Alexander Hamilton Jr. was an American lawyer and diplomat who served as the secretary of the U.S. Legation in Madrid under Washington Irving. The grandson of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, he was an alumnus of the United States Military Academy at West Point. Hamilton Jr. followed his father into law, co-founding the firm Hamilton and Lyon. During the American Civil War and the New York City draft riots, he served as an aide-de-camp to General John E. Wool. He was also a notable figure in New York’s social scene, as a co-founder and first president of the Knickerbocker Club and a co-founder of the Union League Club.
Childhood & Early Life
Alexander Hamilton Jr. was born on January 26, 1816, in New York City. He was the third child and only son of James Alexander Hamilton and Mary Morris, with four sisters: two older – Elizabeth “Eliza” and Frances “Fanny” – and two younger – Mary Morris and Angelica.
His father, James, was a lawyer and soldier who served as brigade major and inspector in the New York state militia during the War of 1812 and later acted as U.S. Secretary of State under President Andrew Jackson.
On his father’s side, Hamilton Jr. descended from major American figures. His grandfather, Alexander Hamilton, was a Founding Father and the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. His grandmother, Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, was the daughter of Revolutionary War general Philip Schuyler and Catherine Van Rensselaer, whose family ranked among New York’s wealthiest and most influential.
Hamilton Jr.’s mother, Mary Morris, belonged to the notable Morris family of Morrisania. Her ancestors included New Jersey governor Lewis Morris; Richard Morris, chief justice of the New York Supreme Court; and Lewis Morris, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
From July 1832 to June 1835, Hamilton Jr. attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, though it is unclear whether he completed his studies.
Career of Alexander Hamilton Jr.
Hamilton Jr. later became a New York City lawyer, practicing for many years before retiring in 1870. He co-founded the law firm Hamilton and Lyon, which became a respected firm during the mid-nineteenth century.
In 1848, he was appointed secretary to the U.S. Legation in Madrid, serving under Washington Irving until 1850.
At the start of the Civil War, in April 1861, he volunteered as aide-de-camp to General John E. Wool, then commander of the Army’s Department of the East. He received an official appointment as additional aide-de-camp on August 28, 1861, and remained in the post until resigning on December 11 of that year.
In a letter to President Abraham Lincoln dated May 26, 1862, he criticized Edwin Stanton’s decision to divide General George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac into four departments, calling it “the grossest mismanagement.”
Hamilton Jr. co-founded the Union League Club of New York City, which was established on February 6, 1863, during the Civil War.
He again assisted General Wool during the New York City draft riots of July 13–16, 1863, regarded as the largest civil and racially charged unrest in U.S. history outside the Civil War itself. Wool informed Governor Seymour that Colonel Hamilton Jr. had volunteered to help and worked tirelessly throughout the crisis.
He was also among the founders of the Knickerbocker Club (informally “The Knick”) in 1871. Hamilton Jr. was the first to sign its membership list and served as its first president, holding the position until his death.
Family & Personal Life
In 1840, Hamilton Jr. married Angelica Livingston of the prominent Livingston family. Her father, Maturin Livingston, was a New York lawyer and politician. At the same time, her mother, Margaret Lewis Livingston, was the daughter of Morgan Lewis, a lawyer, military commander, and former governor of New York.
The couple had one son, also named Alexander, born in 1848, who died at 11 months old in 1849.
Hamilton Jr.’s older sister Elizabeth married George Lee Schuyler, son of politician Philip Jeremiah Schuyler; after Elizabeth died in 1863, George married her sister Mary Morris. His second sister, Frances, married George Russel James Bowdoin, and his youngest sister, Angelica, married attorney and political figure Richard Milford Blatchford.
Alexander Hamilton Jr. died on December 30, 1889, in New York City at the age of 73. He was laid to rest in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York.
Net worth of Alexander Hamilton Jr.
The estimated net worth of Alexander Hamilton Jr. is about $1 million.