“Angelica, Eliza, & Peggy… the Schuyler Sisters!” These three women were made famous by the smash musical Hamilton– but who are they really? Lin Manuel Miranda openly said he took some liberties with the timeline of the show and some of the relationships in order to make the drama work, and he definitely made the drama work! Angelia, Eliza, and Peggy, three of 8 Schuyler children to live into adulthood could have been a musical in their own right. Let’s get to know them and their lives- and make some pickles, too, which would’ve been a staple on their Dutch New York tables!

The Schuyler Family

The Schuylers were a wealthy family of Dutch heritage who lived in Upstate New York. Catharine Schuyler was the great-great-granddaughter of Killian Van Rensselaer, the founder of New Netherland, which would become New York under the British. Philip Schuyler was related to old Dutch aristocracy. He served in the French & Indian war as a major, was a colonial New York assemblyman, served in the Continental Congress and was a major general in the Continental Army, and he was a U.S. Senator from New York. These people were kind of a big deal! Together, the Catharine and Philip Schuyler had fifteen children, eight of whom survived until adulthood. The surviving daughters were Angelica, Elizabeth, Peggy, Cornelia, and Catharine. The surviving sons were John Bradstreet Schuyler, Philip Jeremiah Schuyler, and Rensselaer Schuyler.

The Schuylers were a slave-holding family. They weren’t as progressive as the play Hamilton might have suggested. Philip wasn’t interested in abolition at all, as he saw it as inconvenient for slave-holders. Furthermore, at his death he held at least seven people in bondage, and at least three of them were children. While his daughter Elizabeth’s attitude about slavery may have changed over the course of her life, her feelings were in the minority in the Schuyler family.

Angelica

Angelica Schuyler Church was an interesting woman, as she knew how to play her role as a woman to advance her intellectual and political ideas. Angelica eloped with a man named John Barker Church, and she was married to him before Alexander Hamilton came into the Schuyler’s lives. She ran away and eloped because her parents didn’t approve of her marriage to John- he was a compulsive gambler and he was in serious debt when he ran to the colonies from England in the mid-18th century. For seven years of their marriage, John and Angelica hid under the surname “Carter” so that John’s creditors couldn’t find him. Eventually, John made a fortune, particularly in supplying the Americans in the Revolution, and he was later accepted into the Schuyler family. John and Angelica went back to England, where John served as an MP, and then returned to New York permanently in 1799.

Angelica’s scandalous marriage may be an interesting hook into her life, but what she should really be known for is her correspondence with some of the greatest political minds of the time. She corresponded with Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, and the Marquis de Lafayette. She knew her position as a woman in the 1700s, and she used flirtatious language in her letters (and at the very least Hamilton & Jefferson flirted back), but then got to her political points. These men were happy to engage with her in political conversation. That’s saying something and I often wonder about her indirect impact on the Revolution and the start of the American nation.

Eliza

Eliza Schuyler Hamilton led a truly remarkable life. She was interested in military and political affairs, an interest that may have started because of the political and military prominence of her father. As a child, she went with her father to a meeting with the Six Nations- the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora. The Six Nations were a large, influential alliance of Native American tribes. Negotiating with them was incredibly important to colonial New Yorkers; Eliza’s attendance at any point is worthy of attention.

Eliza met Alexander Hamilton at age 22, before the ball where Hamilton shows them meeting. As Hamilton had military duties as Washington’s aide de camp, he traveled quite a lot, but the two frequently wrote to one another. They wrote about their common interest: political and military affairs. They discussed Benedict Arnold’s treason, and Eliza asked Hamilton to plead with Washington to save spy John Andre (who she had a soft spot for) from hanging. Washington denied the request. Eliza made her mark on the beginnings of the American nation through her marriage to Hamilton. She listened to and gave feedback to Hamilton when he was writing the Federalist Papers. She likely copied the Federalist Papers for distribution, as well. She helped Hamilton write George Washington’s farewell address.

