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.
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 15th
1791, in which Reynolds said he was aware of the affair between Hamilton and
his wife. The two met that evening.
On December 17th, 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.
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.
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.
Jacob Clingman kept bringing this interesting information
up and Muhlenberg decided to investigate and enlisted the help of Senator James
Monroe, and Abraham Venable, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from
Virginia, to help him investigate the matter.
On December 12, 1792, Monroe and
Muhlenberg visited Maria Reynolds seeking information. At this point in time
they knew nothing about the affair between Hamilton and Maria. They only came
to speak with Maria to see if she knew anything about Hamilton acting with
James Reynolds and Jacob Clingman to extort money from the United States
Government. To make matters worse, shortly after meeting with Maria Reynolds,
James Reynolds was released from prison in December of 1792, and promptly fled
to avoid the charges against him. This action made Muhlenberg, Monroe, and
Venable even more suspicious that something might be going on. The three of
them put all of their information together and were ready to present all they
had to President George Washington.
Though, since it was the
late 18th century and honor and a man’s good character were very
important, even if you were about to expose someone for extortion, it was a
sign of good faith to let the person know about it. On December 15, 1792,
Muhlenberg, Monroe, and Venable dropped by Hamilton’s house intending to
confront him with the evidence that he and James Reynolds were in collusion
together to defraud the United States Treasury.
At this point in the musical, which I had the pleasure to
see with my mother, there is a song titled “We Know” in which Thomas Jefferson,
Aaron Burr, and James Madison confront Hamilton with evidence of the supposed
extortion. Now in real life it was really Muhlenberg, Venable, and Monroe but
it is a musical so artistic liberties are bound to be taken. During this song
Hamilton presents the letters exchanged between him and Reynolds and tells the
men that he had an affair with Mrs. Reynolds and had nothing to do with fraud.
There is a moment in the song were Burr reads aloud the letter of Reynolds
finding out about the relationship between him and his wife. This shocks the
men, obviously as Hamilton goes on to describe the situation. When he is
finished all three of the men stand there and after a moment Jefferson exclaims
“My God!” as he shakes his head and walks away.
The complete irony of this situation is Jefferson being
shocked at Hamilton’s affair when in reality, Jefferson was engaging in his own
long-standing affair with Sally Hemmings, one of his slaves, and fathered
several children with her. So the artistic exaggeration of Jefferson being
appalled of Hamilton’s affair in “We Know” is not that hard of an exaggeration
to think about.
But back to the actual real-life event of the Reynold’s Affair.
Once Hamilton actually started talking about the whole
affair he could not stop. He told the three men everything and showed them all
of the correspondence between him and James Reynolds. By the time the evening
came to an end, the three men were convinced that no, Hamilton had not
committed the act of defrauding the United States Government with James
Reynolds. He had only committed the act of adultery with the man’s wife. The four
men promised to keep everything that had transpired a secret. But surprise!
That did not happen. Partly though, one could say Hamilton was to blame.
Two days after the meeting between the four men, Hamilton
had asked for copies of the documents that had been presented to him which in
the long run proved to be not the smartest idea. This then allowed the three
men to make more copies of the documents and Monroe gave this task to John
Beckley, a Jeffersonian loyalist and the clerk of the House of Representatives,
who in turn made Hamilton’s copies but also made copies of the papers for
himself. For decades, Monroe would adamantly deny that he had not broken the
confidentiality pledge he had made to Hamilton and provided Beckley with the
documents to copy.
Near the end of his life Monroe would admit that yes, he had retained the original papers of the meeting that had been presented to Hamilton and that he had given the papers to a friend. That friend was most likely future President Thomas Jefferson, and one of Hamilton’s bitterest rivals.
To add more salt into Hamilton’s wound of having his
affair discovered and being accused of defrauding the United States Government,
Monroe decided to subtly dig the knife a little deeper. On January 5, 1793,
Monroe published his latest installment of the “Vindication of Mr. Jefferson”
making a not-so-subtle threat to Hamilton that he would not hesitate to expose
the Reynolds affair if he needed to.
