Church, Angelica Schuyler, 1756-1814

Angelica Schuyler Church
BIRTH
20 Feb 1756
Albany, Albany County, New York, USA
DEATH
13 Mar 1814 (aged 58)
New York, New York County (Manhattan), New York, USA
Angelica was the daughter of General Philip Schuyler, the sister of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, the sister-in-law of Alexander Hamilton and the wife of John Barker Church. Angelica was one of the most celebrated beauties of the original thirteen colonies and the young United States and perhaps she is most famous for her love affair with her brother-in-law, Alexander Hamilton. Despite the resulting scandal and embarrassment, Angelica was beloved on both sides of the Atlantic for her warm heart, generous nature, sparkling wit, ethereal beauty and intelligent involvement in the political affairs of the day. She was so esteemed, in fact, that her sister Elizabeth (who truly loved her deeply), never publicly or privately faulted her for having an affair with her own husband, which is to Elizabeth's everlasting credit. Angelica received her final wish: she is buried in Trinity Churchyard in lower Manhattan, not far from the graves of her brother-in-law and her sister, Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton.

Angelica Church (née Schuyler /ˈskaɪlər/; February 20, 1756 – March 6, 1814)[1][2] was an American socialite. She was the eldest daughter of Continental Army General Philip Schuyler, and a sister of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton and sister-in-law of Alexander Hamilton.

For sixteen years, she lived in Europe with her British-born husband, John Barker Church, who became a Member of Parliament. She was a prominent member of the social elite everywhere she lived, which included Albany and New York City, as well as Paris and London. Some of her correspondence with eminent friends have been preserved, including notable exchanges with Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and Marquis de Lafayette.[3]

The village and surrounding town of Angelica, New York were named after her. Angelica Schuyler was born in Albany, New York. She was the eldest child of Philip Schuyler and Catherine Van Rensselaer Schuyler. Her parents were from wealthy Dutch families prominent since early colonial days. Catherine was a descendant of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, one of the founders of New Netherlands. The Schuylers were also fourth-generation residents. She had seven siblings who lived to adulthood, including Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, Margarita Schuyler Van Rensselaer (known as "Peggy"), and Philip Jeremiah Schuyler.

Angelica came of age during the troubled times leading up to the American Revolution, and met many prominent Revolutionary leaders. Because of her father's rank and political stature, the Schuyler house in Albany was the scene of many meetings and war councils.

One of the visitors in 1776 was John Barker Church, a British-born merchant who made a fortune during the war supplying the American and French armies. At the time of their meeting and subsequent courtship, Church was on a mission from the Continental Congress to audit army supply records. Knowing that her father would not bless their marriage because of his suspicions about Church's past, Angelica eloped with John in 1777. They had eight children together. In May 1796, John Barker Church accepted a mortgage on 100,000 acres (40,000 ha) of land in present-day Allegany County and Genesee County, New York, against a debt owed to him by his friend Robert Morris.[5][6] After Morris failed to pay the mortgage, the Churches' eldest son Philip Schuyler Church acquired the land in a foreclosure sale in May 1800.[5] To take possession of the land, Philip traveled in 1801 to the area, near the Pennsylvania border, with his surveyor Moses Van Campen and four others.[7] Philip Church selected specific acreage for a planned village along the Genesee River, with plots and design to be reminiscent of Paris.[7] The plan included a circular road enclosing a village park at the center of town, streets radiating from the circular road to form a star, and five churches situated around the circle. Philip named the village Angelica, after his mother.[7] By 1803, the village was populated with log cabin homes, including Philip's, and he had erected a sawmill and a gristmill.[7]: 406 

Philip Church married Anna Matilda Stewart in Philadelphia on February 4, 1805.[8] Soon after the wedding, the two settled permanently in the village of Angelica, where a small whitewashed house (locally known as the "White House") had already been built for the couple on the banks of the Genesee River.[9]

In 1806, Angelica and John Barker Church began construction on a thirty-room mansion nearby, called Belvidere, which still stands as a privately owned home on the banks of the Genesee in Belmont, New York, near the town of Angelica.[9] Although they had intended to make it their summer home, it instead became the residence of Philip and Anna Church when it was partially completed in 1810.[9]