Her upbringing instilled in her a strong and unwavering faith she would retain throughout her life. Like most Dutch families of the area, her family belonged to the Reformed Dutch Church of Albany, which still stands however, the original 1715 building, where Elizabeth was baptized and attended services, was demolished in 1806. Despite the unrest of the French and Indian War, which her father served in and which was fought in part near her childhood home, Eliza's childhood was spent comfortably, learning to read and sew from her mother. Like many landowners of the time, Philip Schuyler owned slaves, and Eliza would have grown up around slavery.

Her family was among the wealthy Dutch landowners who had settled around Albany in the mid-1600s, and both her mother and father came from wealthy and well-regarded families. She had seven siblings who lived to adulthood, including Angelica Schuyler Church and Margarita 'Peggy' Schuyler Van Rensselaer, but she had 14 siblings altogether. The Van Rensselaers of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck were one of the richest and most politically influential families in the state of New York. She is recognized as an early American philanthropist for her work with the Orphan Asylum Society.Įlizabeth was born in Albany, New York, the second daughter of Continental Army General Philip Schuyler, a Revolutionary War general, and Catherine Van Rensselaer Schuyler. Married to American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, she was a defender of his works and co-founder and deputy director of Graham Windham, the first private orphanage in New York City. Elizabeth Hamilton (née Schuyler / ˈ s k aɪ l ər/ Aug– Novem), also called Eliza or Betsey, was an American socialite and philanthropist.

Eliza schuyler hamilton