Angelica Schuyler Church

Early life

Angelica Schuyler was born in Albany, New York; the eldest child of Philip Schuyler and Catherine Van Rensselaer Schuyler. Both parents came from wealthy Dutch families prominent since early colonial days. Catherine was a descendant of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, one of the founders of New Netherlands. The Schuylers were also fourth-generation residents. She had seven siblings who lived to adulthood, including Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, Margarita "Peggy" Schuyler Van Rensselaer and Philip Jeremiah Schuyler.

Angelica came of age during the troubled times leading up to the American Revolution, and met many of the prominent revolutionary leaders. Because of her father's rank and political stature, the Schuyler house in Albany was the scene of many meetings and war councils. One of the visitors, in 1776, was John Barker Church, a British-born merchant who made a fortune during the war supplying the American and French armies. At the time of their meeting and subsequent courtship, Church was on a mission from the Continental Congress to audit army supply records. Knowing that her father would not bless their marriage because of his suspicions about Church's past, Angelica and John eloped in 1777. In 1783, she and her family left for Europe, not to return to New York until 1797.

Angelica and John had eight children together. They were:

Life in Europe

From 1783 until 1785, Angelica and her family lived in Paris while John performed his duties as a U.S. envoy to the French government. Angelica never failed to enchant the famous, intelligent men she met; and in Paris she soon befriended the venerable Benjamin Franklin, U.S. Ambassador to France. She also developed lasting friendships with Franklin's successor, Thomas Jefferson, and with the Marquis de Lafayette.

After a brief visit to New York in 1785, the family sailed for England, taking up residence in London. Now the wife of a very wealthy man, Angelica entered a fashionable social circle that included the Prince of Wales, Whig party leader Charles James Fox, and playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan. She also befriended and sponsored emigré American painter John Trumbull, who went on to create some of the most famous paintings of the Revolutionary War era. Artist Maria Cosway also numbered among her European acquaintances with whom she kept a correspondence which is now held at the University of Virginia's archive.

Always an American at heart, Angelica made a visit in 1789 to attend the inauguration of George Washington as the nation's first president.

Return to America and founding of Angelica, N.Y.

John and Angelica Church finally returned to the U.S. in May 1797 to be reunited with her family in New York. In lieu of capital, the young country repaid the loan from John Barker Church for funding the Revolutionary army with 100,000 acres of land in western New York. To take possession of the land, his son Philip traveled to the area of what is today Allegany and Genesee counties, near the Pennsylvania border. Philip Church selected the specific acreage, along the Genesee River, with his surveyor Moses Van Campen. The planned village was laid out with the plots and design to be reminiscent of Paris, France (a circular drive in the center, streets coming to that drive to form a star, and five churches situated around the circle). In the center of the circular drive is the village park. Philip named his planned village Angelica, after his mother.

The historian John S. Minard wrote of the town's establishment in Allegany County and Its People (1896):

The town was formed by an act of the Legislature, passed Feb. 25, 1805, and described as "being in width twelve miles," just that of the Morris Reserve, and in length "from south to north extending thirty-four miles from the Pennsylvania line," taking in about two-thirds of the towns of Granger and Grove. It was taken from Leicester, and when erected was a part of Genesee county. (The village had been founded three or four years before, and named by Capt. Philip Church for his mother, Angelica, the eldest daughter of Gen. Philip Schuyler.

Philip left to marry Anna Matilda Stewart, daughter of General Walter Stewart (founder of the Erie Canal and Erie Railroad) in Philadelphia. For their honeymoon, they traveled first by boat, then by raft as far west as Bath, New York, then on horseback to the banks of the Genesee River. They constructed a small house, soon to be whitewashed and known as the "white house". In 1804, they had their mansion built (known as "Belvidere"). It still stands on the banks of the Genesee near Angelica, New York.

Correspondence and relationship with Jefferson and Hamilton

A series of letters Angelica Church received from Jefferson, Hamilton, George Washington, and the Marquis de Lafayette were kept in her family's possession until they were sold to the University of Virginia for $275,000 in 1996. The letters from Jefferson were of particular interest to the University, as it was he who founded the university almost 200 years earlier. In one note Jefferson wrote:

Think of it, my friend, and let us begin a negotiation on the subject. You shall find in me all the spirit of accommodation with which Yoric began his with the fair Piedmontese.

This is an allusion to a sexually charged scene in Laurence Sterne's popular novel A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy in which "Parson Yorick" has to negotiate sleeping arrangements when obliged to share a room with an attractive Italian woman and her maid.

Angelica's correspondence with Hamilton, now preserved in the Library of Congress, demonstrates a strong affection between them. There has long been speculation that she may have had a romantic and possibly sexual relationship with Hamilton. Hamilton biographer Ron Chernow notes that "the attraction between Hamilton and Angelica was so potent and obvious that many people assumed they were lovers. At the very least, theirs was a friendship of unusual ardor..."

One letter sent to Angelica's sister Elizabeth, Hamilton's wife, is suggestive of a relationship, but likely an innocent joke between sisters. Speaking of Elizabeth's husband, Angelica wrote to her:

...if you were as generous as the old Romans, you would lend him to me for a little while.

Despite a flirtatious attitude that fueled contemporary gossip, there is no conclusive evidence that Angelica's relationship with Hamilton ever went beyond a strong affinity between in-laws and the devotion that the whole Schuyler family showed to Alexander throughout his life. This, as well as the sisters' mutual affection and Angelica's 14 years absence from America, speak against any impropriety that would have hurt Elizabeth.

In popular culture

Angelica is a prominent featured role in the Tony-winning musical Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Renée Elise Goldsberry originated the role of Angelica in the show's off-Broadway and Broadway productions, and won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance. Angelica is portrayed in the show as extraordinarily witty and intelligent, and is notably featured in songs such as "Satisfied" and "The Schuyler Sisters". The show explores her relationship with Hamilton, including the "lend him to me" letter noted above. Angelica is currently portrayed in the Broadway company of Hamilton by Mandy Gonzalez, in the Chicago company by Montego Glover, and in the touring company of Hamilton (currently in L.A) by Emmy Raver-Lampman.