An Amorous Connection: Alexander Hamilton and the Affair that Shook the Nation

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past several years, one knows that the life of Alexander Hamilton has been blowing up all over the world. That is in large part due to the wildly successful musical Hamilton: An American Musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda, which was based off of the biography Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. Now, I am not in the least bit ashamed to admit that I am obsessed with the Hamilton musical, and when I was chosen for an internship at Morristown National Historical Park, I knew I wanted to work on something involving Alexander Hamilton for my intern project.

The only issue was that Jude Pfister, Chief of Cultural Resources, my Intern Supervisor, advised me that a previous intern had already done a research project on Alexander Hamilton in the summer of 2017. So what could I do that was different? Discussing my options with Jude he casually brought up the fact that in the Morristown National Historical Park Collection there was the original manuscript of Alexander Hamilton’s Observation’s on Certain Documents. My mind began to turn at the possibilities I could create all from this one collection of documents that is more commonly known as the Reynolds Pamphlet.

Oh, where to begin with the Reynolds Pamphlet? I thought nothing could be as insane as today’s political sex scandals, then I actually started my research on the Hamilton-Reynolds Affair and oh boy was I surprised. Nothing, and I mean nothing, could compare to the craziness that was the Hamilton-Reynolds Affair.

Let us start at the beginning. In the summer of 1791, Maria Reynolds one day stopped by Alexander Hamilton’s house in need of help. She went to him claiming her husband, James Reynolds, had beaten her, took their money, left her without any connections and had run off. Hamilton, always known for his generous nature, had agreed to give her some money. That night, the date of which is unknown, Hamilton walked to the Reynolds house to give her a bank bill, and that is when the affair began.

When Eliza Hamilton took her children up to Albany for the summer to visit her father, Philip Schuyler, after the fourth of July 1791, Hamilton now had the luxury of bringing Mrs. Reynolds to his home in Philadelphia. When Eliza and the children came back home in the fall, Hamilton resumed seeing Maria at her home in Philadelphia. Everything remained quiet until December 1791 when Hamilton received a letter from James dated December 15^th 1791, in which Reynolds said he was aware of the affair between Hamilton and his wife. The two met that evening.

On December 17^th, 1791, Hamilton received another letter from James Reynolds demanding compensation for ruining his marriage and requested another meeting or Reynolds threatened to tell Eliza everything. The two met the next day where Hamilton agreed to pay Reynolds a sum of one thousand dollars in two different installments. This began several months of extortion against Hamilton for varying amounts of money.

In January of 1792, Hamilton, realizing he had been duped by James and Maria, and unsuccessfully tried to end the affair with Maria. To make matters worse, a new player came onto the scene. Jacob Clingman, a friend of James Reynolds, discovered the affair between Hamilton and Maria after Hamilton was seen leaving the Reynolds house and paying a call to Mrs. Reynolds when Hamilton believed no one else was home. Reynolds continued to blackmail Hamilton during the Spring of 1792. Though many scholars believe that James Reynolds was not working alone in extorting money from Hamilton, but that James and Maria were conspiring together to extort money from Treasury Secretary Hamilton.

While the extortion continued through the Spring of 1792, Reynolds, in a unexpected and confusing move, wrote to Hamilton on May 2, 1792 telling him that he could never see his wife again, effectively ending the affair between Hamilton and Maria Reynolds.

In his biography, Chernow describes this as Hamilton’s wake up moment when he realized and just how disastrous this scandal could be to his political public image and his legal career if the affair was ever leaked. On June 2, 1792, Reynolds wrote Hamilton renewing his demand for money even though a month before he had told Hamilton to end the affair with his wife, which he did end. Hamilton did not respond to the initial letter but Reynolds wrote him a second time. Feeling his hand forced, Hamilton paid Reynolds for what would be the last time.

The next few weeks passed peacefully for Hamilton and his family until the end of August 1792. On August 22, 1792 Eliza gave birth to their fifth child, John Church Hamilton. Two days later on August 24, 1792 Hamilton was shocked to receive a letter from Reynolds demanding money. When Reynolds received no reply, he sent another letter demanding a smaller amount. Once again, Hamilton did not reply. Months passed and Hamilton believed that the stressful ordeal was finally over until Fall arrived, and with it a new set of problems.  

In mid-November 1792, Jacob Clingman and James Reynolds were charged with defrauding the United States Government for the amount of $400. Now that may not seem like a substantial amount of money, but by today’s current rates that would equal over $10,000. The United States Treasury Department filed these charges and because of that, James Reynolds suspected that it was somehow Hamilton, who was Treasury Secretary, doing this to him in order to get back at him for his numerous blackmail threats. Reynolds wrote to Hamilton twice from jail asking for help, but Hamilton never replied.

The matter probably would have dropped there if it had not been for Jacob Clingman, Reynolds’ partner in crime. While Reynolds pleaded for help from Hamilton, Jacob Clingman wrote to his former boss, Frederick Muhlenberg, a member of the House of Representatives from Pennsylvania, for his help. Muhlenberg came to Clingman’s aid and was successful getting him out of jail, but he did not do the same for Reynolds. Again, the matter would have dropped there but Clingman kept suggesting to Muhlenberg that he and Reynolds had some very interesting information on Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton.

Congrats to BONJ Conductor, Dr. Robert Butts

Congratulations to Morristown NHP partner and collaborator

Dr. Robert W. Butts

Music Director and Conductor of the Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey

On being recognized by the Morris County Chamber of Commerce

With an Excellence Award in the Not For Profit field as an
Exemplary Leader in the revenue under $1 million category.

Maestro Butts is a well-known figure in the community for leading the Baroque Orchestra for over twenty years. He has been collaborating with Morristown NHP for over ten years, directing multiple performances of works by Scarlatti and other famous composers, as well as works which he himself wrote. We congratulate Maestro Butts and look forward to working with him in the future.

Maison Trio Morristown on May 26

   

Chamber Music Concert by the Maison Trio

Elly Toyoda, Violin; Suejin Jung, Piano; Issei Herr, Cello

 

1 pm, Sunday, May 26, 2019

Morristown NHP’s Museum

30 Washington Place

Morristown, New Jersey   07960

Free Admission

Morristown, NJ – Please join Morristown National Historical Park (NHP) as it welcomes for the first time the Maison Trio. The trio will present a chamber music concert at 1 pm on Sunday, May 26, 2019. The free event will be in Morristown NHP's Museum, 30 Washington Place, Morristown, New Jersey.

Consisting of Elly Toyoda on the violin, Suejin Jung on the piano, and Issei Herr on cello, the Maison Trio will perform works by Beethoven and Mendelssohn. For the program, Dr. Jung will play the park’s 1873 Steinway Grand piano.

For more information on the concert, contact Chief of Cultural Resources, Dr. Jude Pfister at email: jude_pfister@nps.gov.