Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton
Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton (August 9, 1757-November 9, 1854) was the co-founder and longtime directress of the New York Orphan Asylum Society and the wife of Alexander Hamilton. Born into the wealthy and influential Schuyler family, she was the second of eight surviving children. Hamilton was a friend of Martha Washington’s, as well as many other well-known women of her day. She married Alexander Hamilton in 1780, and they would ultimately have eight children together. Their marriage lasted twenty-four years, despite his admitted infidelity with another woman, ending only with his untimely death in the infamous duel with Aaron Burr.
After her husband’s death Hamilton remained dedicated to preserving his legacy, working to ensure his biography would be written and establishing his authorship of Washington’s Farewell Address. In addition, she helped to found the Orphan Asylum Society in 1806, and, first as second directress and later as first directress, oversaw the construction of a children’s orphanage as well as a school she founded in Upper Manhattan. She lived to the age of ninety-seven, having retained her role as first directress of the OAS until only six years before her death.
(Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton’s Wikipedia page had been extensively edited recently by the RWP. If you have anything to add to it, go ahead!)
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