Letter from Alexander Hamilton III to Molly Hamilton (via James Alexander Hamilton)

Letter

-

Historic Hudson Valley

Name/Title

Letter from Alexander Hamilton III to Molly Hamilton (via James Alexander Hamilton)

Entry/Object ID

HHV 005.14

Tags

Accessioned object

Description

Letter from Alexander Hamilton III to Molly Hamilton (via James Alexander Hamilton)

Subject

Dinner with the Albuquerques, illness of Fanny Ludlow, Carneval, masked ball, bal de costume at Duchess of Peñaranda’s, quadrille, engagement/marriage of Julia Boggs to Lewis Howard Livingston, Mary Mason Jones/Trobriand wedding, French Courier, “Cabinet noir”, The Pirate (Verdi - Il Corsaro), “Great Coats, Capes, and Cockades”, purchase horses,

Subject Person/Organization

Madame and Monsieur Jose Francisco de Paula Cavalcani de Albuquerque, Washington Irving, Fanny Ludlow, Julia Augusta Boggs Livingston, Mary Mason Jones Trobriand, Mary Morris Hamilton Schuyler, James Alexander Hamilton

Subject Place

* Untyped Subject Place

Madrid, Spain, Nevis

Collection

Hamilton Collection

Cataloged By

Tara R. Iacobellis

Category

Documentary Artifact
Communication Artifacts

Acquisition

Source (if not Accessioned)

J.C. Hamilton

Notes

J.C. Hamilton : Donor Credit Line: Source: J. C. Hamilton

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Secondary Object Term

Letter

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Correspondence

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Other Documents

Nomenclature Class

Documentary Objects

Nomenclature Category

Category 08: Communication Objects

Letter Details

Letter Date

Feb 9, 1843

Postmark

Date and Time of Postmark

[RED POSTMARK, faint, partially illegible] New- MAR 21

Stamp

[STAMP OF SHR, black ink, illuminated candle graphic], [RED WAX SEAL, no imprint visible]

Sender

Name

A. H.

Address

13 Laight St [in blue ink] James A Hamilton Esq. (for Miss M. H) Nevis Westchester C- New Yor- U..- [REVERSE OF ADDRESS] -ander -adrid Feb.y 9th 1843

Addressee

Name

James A Hamilton Esq.

