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by Nathan Brockman

A ceremony held at Trinity Church on July 12 commemorated the life of Alexander Hamilton, the founding father of the country’s economic identity who is buried beneath a marble obelisk in Trinity’s south churchyard.

Robust and restless, passionate and prodigious, Hamilton was shot in a duel by political foe Aaron Burr. Burr was vice-president. Hamilton died the following day.

Lest his fans worry that Hamilton’s visage on the $10 dollar bill be replaced by Ronald Reagan’s, as has recently been campaigned for, Hamilton was, on the 200th anniversary of his death, a man lionized, his accomplishments crafted into litanies: he was the founder of the Bank of New York, the first Secretary of the Treasury, founder of the New York Post, founder of the U.S. Coast Guard, constitutional scholar, abolitionist, heroic soldier, and economic visionary.

Descendents, his biographers Ron Chernow and Richard Brookhiser, and representatives of institutions Hamilton either founded or associated with were present, as were armchair historians, Trinity parishioners, and the merely curious.

In his remarks, Brookhiser suggested that Trinity was not just Hamilton’s physical resting place, but his spiritual one. As Hamilton lay wounded in what would be his deathbed, he requested communion from Trinity’s rector, the Rt. Rev. Benjamin Moore, who refused because dueling was illegal. Only when Hamilton repented, and “abjured dueling,” said Brookhiser, did Moore grant the wish.

Chernow provided the reasons why Hamilton was to be praised, pointing to his industriousness and the scope of his vision as the “prophet of Wall Street and the modern economy.”

Hymns accompanied by timpani and brass were sung: “O God Our Help in Ages past,” “My Country ‘tis of Thee,” and, “God of our Fathers.”

Respondents to Brookhiser and Chernow included representatives of the Bank of New York, the New York Post, the U.S. Coast Guard, Columbia University -- of which Hamilton was an alum and trustee -- the Sons of the American Revolution, and David Hamilton Rhinelander, a Hamilton descendent.

After the service, the congregation headed outside to the Hamilton monument, where the Coast Guard lay a wreath and a bugler played the call Taps. A family member also placed a wreath for Elizabeth Schuyler, Hamilton’s wife. A viewing line formed past the monument, which lies over the Schuyler family vault.

One of those who attended the commemoration was Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, a young woman wearing a brown dress who knelt and ran her fingers over the grooves spelling Elizabeth’s name.

“My parent’s did make a point to teach me about Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, because she’s my namesake," she said. "She has a special place in my heart.”

When the line had wound its course, Susan Olsen tiptoed up to the vault area and gave the brownstone pedestal of the monument a quick touch.

“I’ve been to almost all of the founding fathers’ graves,” she said. Just John Quincy Adams left and she would be done.

Posted on Trinity News, July 13, 2004