The Schuyler Sisters and Their Role in the American Revolution

Angelica Schuyler Church

The eldest of the Schuyler children, Angelica (February 20, 1756–March 13, 1814) was born and raised in Albany, New York. Thanks to her father’s political influence and his position as a general in the Continental Army, the Schuyler family home was often a site of political intrigue. Meetings and councils were held there, and Angelica and her siblings came into regular contact with well-known figures of the time, like John Barker Church, a member of the British Parliament who frequented Schuyler's war councils.

Church made himself a sizable fortune during the Revolutionary War by selling supplies to the French and Continental armies—making him persona non grata in his home country of England. Church managed to issue a number of financial credits to banks and shipping companies in the fledgling United States, and after the war, the U.S. Treasury Department was unable to pay him back in cash. Instead, it offered him a 100,000-acre tract of land in western New York State.

Elopement

In 1777, when she was 21, Angelica eloped with John Church. Although her reasons for this are not documented, some historians have assumed it was because her father may not have approved the match, given Church’s sketchy wartime activities. By 1783, Church had been appointed as an envoy to the French government, and so he and Angelica relocated to Europe, where they lived for almost 15 years. During their time in Paris, Angelica formed friendships with Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, the Marquis de Lafayette, and painter John Trumbull. In 1785, the Churches moved to London, where Angelica found herself welcomed into the social circle of the royal family and became a friend of William Pitt the Younger. As the daughter of Gen. Schuyler, she was invited to attend George Washington’s inauguration in 1789, which meant a lengthy trip across the sea at the time.

In 1797, the Churches returned to New York and settled on the land they owned in the western part of the state. Their son Philip laid out a town and named it for his mother. Angelica, New York, which you can still visit today, maintains the original layout set up by Philip Church.

Prolific Letter Writer

Angelica, like many educated women of her time, was a prolific correspondent and wrote extensive letters to many of the men involved in the fight for independence. Her writings to Jefferson, Franklin, and her brother-in-law Hamilton reveal that she was not just charming but also politically savvy, sharply witty, and aware of her own status as a woman in a male-dominated world. The letters—particularly those written by Hamilton and Jefferson in reply to Angelica's missives—show that those who knew her greatly respected her opinions and ideas.

Although Angelica had a mutually affectionate relationship with Hamilton, there is no evidence to suggest that their connection was inappropriate. Naturally flirtatious, there are several instances in her writing that could be misconstrued by modern readers, and in the musical "Hamilton," Angelica is portrayed as secretly longing for the brother-in-law she loves. However, it is unlikely that this was the case. Instead, Angelica and Hamilton probably had a deep friendship for one another, as well as a mutual love for her sister, Hamilton’s wife Eliza.

Angelica Schuyler Church died in 1814 and is buried at Trinity Churchyard in lower Manhattan, near Hamilton and Eliza.

Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton

Elizabeth “Eliza” Schuyler (August 9, 1757–November 9, 1854) was Philip and Kitty Schuyler’s second child, and like Angelica, grew up in the family home in Albany. As was common for young women of her time, Eliza was a regular churchgoer, and her faith remained unwavering throughout her lifetime. As a child, she was strong-willed and impulsive. At one point, she even journeyed along with her father to a meeting of the Six Nations, which would have been highly unusual for a young lady in the 18th century.

Meets Hamilton

In 1780, during a visit to her aunt in Morristown, New Jersey, Eliza met a young Hamilton, then serving as one of Washington’s aides-de-camp. Within a few months they were engaged, and corresponding regularly.

Biographer Ron Chernow writes of the attraction:

"Hamilton....was instantly smitten with Schuyler....Everyone noticed that the young colonel was starry-eyed and distracted. Although a touch absentminded, Hamilton ordinarily had a faultless memory, but, returning from Schuyler one night, he forgot the password and was barred by the sentinel."

Hamilton was not the first man Eliza had been drawn to. In 1775, a British officer named John Andre had been a houseguest at the Schuyler home, and Eliza found herself quite intrigued by him. A gifted artist, Andre had sketched pictures for Eliza, and they formed a tenuous friendship. In 1780, Andre was captured as a spy during Benedict Arnold’s foiled plot to take West Point from Washington. As the head of the British Secret Service, Andre was sentenced to hang. By this time, Eliza was engaged to Hamilton, and she asked him to intervene on Andre’s behalf, in hopes of getting Washington to grant Andre’s wish of dying by firing squad rather than at the end of a rope. Washington denied the request, and Andre was hanged in Tappan, New York, in October. For several weeks after Andre’s death, Eliza refused to reply to Hamilton’s letters.

