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On Monday, July 12 Trinity Church will mark the 200th anniversary of the death of Alexander Hamilton with a service celebrating the Founding Father’s life and accomplishments. Hamilton, who is buried in the Trinity churchyard, died in New York City on July 12, 1804, after suffering wounds in a duel fought with Aaron Burr.

The service of commemoration will feature speakers and representatives of historical and civic groups, as well as Hamilton’s living descendents. Among those expected to attend are representatives of the New-York Historical Society, Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution, the Gilder Lehrman Institute, the United States Coast Guard, Columbia University, and the Bank of New York.

Reputed for his brilliant financial and political thinking, Hamilton was the first Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, a member of the Constitutional Convention, co-author of The Federalist Papers , and founder of the Bank of New York. His likeness graces the ten-dollar bill. Yet he is perhaps best known for his duel with Aaron Burr, his long-time political rival and vice president of the United States. In the duel, both men reportedly shot at each other, but only Burr found his mark. Hamilton died the next day.

His death was widely mourned, according to reports at the time. A grand funeral took place on July 14, with the oration delivered by Gouverneur Morris, a leading figure at the Constitutional Convention and former minister to France.

On his death bed, Hamilton asked the Rt. Rev. Benjamin Moore, Bishop of New York and sixth rector of Trinity Church, to give him Communion. Bishop Moore at first refused, as dueling was strictly forbidden by the Church. Moore later relented.

Hamilton had close ties to Trinity and New York City. In 1783, he moved to the city from Albany, NY and set up a law practice. Five of his eight children were baptized in Trinity Church. His eldest son Philip, also killed in a duel in New Jersey, in 1801 at the age of 20, was buried in Trinity’s churchyard. His wife, Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, who died in 1854 at the age of 97, was buried beside her husband.

Hamilton’s grandson, also named Alexander Hamilton, was a Trinity vestryman from 1885 to his death in 1889.

Burr also had a link with Trinity -- he rented his home, Richmond Hill, near the corner of Charlton and Varick streets, from the church in 1797.

Posted on Trinity News May 28, 2004