Today, In 1804, Alexander Hamilton Died in Greenwich Village

I used to stay in the basement of a brownstone on Jane Street in the Village when I visited my agent or publisher in NYC. One day I noticed a plaque on the wall of the building across the street.

And thus another piece of history was revealed to me. I wonder how many people who go down that street have seen it?

Hamilton was wounded in the duel. A round to the lower abdomen that caused extensive internal damage. He knew it was a fatal wound. He was rowed across the river and lasted 24 hours.

Another odd thing about the duel. Where it took place in Jersey (Exit 3 I believe) was the same place his son had been killed in a duel three years earlier.

I did a lot of research on Hamilton for The Jefferson Allegiance. My idea for the book was that Hamilton and Jefferson, fierce political opponents, agreed on one key thing: we had to prevent an imperial president. And they both believe the Constitution wasn’t adequate for the job. So they came up with The Jefferson Allegiance. In the book, I show historical incidents where this Allegiance is brought out to reel in wayward presidents. The plot is that there is a race on now between two groups to find it– one to destroy it, the other to save it.

In my latest book, New York Minute, the main character, Will Kane, lives in the basement of a brownstone across the street from this plaque.

I wrote this some years ago and it was a #2 national bestseller at Barnes and Noble. Sometimes fiction precedes fact.

Nothing but good times ahead. I hope.