It was an ordinary day. Reading my daily online copy of The Caribbean Journal when I came upon a rather interesting article titled, "Alexander Hamilton's Forgotten Caribbean Island." I assume that the majority of those reading this story recognize the name Alexander Hamilton who was an American statesman, politician, legal scholar, military commander, lawyer, banker and economist. He also was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.
With that being said, Alexander Hamilton seems to have recently brought the Caribbean island of Nevis to the forefront a few years ago after the Broadway hit "Hamilton" opened. Seems that Alexander Hamilton was born in Nevis and lived there until the age of nine. He also spent a number of years living on the Caribbean island and United States territory, St. Croix, one of the US Virgin Islands. The island of Nevis remains the core of his Caribbean legacy, but recent research also shows that the island of St. Eustatius, commonly known as Statia, was also part of Alexander's childhood. The two islands are only 35 miles apart. A local island historian, Walter Hellebrand, the director of the St. Eustatius Monuments organization, began a study of the records from the island at the Dutch National Archives in The Hague and found that James Hamilton, Alexander's father, along with his wife, Rachel Faucette, and their two sons were part of the island's history, at least in the years 1763, 1764 and 1766. Mr. Hellebrand's study was called to a halt about a year ago when the COVID-19 virus struck the island. It is now somewhat assumed that the Hamiltons lived on St. Eustatius for a few years. At the time, Statia had a close relationship with the early United States and actually the island was the first to acknowledge American independence in saluting the American brig called the Andrew Doria. Seems Alexander was born out of wedlock. Another historian, Michael E. Newton, author of Discovering Hamilton, said that Alexander's father fled from British St. Kitts to Dutch St. Eustatius to excape his debtors. Alexander's mother had already served jail time on St. Croix for an extramarital affair. But, on the island of St. Eustatius, it didn't seem to be that big a deal so the Hamiltons were attracted by the island's opportunities and anonymity. And, St. Eustatius was a short flight from the much larger Sint Maarten. Until Mr. Hellebrand is able to continue his studies, we really don't know how long Alexander Hamilton and his family resided in the Caribbean. I did read about all the adventures Alexander had while being part of the United States Government. During my reading about Alexander's life, I came upon so many facts that I had never learned before about Alexander and what he was able to accomplish in his lifetime. But, there was one incident I found most interesting. It was Hamilton's duel with his nemesis Aaron Burr. The duel began at dawn on July 11, 1804, along the West Bank of the Hudson River on a rocky ledge in Weehawken, New Jersey.
The duel happened very close to the duel that claimed the life of his son Philip in 1801. Lots were cast for the choice of position and which "second" should start the duel. Both were won by Hamilton's "second" who chose the upper edge of the ledge for Hamilton facing the city to the east, toward the rising sun. The "seconds" measured the paces for Hamilton and Burr. The shot rang out and the Vice President had shot Hamilton, delivering what proved to be a fatal wound. Hamilton's shot broke a tree branch directly above Burr's head. Neither of the "seconds" could determine who fired first. Burr's shot hit Hamilton in the lower abdomen above his right hip. The bullet ricocheted off Hamilton's second or third rib, fracturing it and causing considerable damage to his internal organs. The same surgeon who had tended Hamilton's son year's earlier tended to him, but Hamilton died 31 hours later on July 12, 1804. Alexander Hamilton was buried in the Trinity Churchyard Cemetery in Manhattan, New York. My wife and I have traveled many times in the past 20 years to various places in the Caribbean, but I had never heard the story about Alexander Hamilton being born on Nevis or living on any other island in the Caribbean. But, perhaps most people living in the Caribbean may not have ever heard about it either. No one living today was born at the time Alexander Hamilton would have lived there. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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| Alexander Hamilton |
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| The duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Butt. |
The duel happened very close to the duel that claimed the life of his son Philip in 1801. Lots were cast for the choice of position and which "second" should start the duel. Both were won by Hamilton's "second" who chose the upper edge of the ledge for Hamilton facing the city to the east, toward the rising sun. The "seconds" measured the paces for Hamilton and Burr. The shot rang out and the Vice President had shot Hamilton, delivering what proved to be a fatal wound. Hamilton's shot broke a tree branch directly above Burr's head. Neither of the "seconds" could determine who fired first. Burr's shot hit Hamilton in the lower abdomen above his right hip. The bullet ricocheted off Hamilton's second or third rib, fracturing it and causing considerable damage to his internal organs. The same surgeon who had tended Hamilton's son year's earlier tended to him, but Hamilton died 31 hours later on July 12, 1804. Alexander Hamilton was buried in the Trinity Churchyard Cemetery in Manhattan, New York. My wife and I have traveled many times in the past 20 years to various places in the Caribbean, but I had never heard the story about Alexander Hamilton being born on Nevis or living on any other island in the Caribbean. But, perhaps most people living in the Caribbean may not have ever heard about it either. No one living today was born at the time Alexander Hamilton would have lived there. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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