For a moment let us switch back to Maria Reynolds life.
In May 1793, she had decided that she had, had enough of her husband James and
filed for divorce. Her lawyer was Aaron Burr. At this point of my research this
started to feel less like a major historical event in someone’s life and more
like a period piece soap opera. On the same day her divorce from James Reynolds
was official, Maria, not wasting any time, promptly married Jacob Clingman
making this all come full circle in such an odd way.
Spring forward four years to the summer of 1797, Hamilton
had now retired from his role as Treasury Secretary and was ready for a
relaxing summer with his family. Unfortunately that was not going to happen.
Starting in June 1797, James Thomas Callender began to
publish The History of the United States
for 1796 a series of pamphlets for the public.
Callender,
in his first pamphlet, promised to publish documents pertaining to one
Alexander Hamilton, and his unlawful conduct against the United States Treasury
while he was Treasury Secretary. These threats did not become a reality until
pamphlet number five was published which once again brought up the false
charges of misconduct and extortion. Only this time it was brought to the
public’s attention. To make matters worse, along with the accusations,
Callender cited the letters between James Reynolds, Jacob Clingman, and
Hamilton as proof of Hamilton’s misconduct while he was Treasury Secretary.
Firing
back against the slander towards his name Hamilton, on July 8, 1797 published a
letter in the “Gazette of the United States” and admitted that yes, there was
authenticity to the letters between him, Reynolds, and Clingman but it was not
what it appeared to be. Hamilton went on to write that the charges against him
were false and misleading. Hamilton, who had suspicions in the past that Monroe
had leaked the truth about his affair, had no doubt now that James Monroe was
the one who was responsible for this information being released.
Callender
meant to destroy Hamilton’s political career with the publication of his series
of pamphlets and Monroe indirectly gave him everything Callender needed to do
that.
Once Callender published his The History of the United States for 1796 Hamilton now had to make a choice. He could chose to let the situation go on without interruption and let the American people think he had some way or another colluded with Reynolds and Clingman to extort money from the United States Government. Or, Hamilton could tell the truth and let everyone know about his affair with Maria Reynolds and show that was why there was correspondence between James Reynolds, Clingman, and himself.
Hamilton knew the humiliation that would be heaped upon not only him but his wife and children as well. He understood that the public’s persona of him would be altered if the scandal came to light, but to Hamilton that humiliation would be worth it for the public to know the truth. Hamilton was a man of pride and for him to be accused of publicly defrauding the United States Government was something he could not let stand. Even if there was some minor-well minor is what he believed-backlash then it would be worth it to exonerate his good name.
Unfortunately though, his good name would get dragged through the mud, and not in a minor way. His close friends knew this, and those he confided the situation to, strongly advised Hamilton to not go public with the affair. But Hamilton did not listen to their well-placed concerns and decided to plow ahead the only way he knew how: to write.
In mid-July 1797 Hamilton holed up in a Philadelphia boarding house with his friend Congressman William Loughton Smith of South Carolina to write down the whole event of the affair and put his sins to paper. The result was a ninety-five page booklet consisting of thirty-seven personal confessions, supplemented by fifty-eight pages of letters and affidavits from the affair.
Thanks to the musical, the general public now knows the booklet as “The Reynolds Pamphlet” for the song in the musical with the same title. In reality Alexander Hamilton, always one to go overboard on explanations, titled the full booklet Observations on Certain Documents contained in No.V & VI of ‘The History of the United States for the Year 1796’ in which the Charge of Speculation against Alexander Hamilton, Late Treasury Secretary of the Treasury is Fully Refuted. Written by Himself.
We
can see why now the nickname “The Reynolds Pamphlet” caught on.
In
writing his booklet Hamilton’s strategy was simple. He was prepared to sacrifice
his private life and reputation to preserve his public persona and honor. But
in doing what Hamilton believed in his mind to be the right thing to do, it not
surprisingly, ended by blowing up in his face.
