From Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Hamilton, [19 July 1797]
To Elizabeth Hamilton
[Philadelphia, July 19, 1797]
The affair, My Dearest Eliza, upon which I came here has come to a close.1 But unavoidable delays in bringing it to this point & the necessity of communicating the result must very much against my will keep me here till the departure of the mail stage tomorrow, which will restore me to my Betsey on the day following. I need not tell her how very happy I shall be to return to her embrace and to the company of our beloved Angelica.2 I am very anxious about you both, you for an obvious reason, and her because Mr. Church mentioned in a letter to me,3 that she complained of a sore throat. Let me charge you and her to be well and happy, for you comprize all my felicity
Adieu Angel
A H
Give my Love to Mr. Church & tell him my moments have been too much employed to write to him. I have not been inattentive to his business.4
Mrs.
ALS, Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress.
1. H had gone to Philadelphia to confer with James Monroe and Frederick A. C. Muhlenberg about the revival of charges that H had speculated in public funds. See the introductory note to Oliver Wolcott, Jr., to H, July 3, 1797; “David Gelston’s Account of an Interview between Alexander Hamilton and James Monroe,” July 11, 1797.
An entry in H’s Cash Book, 1795–1804, for July 25, 1797, reads: “Account of Expences—Dr. to Cash pd expences to & from Philadelphia 60.” A second entry under the date of March, 1798, reads: “Expences Dr. to Cash paid for do. sometime since at Philadelphia 100” (AD, Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress).
2. Angelica Church, Elizabeth Hamilton’s sister.
4. H is referring to Church’s land transactions with Tench Coxe. See the introductory note to Coxe to H, February 13, 1795.