360 Speaker 1: Doug Fraser. Our writer Jake Kushner. We have new episodes 145 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:09,440 Speaker 1: every Tuesday and Friday. Feel free to reach out to 146 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:13,199 Speaker 1: me with comments and even story suggestions on Instagram at 147 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:16,760 Speaker 1: Real Patty Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks 148 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:19,920 Speaker 1: for listening to the Backstory with Patty Steele. The pieces 149 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:22,440 Speaker 1: of history you didn't know you needed to know.