Elizabeth Hamilton Schuyler Timeline

Eliza Schuyler Hamilton is well-known for marrying Alexander Hamilton, but she also had her own life’s work after his passing. Click on each date to learn more about what happened during that year in her life!

 

 

1757

Eliza was born in 1757 and raised in upstate New York.

 

 

1780

Eliza meets Alexander while she is staying with her aunt in Morristown, NJ. They get married in 1780.

 

 

1783

During their early married years, the couple moved around quite a bit due to Hamilton’s army life. By 1783, they settled in New York City. They were well known members of New York society, especially after Hamilton became Treasury Secretary. Eliza had an active, important role in society.

 

 

1802

The Hamilton family move into The Grange.

 

 

1806

After dealing with the death of her husband and her son Phillip just a few years earlier, Elizabeth becomes the co-founder of the Society for the Relief of Poor Widows with Small Children.

1821

She was appointed the first directress of the Orphan Asylum Society, the first private orphanage in New York City (and an organization that she had also helped cofound.). She held the position until she left New York City. Today the Society still exists as Graham Windham.

 

 

1848

After living in The Grange ever since 1802 and dealing with financial difficulties ever since Alexander’s death, she eventually moved in with her children in the Hamilton-Holly House, and ultimately moved to Washington, DC to live with her daughter, Eliza.

 

 

1840s/1850s

Eliza focused on preserving both her husband’s and George Washington’s legacies. She and her son, John Church Hamilton, re-organized all of Hamilton’s letters, papers, and writings, and ensured that his biography was published. She, along with Dolly Madison, worked to raise funds for the Washington Monument.

 

 

1854

She passes away in 1854 at the age of 97. She is buried next to Alexander at Trinity Church in New York City.