#rogow

I realized I have to start keeping a log of crazy things I’ve read in Hamilton biographies and histories. Snark, wild speculation, a fundamental lack of basic research, it gives hope to all that even with this kind of nonsense, you too can get a biography of Hamilton published. 

Twenty-five years older than Hamilton, Steuben never married, but was something of a ladies’ man...Hamilton and his friends in their free time made merry with the local females. That Martha Washington, who had a lighter side than her husband, named her tomcat “Hamilton” may testify to his off-base activities. Steuben, who had similar proclivities, may have been an accomplice. pg 46 and 57 Rogow, A Fatal Friendship  

If [Angelica Schuyler] appeared in a Jane Austen novel, it would be as one of those minor characters who amuse by their capacity to annoy. ...Even apart from the double prohibition of incestuous adultery, it is hard to imagine Hamilton seriously involved with such a woman.  pg 46, Brookhiser, Alexander Hamilton, American.

Writing Angelica on January 7, 1790, [Hamilton] incorrectly dated the letter 1789. One does not have to be a Freudian to suspect that the slip may have owed something to Hamilton's wish that the year 1789 with its lengthy visit from Angelica could be relived. pg 73 Rogow, A Fatal Friendship

[Hamilton] told [Maria Reynolds] that he had no money on hand, but he would call at her lodgings that night and give her a bank bill.  When he came, he gave her more than the bank bill.  pg 98, Brookhiser, Alexander Hamilton, American. 

In which historians insult AH’s parents. These are terrible.  Part 1 here. I’m working on a post about Rachel Faucette and James Hamilton that I hope does them more justice than this stuff. 

[Allan McLane Hamilton] describes [Rachel] as “a brilliant and clever girl, who had been given every educational advantage and accomplishment, and has profited by her opportunities.” Presumably, this is not a sly, tongue-in-cheek reference to activities alleged by Levine when he sued her for divorce.  pg 12, Rogow, A Fatal Friendship 

Rachel was now, as a church record reveals, considered to be in her late twenties, some seven years younger than she actually was. This implies that she had not withdrawn her hat from the sexual ring. It is, indeed, hard to imagine that a woman with Rachel’s history would completely alter her proclivities merely because there was not a resident male in the house. Strange males surely invaded Alexander’s childhood. pg 26, Flexner, The Young Hamilton

[Referencing George Washington] For the first time in his life - also for the last - Alexander Hamilton was meeting a man who was greater than himself. His father had been a hurtful cipher. Rev. Hugh Knox and Nicholas Cruger were helpful patrons, like good animals in a fairy tale. pg 31, Brookhiser, Alexander Hamilton, American