While attending King’s College (King’s College would later become Columbia University), Hamilton wrote pamphlets supporting the American cause and by 1777 was a senior aide to General Washington.
His writing prowess and military skills were put to good use throughout the war culminating in a brilliant successful assault at Yorktown in 1781 that contributed to the surrender of General Cornwallis.
Continuing his public service commitment, Hamilton served two terms as the New York delegate to the Congress of the Confederation (1782–1783 and 1788–1789) and then became the first United States Secretary of the Treasury. As a trusted member of President Washington’s first cabinet, he successfully argued that the implied powers of the Constitution provided the legal authority to create a government-backed federal Bank of the United States.
Hamilton’s potential was cut short on July 12, 1804, after sustaining a gunshot wound from a duel with Aaron Burr. His remains are in Trinity Cemetery, New York City. He was survived by his wife, Elizabeth Schuyler, and his children, Angelica, Alexander, John Church, William, Eliza and Philip. His eldest child, also called Philip, died in 1801. His NSDAR Ancestor Number is A050054.