page_title: John Barker Church
section_title: Personal life
hierarchical_section_title: John Barker Church / Personal life
context_page_description: John Barker Church, a.k.a. John Carter, was an English born businessman and supplier of the Continental Army during the American Revolution. He returned to England after the Revolutionary War and served in the House of Commons from 1790 until 1796. He was known for his marriage to Angelica Schuyler Church, of the prominent American Schuyler family, and being the brother-in-law of Alexander Hamilton, who died in a duel in 1804 with Aaron Burr, with whom Church had also had a duel in 1799.
context_section_description: In 1776, Church met Angelica Schuyler (1756–1814), a daughter of General Philip Schuyler, during a visit to her father's house, the Schuyler Mansion. Knowing that her father would not bless their marriage because of his suspicions about Church's past, Angelica and John eloped in 1777. It is not clear when her parents learned of their new son-in-law's actual name, as General Schuyler complained, "Carter and my eldest daughter ran off and married on the 23rd inst. Unacquainted with his family, his connections and situation in life, the match was exceedingly disagreeable to me, and I had signified it to him."
  Together, John and Angelica had:
  Philip Schuyler Church (1778–1861), served as aide de camp to Hamilton, who married Anna Mathilda Stewart (1786–1865), daughter of General Walter Stewart; and was a founder of the Erie Canal and Erie Railroad
  Catharine "Kitty" Church (1779–1839), who married Bertram Peter Cruger (1774–1854)
  John Barker Church II (1781–1865)
  Elizabeth Matilda Church (1783–1867), who married Rudolph Bunner (1779–1837)
  Richard Hamilton Church (1785–1786), died young
  Alexander Church (1792–1803), died young
  Richard Stephen Church (1798–1889), who married Grace Church
  Angelica Church (b. 1800)
  Belvidere, the Church family estate in rural western New York, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 as a prime example of Federal style architecture.
  After the death of his wife in 1814, Church returned to England.  He died in London on April 27, 1818, after a short illness, and was buried at St. James, Piccadilly.  By this time, his estate was only worth a modest £1,500.
caption: Mrs. John Barker Church, Son Philip, and Servant, oil on canvas, John Trumbull, c. 1785
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