I tracked down his grave while doing research for a book, The Jefferson Allegiance, which has as the premise that Hamilton and Jefferson brokered a secret agreement to stop an imperial Presidency that they felt wasn’t covered under the power of the Constitution,
Pretty prescient of me, don’t you think?
I tracked down his grave in the place I figured most likely: Trinity Church Graveyard.
It’s located at 74 Trinity Place, next to the church in the financial district of Manhattan, near the very southern end. Broadway and Wall Street.
It’s an interesting place to stroll through. It opened in 1697, so it has a lot of history in it.
Three years before Hamilton was interred there, his son, Philip was laid to rest after losing a duel with someone who made crude remarks about his father. There is some sad irony there. Worse, no one knows where exactly his son was buried. He’s in the registry but there is no marker. This might be because of the nature of his death, but then it seems odd that his father was given a marker. There’s a story there.
One thing I’ve learned is there are LOTS of people buried in the city, and not in graveyards. An example of that is later on when I talk about the African Burial Ground Memorial.
Author Collection
Other notables buried there: Hamilton’s wife, Elizabeth Schuyler, who lived to 97 and died in 1854.
Albert Gallatin, who founded NYU and was Secretary of the Treasury.
The inventor, Robert Fulton, also resides in Trinity Graveyard. He led a most interesting life. He created the first submarine and torpedo. And the first commercially successful steamboat which revolutionized water travel.
What is also worth noting is who isn’t buried there. But that’s another post.
Excerpted from: New York City Little Black Book 1: Secrets, History, and Trivia of the World’s Greatest City.
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