pix 🧑‍🎨

Is so ugly, I just wanted to post something because I've had an obsession with him for over a year now 😔 (Even if it flops)

playlist for these two in honor of Ham's bday

hamilton portrait and laurens portait

I originally planned to draw his entire life, but I was too busy and only drew about 30 drafts before losing my energy, so I gave up（im sorry…………> <

—

The Life and Epoch of Alexander Hamilton: A Historical Study, by George Shea, pp.45-46.

From Wikipedia: 

Robert Troup, a family friend who had been Alexander Hamilton’s college roommate, wrote that Philip “was very promising in genius and acquirements, and Hamilton formed high expectations of his future greatness!”[7] Troup wrote privately, however, that despite Hamilton’s certainty that Philip was destined for greatness, “alas Philip is a sad rake and I have serious doubts whether he would ever be an honour to his family or his country.”[8][9] 

The first quote is from a letter from Troup to Rufus King [5Dec1801]: 

For twelve days past the city has been much agitated with a duel between Hamilton’s oldest son Philip and a Mr. Eacher—a brother lawyer of mine and a violent and bitter democrat.… Young Hamilton was mortally wounded and soon after died. Never did I see a man so completely overwhelmed with grief as Hamilton has been. The scene I was present at, when Mrs. Hamilton came to see her son on his deathbed (he died about a mile out of the city) and when she met her husband and son in one room, beggars all description! Young Hamilton was very promising in genius and acquirements, and Hamilton formed high expectations of his future greatness! … At present Hamilton is more composed and is able again to attend to business; but his countenance is strongly stamped with grief. Eacher has not since made his appearance at the bar. There is a general current of opinion agt. him, except amongst the violent democrats” (King, The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King, IV, 28).

So where does the second quote come from where he “privately” - I’m pretty sure his letter to King was also private - termed Philip a “sad rake”? Spoiler: I have no idea. 

Follow the Wikipedia citations, and these are the references: 

Realistic Robert Troup, belying his fond parents’ view of Philip’s talent and promise, described him as a ‘sad rake.’

pg 7 of Thomas Fleming, Duel: Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr and the Future of America (1999). Although Fleming does have footnotes for other citations, he has none for this. 

The other footnote/source:

“His father,” one of Hamilton’s colleagues said regarding Philip, “is certain of his future greatness but alas Philip is a sad rake and I have serious doubts whether he would ever be an honour to his family or his country.” 

p 117, The Aaron Burr Affair (1967) by Robert Hardy Andrews, in The Birth of America: Selected Readings from Mankind Magazine

No name is provided of this “colleague,” and there are no citations/footnotes in the version reprinted in this book. The references to Hamilton (father) and future greatness make it seem like it could be a Troup reference, but there’s no “sad rake” quote in his letters to King. The Robert Troup papers are at the NYPL (not digitized, it seems), but this quote might be with the recipient’s correspondence, and I don’t know who that was. 

The author of the latter essay seems to be this Robert Hardy Andrews. Let me say that there are some bizarre lines in all of the essays that are re-published in The Birth of America including this one: 

But Philip had begun to drink, and loved the theater, and yearned to prove himself “as more than ‘General Hamilton’s son.’” 

Again, whom is Andrews quoting? Are these just scare quotes, and he largely made everything up? Andrews died in 1976, so we cannot ask him. 

Let’s get back to Fleming (died in 2017), since he is the source that Chernow, etc, are quoting for Troup’s supposed description of Philip as a “sad rake.” 

On pg 78, Fleming writes: 

Even one of Hamilton’s closest friends, Robert Troup, lamented that his character was “radically deficient in discretion.” 

Um, this is what Troup wrote [31Dec1800] to Rufus King: 

The influence … of this letter upon Hamilton’s character is extremely unfortunate. An opinion has grown out of it, which at present obtains almost universally, that his character is radically deficient in discretion, and therefore the federalists ask, what avail the most preeminent talents—the most distinguished patriotism—without the all important quality of discretion? Hence he is considered as an unfit head of the party …” my emphasis, (King, The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King, III, 359).