Marries Hamilton

However, by December she had relented, and they married that month. After a brief stint during which Eliza joined Hamilton at his army station, the couple settled in to make a home together. During this period, Hamilton was a prolific writer, particularly to Washington, although a number of pieces of his correspondence are in Eliza’s handwriting. The couple, along with their children, moved briefly to Albany, and then to New York City.

While in New York, Eliza and Hamilton enjoyed a vigorous social life, which included a seemingly endless schedule of balls, theater visits, and parties. When Hamilton became the secretary of the treasury, Eliza continued to help her husband with his political writings. Additionally, she was busy raising their children and managing the household.

In 1797, Hamilton’s yearlong affair with Maria Reynolds became public knowledge. Although Eliza initially refused to believe the accusations, once Hamilton confessed in a piece of writing that came to be known as the Reynolds Pamphlet, she departed for her family’s home in Albany while pregnant with their sixth child. Hamilton stayed behind in New York. Eventually, they reconciled, having two additional children together.

Son, Husband Die in Duels

In 1801, their son Philip, named for his grandfather, was killed in a duel. Just three years later, Hamilton himself was killed in his infamous duel with Aaron Burr. Beforehand, he wrote Eliza a letter, saying, “With my last idea; I shall cherish the sweet hope of meeting you in a better world. Adieu, best of wives and best of Women.”

After Hamilton’s death, Eliza was forced to sell their estate at public auction to pay off his debts. However, the executors of his will hated the idea of seeing Eliza removed from the home in which she had lived for so long, and so they repurchased the property and resold it back to her at a fraction of the price. She lived there until 1833 when she purchased a townhouse in New York City.

Founds Orphanage

In 1805, Eliza joined the Society for the Relief of Poor Widows with Small Children, and a year later she helped to found the Orphan Asylum Society, the first private orphanage in New York City. She served as the agency’s director for nearly three decades, and it still exists today as a social service organization called Graham Wyndham. In its early years, the Orphan Asylum Society provided a safe alternative for orphaned and destitute children, who previously would have found themselves in almshouses, forced to work to earn their food and shelter.

In addition to her charitable contributions and work with New York’s orphaned children, Eliza spent nearly 50 years preserving her late husband’s legacy. She organized and cataloged his letters and other writings, and worked tirelessly to see Hamilton’s biography published. She never remarried.

Eliza died in 1854 at age 97 and was buried beside her husband and sister Angelica in Trinity Churchyard.

Peggy Schuyler Van Rensselaer

Margarita “Peggy” Schuyler (September 19, 1758–March 14, 1801) was born in Albany, the third child of Philip and Kitty Schuyler. At age 25, she eloped with her 19-year-old distant cousin, Stephen Van Rensselaer III. Although the Van Rensselaers were social equals to the Schuylers, Stephen’s family felt he was too young to be married, hence the elopement. However, once the marriage took place, it was generally approved of—several family members privately agreed that being married to Philip Schuyler’s daughter could help Stephen’s political career.

Scottish poet and biographer Anne Grant, a contemporary, described Peggy as being “very pretty” and possessing a “wicked wit.” Other writers of the time attributed similar traits to her, and she was clearly known as a vivacious and spirited young woman. Despite her portrayal in the musical as a third wheel—one who vanishes midway through the show, never to be seen again—the real Peggy Schuyler was accomplished and popular, as befitting a young lady of her social status.

Within a few short years, Peggy and Stephen had three children, although only one survived to adulthood. Like her sisters, Peggy maintained a lengthy and detailed correspondence with Hamilton. When she fell ill in 1799, Hamilton spent a good deal of time at her bedside, looking in on her and updating Eliza on her condition. When she died in March 1801, Hamilton was with her, and wrote to his wife:

“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.”

Peggy was buried in the family plot at the Van Rensselaer estate and later reinterred at a cemetery in Albany.