Eliza’s life was full of tragedy and she endured incredible hardships. We know that she miscarried at least once- though the couple had 8 children together. She lived in near poverty for the first part of her marriage and was supported by her sister Angelica and brother-in-law John as well as by her father. The Hamilton’s borrowed upwards of $700,000 from the Church’s. While he was the architect of the American economy, Hamilton didn’t make much money from his government positions nor did he gain a significant amount of wealth from his law practice. She endured Hamilton’s affair with Maria Reynolds and the public humiliation of his publishing the Reynolds Papers. Her eldest son Philip was killed in a duel by an associate of Aaron Burr. Her husband was killed by Aaron Burr himself.

After Hamilton’s death, Eliza was left virtually destitute. She relied on friends and family and money from the inheritance her father left her (he died soon after Hamilton). She, as a woman in the 1800s, petitioned Congress for Hamilton’s army pension, which he had originally declined.

Despite being without wealth herself, she was active in charitable organizations after Hamilton died. She founded the New York Orphan Asylum Society and founded other orphanages in New York and Washington DC. the New York Orphan Asylum Society is still functioning today under the name Graham Windham. She was also known to take in homeless children, no doubt in memory of her husband and his destitute childhood. In addition to her work with orphans, she spent the last 50 years of her life collecting and preserving Hamilton’s papers and letters. She wrote to other founders to verify the truth of events in his papers. In fact, Ron Chernow, the author of the Hamilton upon which the musical is based, said he couldn’t have accomplished such a thorough biography if not for Eliza’s work! Talk about a legacy.

Peggy

Margarita Schuyler was accomplished and popular. She was flirty and opinionated with a fiery temper. Ben Franklin described her as “wild Miss Peggy.” Peggy, like her sister Angelica, eloped. She married Stephen VanRensselear III in 1783. She was almost 30, he was only 18. His family wanted him to wait until he was older to marry, but for Peggy the wait was simply too long. She took matters into her own hands. Plus, this marriage was beneficial for both families.

There is also a rumor- some sources say it is true, others say it is a myth- that Peggy saved her infant sister Catherine from raiders in the Schuyler home during the American Revolution. When the family ran upstairs to escape the marauders, they realized they had left baby Catherine downstairs. Peggy saved her and also warded off the raiders by telling them that her father went into town to bring back reinforcements.

Peggy’s diminished character and disappearance from Act II in Hamilton is interesting, as she and Hamilton were very close friends. They corresponded frequently- and without the flirtation that occurred between him Angelica. Peggy and Hamilton truly were friends. Peggy fell ill and Hamilton’s legal practice brought him to Albany when she made a turn for the worse. He was at her deathbed and it was Hamilton who told Eliza of Peggy’s death.

This Week’s Recipe: Pickled Cucumbers

The word pickle is a variation of the Dutch word for brine: peckel. Pickles were produced and eaten in NY homes for generations and was one of several forms of food preservation before refrigeration. You most certainly would have found pickles on the menu at the Schuyler home.

Maria Van Rensselaers of the prominent Van Rensselaer family had several pickling recipes. Since they lived on the Hudson, sturgeon was fished in abundance, therefore they had a pickled sturgeon recipe. In her cookbook, she also had recipes for pickled eggs and pickled cucumbers.

George Washington was also a fan of pickled foods. Martha Washington had recipes in her “Booke of Cookery” for pickled cucumber, mackerel, and even pickled marigolds! Furthermore, pickles were a staple on military bases.
Ingredients: 7 pickling cucumbers (or 4 cucumbers if they are larger in size!), 4 cloves of sliced garlic, 20 sprigs of dill, 8c water, 1/2c cider vinegar, 1/4c sugar, 1/8c + 1tbsp of salt, 1tsp whole black peppercorns, 1tsp mustard seed, 1tsp cloves

Procedure:

1. Slice the cucumbers into spears or “chips.” Place in a bowl with garlic and dill. Set aside.
2. In a saucepan, combine water, vinegar, sugar, salt, peppercorns, mustard, and cloves. Bring to a boil and stir until sugar is dissolved.
3. Pour the liquid mixture over the cucumbers, garlic, and dill. Wait to cool.
4. Place mixture in a container for storage or you can jar these! They’ll last about 2 weeks.