![]() Then, of course, there's the hair itself. In other words, James Alexander would not have given away his father's hair lightly. The MHS's mention of James Alexander being "of Nevis" is a reference to his sizable country house on the Hudson River that he named Nevis in honor of the Caribbean Island that was his father's birthplace. Then look at the example of Alexander Hamilton's signature, below: it certainly appears that at some point the grieving son borrowed his father's distinctive signature and made it his own, a small, poignant homage. Look more closely at the the inscription beneath the hair, and compare the two way he's written his father's name, and then how he's signed his own. Born in 1788, he was only sixteen when his father died, yet throughout his life he vigorously defended his father's reputation against numerous detractors. James Alexander Hamilton was the third son of Alexander and Eliza Hamilton. The hair of his father, Alexander Hamilton, would probably have been cut soon after his death in 1804, following his fatal duel with Aaron Burr - sixty years before its presentation to Mrs. Washington's hair had most likely been given to his mother or father at the time of the general's death in 1799. Andrews must have welcomed the gift of hair belonging to two of the Founding Fathers - men who had helped create the original United States that the Union forces had just fought so hard to secure.īut the hair must have been treasured by James A. Andrew and her husband were ardent abolitionists, and Governor Andrew had been responsible for authorizing the 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry in 1863 as soon as President Lincoln had permitted the enlistment of African-American soldiers. ![]() The American Civil War had just ended, and the Union forces had won. This gift would have had special significance in the fall of 1865. ![]() Hamilton of Nevis, to Eliza Jones Hersey Andrew (1826-1898), the wife of Massachusetts' Civil War Governor John Albion Andrew (1818-1867) on October 27, 1865." The hair is affixed to writing paper by red shellac seals, and the inscriptions are by James A. The strands of hair at the top belonged to Alexander Hamilton, the first United States Secretary of the Treasury , while the strands on the bottom were from General George Washington, the first President of the United States and "The Father of his Country."Īs the Society's records note: "Given by Alexander Hamilton's son, James A. Even though these two were surrounded by dozens of other examples, they stood out, and would have been prized for a number of reasons. I saw these two wisps of hair, above, framed together in the collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society. ![]() Famous hair was collected and treasured as a tangible reminder of a more glorious past. It was history, a surviving reminder of a notable man or woman. Whether cut while the person was alive or dead, the hair could be elaborately woven or braided, preserved under glass or incorporated into jewelry, or simply tied with a ribbon or thread and tucked away as a precious memento.īut hair from from a famous head became more than a mourning memento. In the days before photographs, a lock of a loved one's hair was often the single most lasting link that the living could have with the deceased.
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