Transcription

Transcription

[IN PENCIL] Pleasant letter 1843 [BEGIN LETTER] “Madrid Thursday Evening Feby. 9th 1843 Minuit” My dearest M I have just said ‘good night’ to our friend the Minister / who after doing an hour in his Arm chair flashed up bright, /. Merry and amusing before going to bed : The young Gentlemen have / retired long since, and I have this huge parlour to myself in a / silence and stillness so great that it would be oppressive if I / had not you here to talk with me _ In strong contrast to the fine / days of the last Month we have (yesterday and today) a cold / rain and snow storm, and this morning the white roofs, dark [uni - / ???] sky, and large flakes of snow almost persuaded me that I / had waked in Laight Street: Notwithstanding the weather; Made / + Mons d’ Albuquerque and the illustrious “Don” dined with us / sociably and a very pleasant dinner + Evening did we pass to: / :gether _ just before they arrived the mail came (having been detained / by the storm) and as I entered the drawing room Mr. Irving handed / me your letter of 29 Dec’r _ He too had a letter from the Cottage, so / that we were in the best spirits to receive the party; and when / you consider that with the exception of honest José, we were all / from Gotham, and to the manor born, and moreover the only / New Yorkers or even Americans in this large city, you will under: / :stand the feeling which predominated _ Uncle Geoffrey was in the / vein and gave us many odd stories, and fought off successfully / the sleepy fit, which as I have said only conquered him about / 11: _ I am delighted with your letter, which has just passed / to a quiet comfortable second reading; to be tasted or as the French / say better “savoured”, for at the first I am so impatient that I / swallow it all without attending to particulars _ I have very / [END OF PAGE 1] Pleasant letters from [GSS?] and [Bow?] later then yours but they cannot / fill up the gaps in the Nevis life, which it is a delight to me to follow / in the smallest particulars _ Your boned chickens, sleigh rides excursions + / [skating?] parties are all to me delightful realities and I fight all your / battles over again with so much interest that I can almost convince my: / :self that I have taken a part in them. _ How does it happen the on the / 1st Jan.y you had only received my letters of the middle of Nov.? It seems / to me that letters of later date had been acknowledged some time before _ / Fanny Ludlow’s relapse is a great disappointment _ I wrote to Aunt / Julia in Dec’r to congratulate her on the good nws; and now wish I could / recall it: I’m afraid it will prove the reverse of what I intended: We are leading a quiet life and very much at home; / the attachés go no where in Society: Mr. Irving has been a little unwell, / and has not ventured out for some days tho he seems now entirely received / and therefore all the wriggling falls to my lot: I have been at two or three / masked balls: rather amusing and some diplomatic dinners rather the reverse. / but as the Carneval advances great things are promised: a bal costumé an / the last Sunday at the Duchess of Peñaranda’s is to be a magnificent affair, / and the quadrilles are practising daily _ There will be a thorough complete / exhibition of the Old Spanish Jewels and rich dresses and the specimens / I have seen are very handsome: _ at her last ball the lady told me not / to fail in the costume but we foreign gentleman with one or two exceptions / have pleaded official Italien, and must be allowed to look on in our proper / characters _ They are some promising subscription balls at the fine Palace / of villa hermosa, and the connoisseurs predict much fun and foolery: I / confess I am curious to see [^ the] Spanish liveliness and love of adventure in / full sway: I wrote our friend Miss Julia a note of congratulation as soon / as I heard of the Engagement, which I suppose will be read by Mrs. Livingston / It must be owned Julia Augusta Livingston sounds very well and is / such an improvement on the former lame conclusion, that it should pass / for something in considering the arrangement: I know so little of the [crossed out] / [END OF PAGE 2] [TOP HALF OF PAGE 3 IS CUT OFF & MISSING] [unrecovered] I hope you will see in [Gulisnami???] the flourish about Mary / Jones’ wedding of which we have most amusing accounts. Mama ???? is / to give a grand ball when the bride returns, and taking the Duke of Clermont / Tonnerre’s visiting list, shoots right and left among the great people of the / Faubourg and will no doubt bag a good many: Can you imagine any / thing more unpleasant to a person of proper feeling? Mrs The Widow is jus- [page torn] / the same, and thinks it right [^ necessary] to apologise for every thing she does; In their / progress among the beau monday she will find it hard work now and / then _ Uncle Geoffrey grains over their folly _ Good night to you + all: Saturday Ev’e February 11th The French Courier set off last night but as the stories of / the “Cabinet noir” in Paris, and the liberties then taken with soft wax, are quite [current?correct?] / We have waited for the English man tonight _ the weather continues raw and chilly and / eyt in the Garden under our windows the rose bushes are in leaf and the almond / tree in bloom: To night we go to the English Embassy to hear the second act of / The Pirate [Verdi’s Il corsaro] which I expect will be delightfully given: young Arcos, with one of the / fairest voices I have ever heard affords us this pleasure: The Dresses, scenery + / Orquestra are, I am told, admirably managed _ Mr. Irving has bought a very clever [^pair] of [some?] Spanish Horses, which altho / 6 + 7 years old + matched have yet to be broken to harness; meantime he + Brevoort / hold learned consultations over Great Coats, Capes, and Cockades, and the result / promises to be a very quiet respectable equipage _ In looking at your letter / [END OF PAGE 3] [HALF TOP OF PAGE 4 IS CUT OFF] [unrecovered] Hours, tho I confess to you I find the days very short for all that I wish to / accomplish _ I have been busy of late with Dan Oakey who leaves on the 1st / of March and perhaps Brevoort accompanies him _ Oakey is so entirely wanting / in the foreign lingos that a friend who can speak either French or Spanish is absolutely / necessary: It is the greatest comfort to me that you are all in such good health / and apparently in good spirits and I pray sincerely that it may be so when I return / to you again: Tho a separation could not increase, it has shown me how / [END OF PAGE 4] [CROSSED ON PAGE 1] Strong is my attachment to you all and how entirely every other consideration in the / world sinks before it: love to Mama, Angel + Papa. your affectionate A. H. [ADDRESS] [one third of page missing] 13 Laight St [in blue ink] James A Hamilton Esq. (for Miss M. H) Nevis Westchester C- New Yor- U..- [RED POSTMARK, faint, partially illegible] New- MAR 21 [RED WAX SEAL, no imprint visible] [REVERSE OF ADDRESS] -ander -adrid Feb.y 9th 1843

Transcriber

Kathryn Alexander

Language

English

Other Names and Numbers

Other Numbers

Number Type

Former Number

Other Number

H 347

Parts

Count

1

Location

Notes

Temporary

General Notes

Note Type

Department

Note

Library

Note Type

Curatorial Remarks

Note

Condition: Good

Created By

CHannan

Create Date

March 4, 2024

Updated By

cmonaco@hudsonvalley.org

Update Date

September 29, 2025