Before
the pamphlet even was published though, controversy and chaos ensued in the
summer of 1797 between Alexander Hamilton and James Monroe. After Callender’s The History of the United States for 1796
was published for public viewing, it became clear to Hamilton that someone had
released his private documents to Callender. Now from December 1792, Hamilton
knew that he had never shared his
documents with anyone except Monroe, Venable, and Muhlenberg, but now it was
painfully obvious that one of them did. Hamilton put his suspicions on James
Monroe as the leaker of the papers and the information.
After
The History of the United States for 1796
was published Hamilton wrote to Muhlenberg, Venable, and Monroe asking for a
meeting with the three men to personally ask them if they had kept the affair a
secret, which he knew one of them did not. When Monroe did not respond right
away, Hamilton saw this as an admission of guilt. Hamilton believed that Monroe
wanted to stall the meeting so that he could meet with Venable and Muhlenberg
first to get their stories straight.
When
Monroe failed to reply to the proposed meeting, Hamilton sent another letter to
just Monroe on July 10, 1797 asking for a meeting. The next day on July 11th
the two met, but not alone. Hamilton brought his brother-in-law, John B. Church
to the meeting, while Monroe brought his friend David Gelston. To say the
meeting was a disaster is an understatement, Chernow describes it as a kind of
knock-down, all out showdown between Monroe and Hamilton. The meeting ended
with Hamilton calling for a duel with Monroe, to which Monroe responded that he
was ready for one and for Hamilton to get his pistols. While the meeting almost
ended with blows and the promise of a duel, neither came to pass.
The
rest of July 1797, Hamilton repeatedly told Monroe that he was willing and
ready for a duel, to which Monroe always responded with the 18th
century version of “bring it” but the duel never happened and the controversy
faded for the time being.
By early August 1797, both Hamilton and Monroe denied wanting to duel
with each other, but if the occasion called for it the both of them would,
because now it was not about justice but honor. On August 6, 1797, Monroe
enlisted the help of one Aaron Burr to try and avoid another potential duel
with Hamilton. After enlisting Burr’s help, Monroe told Hamilton that he had no
intention of challenging him to a duel. With this information Hamilton
temporarily backed down, and the two made a sort of truce. Hamilton knew that
any further action on his part would be received as improper.
While
Monroe and Hamilton were going back and forth on a possible duel that was to
never take place, Hamilton was preparing for the publication of “The Reynold’s
Pamphlet.” On July 31, 1797, the first advertisement for Hamilton’s pamphlet
appeared in the “Gazette of the United States.” However, the full, actual
pamphlet was not published until almost a month later on August 25, 1797. The
gap in publishing the pamphlet probably had to do due with the fact that Eliza
was pregnant with their sixth child. It was not until after August 4, 1797,
when William Stephen Hamilton was born, that Hamilton made plans to go ahead
and publish “The Reynolds Pamphlet.”
In reading Chernow’s biography of Hamilton he points out something interesting of Hamilton’s family. As the years progressed when Hamilton was alive and even after his death, the family never really placed much blame on him for the affair. Yes, they knew he was at fault for his own actions, and yes, publishing the pamphlet was a fatal error in trying to clear his name of misdealings within the United States Treasury. However, the family was not so forgiving of Monroe, who they blamed for the betrayal and underhanded dealings against Hamilton. Years after Hamilton’s death when Monroe retired from the presidency he paid a call to Eliza to try and make a mends. He received icy reception from Mrs. Hamilton and the two never exchanged words again.
In the years that followed the Reynolds pamphlet, Hamilton yearned for a change of pace and fulfilled a promise to spend more time with his family. In August 1800, Jacob Schieffelin sold the Hamilton’s an adjoining fifteen acre parcel with a two-hundred-foot elevated view in Harlem Heights, New York. From Samuel Bradhurst, Hamilton bought another twenty acres of land and begun to build his New York retreat. He called it the Grange and the two-story home was completed by the summer of 1802 near the corner of present-day West 143rd Street and Convent Avenue. The Grange was later moved south where it rests in Saint Nicholas Park in Manhattan for preservation purposes.
