Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-01-28
!: :: HAMILTON MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION

which win detract from the central fig-
ure. but rather to have bas-reliefs on the
I four sides. These should depict the life
| OF Hamilton from the time he was q
child until his death as great man..
st
Since the movement to erect statue
| to Hamilton was begun many sentiments
have been called forth on
| ELOQUENT various soccasions. The as
w., ISOLATION has been IN ex-
AAASosSs' istence through part OF the
terms Of two Presidents. and both have
President Taft says: ST am cordially In
sympathy with the movement to erect a
monument to the memory Of Alexander
Hamilton. and wish you all success"
/ President Roosevelt, during his admins
tfation. said: II heartily indorse the
movement in which you are engaged 1t
In little short OF q scandal that there
| should be no monument to Alexander
Hamilton in Washington, Wishing you
| all success" etc.
On the evening Of the first meeting OF
the association the late Justice Harlan
| In his address. said that ';None OF the
period deserves to be held In more afec-
tionate remembrance by lovers OF our
free institutions than Hamilton. 1t might
be deemed extravagant to affirm that we
owe the adoption OF our present Constitu-
ton to some one particular person. But
It il quite safe to say that the momentous
result was due as much to Hamilton as
any single individual in our early his
tory"
And upon the same occasion Ambassa-
dor Bryce expressed himself as believ-
ing Hamilton was thinker for the
world. one OF universal history.s excep-
tional and brilliant men. His genius is
worked into the very body and tissue OF
your institutions" Senator Lodge said
that 'He more than any other of our
early statesmen did the thinking of his
time"
Mr.. Collins in his study of Hamilton
has read not only all his works, but has
read practically every biography which
has ever been written on Hamilton. In
speaking OF HamiltOn's personal appear
ance, Mr.. Collins said that perhaps the
best description Of him was that given by
George Shea. one Of ifs biographers:
He was a small. 1.-the figure, instinct
military presence, without the intolerable
accuracy of the, martinez, and his gen.
eral address was graceful and nervous. in
dicating the beauty. energy and activity
light-colored hair: mouth infinite in ex-
preston, it's sweet smile being most OBJ
servable and most spoken of. Eyes lustrous
with meaning and reflection, or glancing with
quick, canny pleasantly, and the whole
countenance decidedly Scottish in form
and expression. He was as may be In
ferred, the welcome guest and CHEEKY
companion in all relations OF civil and
spoke Of his manner and conversation and
regretted its irresistible charm"
<
Among those having a marked interest
| in the project is DR.. Allen McLane Ham
ilton. grandson of Alex
HamiltOn's ander Hamilton and a
n-, well known physician of
uAo4uSVA' New York city. DR.. Ham,
| ilton is a son of Little Phir' Hamilton.
! who was born after his fathers death.
DR.. Hamilton has gathered together many
things which belonged to his grandfather.
chief among them being a, lock of his
hair. He has also written several books
on the subject.
Mrs. Alexander Hamilton, who was
Betsy Schuyler, lived for fifty years after
her husbands death, and died at the age
of ninety-seven. She was a resident of
Washington, and lived in a house which
occupied the site Of the present Fredonia
Hotel. One of DIR. Hamilton's cherished
! memories is having seen Mrs. Hamilton,
his grandmother.
DIR. Hamilton, however, is not the only.
admirer OF Alexander Hamilton who has
made a collection. Mr. Collins also has
been Hamilton collector. having u
library of his works and almost a COM
plete set of biographies. Mr.. Collins. too.
has lock Of Hamiltons hair. presented
copy Of the Sharples portrait of Alexander
Hamilton. which shows him when he was
comparatively young. This was consider.
ed by his wife to be his best portrait
At is Mr.. Collins belief that compare
lively little is known of Alexander Ham,
fltOn generally. AS an instance of this, he
cites case in which the subject of Ham
ilton was brought up. and to which some
one replied that all they knew Of him
was that Burr had killed him. That Mr..
Collins was himself in about the same
position at one time he is ready enough
to admit. but after having become as
familiar with Hamilton's life as he has,
he is also ready to admit that he thinks
1t q pity such ignorance should be al
lowed to go on.
Alexander Hamilton was born on the
Island of Nevis, one of the British West
Indies. January IL, 1867.
Statesman's His father was Scot.
while his mother came
Vd1So1. Of French Huguenot
stock. It is said of him that before he
was five he astonished his parents one
day by mounting table and repeating
the decalogue in Hebrew. He left the
West Indies the latter part of 1772, and
proceeded to New York where he was
student two years later at Kings, now
Columbia, College. Before his eighteenth
year ended, his reputation as an orator
and writer was established. During the
revolutionary war he became the friend
OF Washington. and following the strug-
gle hamilton was largely instrumental in
framing the Constitution. Later he be-
, came Secretary of the Treasury under
Washington Among his political enemies
was Aaron Burr. then Vice President of
the United States. After watching for an
opportunity to bring matters to a head.
Burr succeeded in making Hamilton ac-
cept a challenge to fight, tie affair grow
ing out Of some trivial remark of Ham,
ilton's, upon which Burr cOntrived to en-
large. They met early on the morning of
July II, 1904, at a sequestered place be-
meath the hills of Weehawken, opposite
New York. Hamilton was MORALLY
wounded at the first fire. and died the
next day, in the forty-eighth year of his
On the eleventh day Of the present
month, the 155th anniversary of Hamil-
toms BIRTH the Alexander Hamilton Ma
tional Memorial Association held a meet
isg in this city. DR.. Hamilton was
present and made an address on the
Human or Family Side of Hamilton"
while Henry D. Esterbrook and Repre-
sentative Mccall of Massachusetts, also
made addresses.