James Alexander Hamilton was born in New York on April 14, 1788, the third son of Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804) and Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton (1757-1854). He graduated from Columbia College (now Columbia University) in 1805 and was admitted to the New York bar in 1809, after which he established a legal practice in Hudson, New York. Hamilton married Mary Morris, the daughter of Robert Morris, in October 1810 and served in the military during the War of 1812. Andrew Jackson later appointed him district attorney for the Southern District of New York, though Hamilton's political sympathies later moved from the Democratic Party to the Whig and Republican Parties. James Alexander Hamilton died on September 24, 1878.
George Lee Schuyler was born in Rhinebeck, New York, on June 9, 1811. Following his graduation from Columbia College, Schuyler married Eliza Hamilton, the daughter of James Alexander Hamilton. They had three children: Philip, Louisa Lee, and Georgina. After Eliza Hamilton's death in 1863, Schuyler married her sister, Mary Morris Hamilton. He worked as a civil engineer and his hobbies included yacht racing. He died on July 31, 1890.
Louisa Lee Schuyler was born on October 26, 1837, the daughter of George Lee Schuyler and Eliza Hamilton Schuyler. In her early twenties, Schuyler found herself drawn to charitable work and volunteered as a teacher for the Children's Aid Society. During the Civil War, she assisted in organizing the Women's Central Association of Relief (later the United States Sanitary Commission). Schuyler recuperated from postwar exhaustion in Europe and Egypt, and continued her charitable service upon her return to New York in 1871, working with organizations such as the State Charities Aid Association and creating the first training school for nurses in the United States at Bellevue Hospital in 1875. She took a special interest in humane care for the mentally ill, and, in later years, worked for the prevention of blindness. She was awarded an honorary LL.D. degree by Columbia University in 1915. Louisa Lee Schuyler died on October 10, 1926.
From the guide to the Hamilton-Schuyler family papers, 1820-1924, 1820-1877, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)