Hamilton built the Grange with his rather large family in mind, so that it could comfortably occupy himself, Eliza, and their seven children. The home ushered in a new era for the family and a new stage in their lives as a quiet place of country living at their scenic retreat. The Grange held special meaning for the Hamilton’s because for the first time the large family could take a step back and be a whole family. Because of Hamilton’s political and public career often keeping him from Eliza and the children, the Grange functioned as a true first-time home for the family.
Chernow writes “Hamilton’s children tended to remember their father at the Grange, partly because they were older then and partly because it was there that they had the full attention of a man whose life had been hectic and distracted by controversy.” (pg 644) In the last years of his life Hamilton spent as much time as possible at the Grange, savoring the peaceful tranquility alongside his family. Hamilton himself said this about his country retreat “To men who have been so much harassed in the busy world as myself, it is natural to look forward to a comfortable retirement in the sequel of life as a principal desideratum. This desire I have felt in the strongest manner and to prepare for it has already been a favourite object.” (pg 693)
The Morristown National Historical Park in its collection has one of the sofas that resided in Hamilton’s Grange household, which will also be put on display next to the exhibit case in the Lloyd Smith Gallery for the public to see.
One would think that false accusations of extortion and the public publishing of a man’s sins in order to try to save his good name, would effectively end a political career. What people do not realize is that it did not and in Hamilton’s case, even multiple near duels with a future president could not dent his reputation. The Reynolds Affair actual did not do any lasting damage to Hamilton’s public image, nor did it stop the people from consulting with him to get his political opinions on what was best for the country. Did it create a stain on the man’s everlasting legacy? Yes, but it has now been shown as meager compared to his lasting creations. This man was a driving force in the American Revolution and in creation of the nation that we know now. He was a staple of political creation and power during both Washington’s presidency and Adams’ Administration. The only reason he was pushed from public minds and history after his death was his enemies slandering his name and legacy so much to the point that as the years progressed that people just knew Alexander Hamilton as the man on the ten dollar bill.
Even though artistic liberties were taken, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical Hamilton: An American Musical helped bring Alexander Hamilton’s life back into the public spotlight. Using Ron Chernow’s biography, Alexander Hamilton, as a backbone and historical reference, Lin-Manuel Miranda brought back to life one of America’s forgotten founding fathers. Miranda did not shy away from trying to cover Hamilton’s whole story, he included both the positive and negative aspects of the man’s life, one of those incidents being the affair with Maria Reynolds and the subsequent publishing of the Reynolds Pamphlet. Miranda knew that Hamilton was not a saint and instead of romanticizing his life, chose to show the truth of it.
Alexander Hamilton lived his life in a bold and unapologetic way. He was always a man of words as much as action, and he knew that if one was to make a mark on history one needed to be daring and unafraid. The creation of this exhibit was not to further slander a man’s mistakes in life. It was to bring attention to the historical events of one extraordinary man’s life. To show that even remarkable men are not infallible. Even Hamilton knew this as he once said “I never expect perfect work from an imperfect man.” Alexander Hamilton knew that he was not a perfect man, but like many tried his best, did not shy away from the consequences, and risked everything to make the truth known.
Sources:
Manuscripts:
Lloyd W. Smith Collection, Morristown National Historical Park, Morristown, New
Jersey.
Other
Information:
Chernow,
Ron. Alexander Hamilton. New York, NY: Penguin Press, 2004.
"Hamilton
Grange National Memorial (U.S. National Park Service)." National Parks
Service. October 14, 2018. Accessed May 21, 2019.
https://www.nps.gov/hagr/index.htm.
Serratore,
Angela. "Alexander Hamilton's Adultery and Apology." Smithsonian.com.
July 25, 2013. Accessed
April 18, 2019. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/alexander- hamiltons-adultery-and-apology-18021947/.
Written by Katlyn Calamito
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