Troup was referring to the Federalists’ opinion of AH, not his own. (In fairness, this would have been a decently shared opinion even among those closest to AH.) 

So where the “sad rake” quote comes from, and how it got attributed by Fleming to Troup, remains a mystery to me. 

Schachner wrote of many historical figures, particularly the founding fathers. His biography of Hamilton seems to be the earliest mention of this quote;

The young man was talented and possessed of much native ability, and his father was certain of “his future greatness,” Troup wrote after the event. But, the old friend of the family pursued wryly, Philip “was however a sad rake & I have serious doubts whether he ever would have been an honor to his family or his country!”

Schachner, Nathan. Alexander Hamilton. United Kingdom, T. Yoseloff, 1946.

An interesting detail here, Schachner’s quote is phrased differently from how it is commonly repeated. For example, Raymond Locke, like many others, quotes the letter as; “alas Philip is a sad rake and I have serious doubts whether he would ever be an honour to his family or his country.” The bolded text is mine showcasing the altered words. An important thing to note is that from Schachner’s quote Troup is speaking from after Philip’s death, saying “would have been an”, while many retell it as “would ever be”.

Unlike many biographers, Schachner actually cites his source for this quote. He claims it was in a letter dated December 5th, 1801, from Robert Troup to Rufus King;

MS. letter, Troup to King, Dec. 5, 1801; King Papers, N. Y. Hist. Soc. Troup’s unflattering estimate of Philip Hamilton is omitted from the published version in King Correspondence, op. cit., III, p. 28. The editor might have been justified in the deletion had not the context which he did print given rise to a complete distortion of Troup’s remarks. On the basis of the text as published, all later biographers have conjured up a picture of young Philip which has little relation to the facts.

And if we look at the December 5th 1801 letter that was published in The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King in 1894, it is clearly missing a lot of sentences;

New York, 5th December, 1801.

Dear Sir: … We received the account of peace between Great Britain and France in this city on the 20th ulto, via Boston. It instantly operated almost like the hand of death upon all busi- ness. I had two auctions on that day on hand at the Coffee House: one of Sir Wm. (Pulteney’s) real property in this city; the other of lands in my hands as an executor of an insolvent estate. There were several other auctions depending. All was knocked up, instead of being knocked down! Not a bid was given; every thing was buzz and confusion in the Coffee House. Ships have fallen. Wheat, corn and flour have been constantly on the fall! In short all business dull and nearly at a stand. I hear however, of no bankruptcies, and much serious mischief does not seem to be apprehended. For twelve days past the city has been much agitated with a duel between Hamilton’s oldest son Philip and a Mr. Eacher—a brother lawyer of mine and a violent and bitter democrat… Young Hamilton was mortally wounded and soon after died. Never did I see a man so completely overwhelmed with grief as Hamilton has been. The scene I was present at, when Mrs. Hamilton came to see her son on his deathbed (he died about a mile out of the city) and when she met her husband and son in one room, beggars all description! Young Hamilton was very promising in genius and acquirements, and Hamilton formed high expectations of his future greatness! … At present Hamilton is more composed and is able again to attend to business; but his countenance is strongly stamped with grief. Eacher has not since made his appearance at the bar. There is a general current of opinion agt. him, except amongst the violent democrats.

Very truly yours, R. T.

King, Rufus. The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King: Comprising His Letters, Private and Official, His Public Documents, and His Speeches. United States, G. P. Putnam’s sons, 1894.

According to Schachner, he had seen the actual manuscript of the letter located at the Historical New York library. And claims that the published version is much more censored to sugarcoat the perception of Philip. If so, it can be presumed that the real letter roughly follows along the lines of; “Young Hamilton was very promising in genius and acquirements, and Hamilton formed high expectations of his future greatness! [Philip Hamilton] was however a sad rake & I have serious doubts whether he ever would have been an honor to his family or his country!” If we trust Schachner’s telling of the letter.

Hamilton arts (oldies and a newww one)

How you like me now?