Composure in Death. A discourse, delivered in the Orphan Asylum, New-York, on the death of Sarah Hoffman, first directress of the institution…to which are added, a sketch of her benevolent exertions in favour of the widow and the orphan. – comprising the history of the Widows’ Society, and the Orphan Asylum...
New York: Published for the Benefit of the Orphan Asylum... 1821. First edition of a work recording the history of the Orphan Asylum Society, New York City’s first private orphanage, in the fifteen years after its founding by Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton (1757 – 1854), Isabella Graham, and Joanna Bethune. By the death of Sarah Hoffman, its first directress, the orphanage had housed 422 students (p. 36), and by the time of Hamilton’s death it had housed around 1,500. Hamilton is noted in the present work as the orphanage’s vice-directress (p. 32); she regularly visited the school and remained involved in its mission all her life. The Orphan Asylum Society evolved into Graham Windham, a scholarship fund that helps students from Washington Heights and Inwood attend Columbia University, where Alexander Hamilton was educated. Text is clear and crisp despite dampstaining. A very good copy of a work published for Eliza Hamilton’s Orphan Asylum Society. Printed self-wrappers. Disbound. 5 in. by 7 in. 48 pp. Item #16925
Eliza Hamilton also established the Hamilton Free School in memory of Alexander Hamilton in 1805, the year following his death. The school provided an education to children from poor families and was located in upper Manhattan, the neighborhood where the Hamiltons had lived together. Through the Hamilton Free School, “Eliza found connection to her late husband’s legacy. Hamilton grew up as an orphan from the Caribbean and was able to come to America to study when benefactors paid his way,” (Kiger).
Kiger, Patrick J. “How Alexander Hamilton’s Widow, Eliza, Carried on His Legacy.” The History Channel website (June 30, 2020). New York Historical Society website. “Guide to the Records of Graham Windham.” See the historical note on the Orphan Asylum Society.
Price: $350.00