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Photograph of Alexander Hamilton Miniature by Anonymous (French School)

This portrait was painted for Hamilton’s younger daughter, Eliza Hamilton Holly. Her name can be seen engraved in the top of the frame. Eliza Hamilton Holly was only four years old in 1804, when her father was killed in the duel with Aaron Burr. When she passed away in 1859, this miniature was given to the Bank of New York by her brother James Alexander Hamilton, along with other family members.

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From “Alexander Hamilton: Youth to Maturity 1755-1788″ by Broadus Mitchell, p.137-138.

Alexander Hamilton on his 16th birthday. The back reads “A. Hamilton, Drawn from life, Jan. 11. 1773.”

Source: “Hamilton: Founding Father” by Marie Raphael and Ray Raphael

“This portrait of Hamilton was drawn from memory by Gordon Fairman the year after Hamilton’s death.”

I find this sketch so striking: not only can you see how much Hamilton had aged in his last years, but his shadowed eyes seem to denote the grief he carried after losing Philip. Such a compelling posthumous portrait.

Yes, he really did gain some weight in the 1790s. He was always fairly slender, so I think it was a difference of maybe fifteen pounds, but it was enough to be noticeable–and to make international news. Angelica Church wrote a letter to Eliza Hamilton that she’d heard reports of Hamilton gaining weight in London:

Colonel Beckwith tells me that our dear Hamilton writes too much and takes no exercise, and grows too fat. I hate both the word and the thing, and I desire you will take care of his health and his good looks, why I should find him on my return a dull, heavy fellow! (Intimate Life, p. 73).

Angelica wasn’t the only one concerned about him during this period. Baron Von Steuben wrote to Hamilton on 16 December 1790 about  his own concerns for Hamilton’s health. The letter is in french, but to paraphrase, he expresses concern for Hamilton’s recent indispositions, and is convinced that a lack of exercise is the cause. He recommends Hamilton ride eight or ten miles every morning, as his daily walks aren’t enough, and a diet of few meats and copious root vegetables. Enclosing a copy of Clément Joseph Tissot’s pamphlet from which he’d derived the diet, Von Steuben entrusted it’s execution to Eliza.

Hamilton also corresponded with Henry Lee in 1791 regarding a horse to help him get out and exercise more. He’d requested a gentle horse, though, and Lee took pains to find one that would meet with Hamilton’s needs. On 12 August 1791, Lee wrote to Hamilton:

Mr Cox1 was about taking to you my riding horse, but my apprehension of yr. necessary hurry & my wish to compare him with a horse I have sent for, concluded a procrastination of my execution of your request & my ardent desire.2 No other consideration could have induced me to postpone a measure you reckon essential to your health. Nor shall time be lost in presenting you with this trivial testimony of the zeal with which I engage in any matter which goes to your comfort.

The change was visible even in art from this period. In the 1792 portrait by John Trumbull, for example, you can see the hint of extra weight in his face:

Hamilton never had particularly robust health, and he seemed to be especially struggling in the months leading up to the duel. In October of 1803 he wrote a series of letters to Eliza reporting on his health every few days as he headed up to Albany for a case. He’d suffered an “attack” before he left home, presumably alluding either to his ongoing kidney ailment or his ongoing digestive troubles (or a combination of both), and he was trying to reassure Eliza that he was all right. On October 22, 1803, he wrote:

“I am here, my beloved Eliza, on my way to Albany—in much better health than I have been since my first attack at home. To avoid the risk of bringing on a relapse by too much exercise, it is my intention to continue here ’till tomorrow morning. Judge Benson is with me.The Arbitrators are gone to view the land in which business they will be engaged till Wednesday. On that day I must be back at Claverack, if my health proceeds in mending—otherwise I shall embark in an Albany Sloop for Greenwich. But there is every present appearance of progressive amendment. Affecty Yrs.A H”

Additionally, David Hosack wrote an account of attending Hamilton after the duel where, after detailing the treatments he administered, he explained, “As his habit was delicate and had been lately rendered more feeble by ill health, particularly by a disorder of the stomach and bowels, I carefully avoided all those remedies which are usually indicated on such occasions.” Hosack billed Hamilton’s estate for medial treatment and advice rendered in January, February, March, May and June of 1804. One of the heartbreaking aspects of Eliza being told Hamilton was suffering stomach spasms rather than that he had been shot when she was collected from the Grange is it would have made a lot of sense to her, as he’d been suffering from a stomach ailment for several months.

Hamilton definitely authored a good number of Washington's papers. During the Revolution, Hamilton's job as Washington's aide de camp included the duty to pen letters for George Washington. A quick search of Hamilton's papers on Founders Online shows a total of 889 letters written in Hamilton's handwriting that were sent under George Washington's signature.

What brought much more political controversy was Hamilton's involvement in the drafting of Washington's famous Farewell Address. All those years as Washington's aide meant Hamilton had a great knack for writing in Washington's voice. When Washington determined to step down from the presidency, he sent Hamilton a draft for a Farewell Address that James Madison had worked on four years previously (See Hamilton to Washington, 10 May 1796). Hamilton reviewed Madison's work, but decided instead to send his own version of what he thought Washington ought to say to the public. (See Hamilton to Washington, 30 July 1796). Washington ultimately tweaked Hamilton's draft and also passed it around to members of his cabinet for input, but much of the Farewell Address was in fact authored by Alexander Hamilton.

Because Washington generally tried to remain above the party politics of the time, it being widely known that his beloved last words to the public were penned by Alexander Hamilton would have started a political firestorm.