Letter from Alexander Hamilton III to Angelica Hamilton

Letter

-

Historic Hudson Valley

Name/Title

Letter from Alexander Hamilton III to Angelica Hamilton

Entry/Object ID

HHV 005.18

Tags

Accessioned object

Description

Letter from Alexander Hamilton III to Angelica Hamilton

Subject

Sister Paris has an interview with Rebecca, marriage of Julia Boggs to Lewis Howard Livingston, Carneval, Masked Balls, rigodon (dance), measels, pulmonia (Sp. for pneumonia), “Connoscenti”, Molly, miniature portrait artist, “fields of ice in the tappan”, ref. Thomas Moore “leave me to the bleak shore alone”, ref. Sir Walter Scott “My Aunt Margaret’s Mirror”

Subject Person/Organization

Alexander Hamilton III, Angelica Hamilton, Fulton Cutting, Julia Augusta Livingston, Lewis Howard Livingston, Washington Irving

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

Jan 7, 1843

Stamp

[RED WAX SEAL, imprint is young male silhouette]

Sender

Name

A. H.

Address

Miss A. Hamilton Nevis

Addressee

Name

Miss A. Hamilton

Transcription

Transcription

Madrid Jan’y 7h 1843 Saturday morning. My dearest A: I have written a long letter on politics to Papa / which you Girls won’t care about, and I must add a few / words for your benefit on other subjects _ I received your long / delightful letter last Sunday, and at the same time a very pretty / note from Aunt Be[y?] with a postscript brimful of joy from our / too happy Uncle: I suppose the future appears to him now one broad / gleam of sunshine, and yet he writes very sensibly and and all [^ talks] of / the necessity of exertion +c.: Sister Paris has written to Uncle about / her interview with Rebecca, and Uncle is very happy and thinks it / an excellent arrangement.: I sent off a few days ago a letter to Mrs. Ray / enclosing a note to Miss Julia on the happy event which it to take / place this month _ I don’t know much about Livingston but it seems / to me she has made a judicious selection from the men about [^ around] her _ He / is certainly to be preferred in many respects [^ to] our friend “Tom” or Fulton / Cutting; and to cut loose from her present moorings is a great point / gainer for [^future] improvement and happiness: _ Where the young gentle- / =man has strength of character enough for both is an important questions / for with all her cleverness, she wants a coll cooler head and more / decided character then her own to lean upon. _ She is fortunate / in her new sister, who possesses the very qualities most required. _ / How are my three remaining princesses? Will they probably all follow / this bad example and “leave me on the bleak shore alone”? _ I / tremble for Staatsburgh: a blow in that quarter would undo me quite / [END OF PAGE 1] The Carneval began yesterday “Dia de los Reyes” or twelfth day and / Masked Balls are the order of Day + Night: The Public Balls are very / funny; Every body goes from Queen to peasant and the Spanish liveliness and / wit delight in the opportunity of mystifying + attacking their neighbours: I / shall go in my own proper person, as I have been advised to do: IN this / way you become a mark for all the women kind who attach you in town / and give you plenty of occupation _ Two days [^ ago] a large ball at the Duchess of Penaranda: We / had never met her and she proved to be the widow of an old friend of Mr. Irving / and overwhelmed him with attentions of which I had to receive a share: / They have a custom here, not a bad one for strangers, by which you are / permitted to select any lady for a partner without previous previous / introduction or ceremony whatever, and Mad. P. told me to choose / without hesitation the prettiest girl in the room. I made an unfortunate / use of this “largest liberty” at my first essay, having engaged myself / for a “rigodon” to a pretty little woman in pink, which I afterwards / danced with her sister. They were, even to the Porte bouquet, like twin / cherries which ought to be a good excuse for a stranger in a crowd sea of / strange faces _ The house was magnificent: Music delicious. Young ladies / prettily dressed, and old ones covered with splendid jewels: _ no supper / of course: Ices + refreshment in abundance: / Made Albuqueque [dried the “Corps”?] yesterday, and / looked very pretty in spite of her late trials with her children who have / been half dead with the measles _ There is much talk of a bal costume / Cotillions made out [^ up] and the other fooleries of the Season: The weather is as clear bright and pleasant as can / be conceived: such sunsets every Evening as Even Nevis cannot / produce _ No Ice yet beyond half an inch in thickness, but still / [END OF PAGE 2] The Spaniards go about with cloaks over their moses, and talk / pulmonia in the most alarming manner: There is a clever young artist here, of whom the / Connoscenti [sic] speak very highly. I am about to look at his ??duc - / tions and if he can take my portrait (small size) I shall / let him make the attempt _ I have looked in vain for a good / miniature painter, and I dislike the pretention and size of / a large as life _ Political matters are becoming very interesting and / I watch the game very closely _ OUr connection with the [Ingleses?] / affords a very good insight into the most important moves and as / our own connection [^ relation to the Gov’t] is slight we are in a favourable position to / observe accurately the movements of the others. You are leading now I suppose a quiet life / at Nevis to prepare you to enjoy more fully your visit to the / City and all the dissipations of the Season. I imagine you and / Molly well wrapped in your cloaks, a light snow sparkling on . the ground; setting off on a walk to the cottage to see the huge / fields of ice in the tappan, crackling and grinding against each / other _ I am looking at you on the [Piazza? Unrecovered] of the Cottage / from the old nut tree above the Dock _ What do you say to / “My Aunt Margaret’s mirror” _? It wants a few minutes to 12 and no letters / yet by the Steamer: I must reign sail and despatch in a / hurry: not forgetting a thousand kisses to Mama + Pa. Yrs ever + ever A. H. [ADDRESS] Miss A. Hamilton Nevis [RED WAX SEAL, imprint is young male silhouette]

Transcriber

Kathryn Alexander

Language

English

Other Names and Numbers

Other Numbers

Number Type

Former Number

Other Number

H 351

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