#rufus king

[aswithasunbeam]

Hey! As you know a lot about the time period I’m wondering if I can ask you a question. From what I’ve seen, John Hamilton’s biography of his father was criticised because it claimed that Hamilton authored many of Washington’s letters (and I gather he was criticised by people who admired Hamilton). Did Hamilton actually author many of the papers under Washington’s name - did people just not want to believe it because of Washington’s reputation or for political reasons?

Hamilton definitely authored a good number of Washington's papers. During the Revolution, Hamilton's job as Washington's aide de camp included the duty to pen letters for George Washington. A quick search of Hamilton's papers on Founders Online shows a total of 889 letters written in Hamilton's handwriting that were sent under George Washington's signature.

What brought much more political controversy was Hamilton's involvement in the drafting of Washington's famous Farewell Address. All those years as Washington's aide meant Hamilton had a great knack for writing in Washington's voice. When Washington determined to step down from the presidency, he sent Hamilton a draft for a Farewell Address that James Madison had worked on four years previously (See Hamilton to Washington, 10 May 1796). Hamilton reviewed Madison's work, but decided instead to send his own version of what he thought Washington ought to say to the public. (See Hamilton to Washington, 30 July 1796). Washington ultimately tweaked Hamilton's draft and also passed it around to members of his cabinet for input, but much of the Farewell Address was in fact authored by Alexander Hamilton.

Because Washington generally tried to remain above the party politics of the time, it being widely known that his beloved last words to the public were penned by Alexander Hamilton would have started a political firestorm.

When Hamilton passed away in 1804, Rufus King went through his papers and took the draft of the Farewell Address that would have proved his authorship, fearing Hamilton's family would publish it to give Hamilton credit for the work. Eliza Hamilton spent years attempting to reclaim the document. She even visited Mount Vernon at one point to look through Washington's papers to see if there was a copy of Hamilton's draft there (see The Life and Correspondence of Bushrod Washington, v. VI, pp.617-18). Ultimately, she had to file a lawsuit against King in 1825 to reclaim the document. Eliza did not, as King feared, immediately make it widely known that Hamilton had authored the Farewell Address. However, she did record a statement to be released after her death where she detailed her own personal knowledge that Hamilton had drafted the Address for Washington. In that statement, she related the following amusing anecdote: "Shortly after the publication of the address, my husband and myself were walking in Broadway, when an old soldier accosted him, with a request of him to purchase General Washington’s Farewell address, which he did and turning to me said, ‘That man does not know he has asked me to purchase my own work.'" (Elizabeth Hamilton’s Statement as to Washington’s Farewell Address, as published in The Intimate Life of Alexander Hamilton). Her statement was one of the many, many ways Eliza worked during her life to help preserve Hamilton's legacy.

#alexander hamilton #george washington #eliza hamilton #rufus king #farewell address #history #ask

[yr-obedt-cicero]

I heard that once when Hamilton tried to publicly defend Jay's treaty with the British, he was stoned. What do you know about this?

(sorry for my english)

Stoned is a pretty exaggerated term, he got a rock thrown at his head. In the July of 1795, Hamilton saw a rally about the Jay Treaty and when he tried to convince the shouting crowd that the treaty was in their best interest, he was hit in the head with a rock and eventually left the stage. [x] Funny enough, George Cabot references this to Rufus King in a letter dated on the 27th;

It was observed here that your Jacobins were prudent to endeavor to knock out Hamilton's brains to reduce him to an equality with themselves; but I trembled at the first account which was related of that adventure & offer'd up an unfeigned prayer for his safety. I mean the silent prayer of an affectionate heart.

King, Rufus. The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King: 1795-1799. United States, G. P. Putnam's sons, 1895.

Hope this helps, and you're good!

#amrev #american history #alexander hamilton #historical alexander hamilton #jay treaty #18th century #george cabot #rufus king #john jay #history #queries #theworldneedsocean #cicero's history lessons

[46ten]

“Sad Rake” Philip Hamilton?

From Wikipedia: 

Robert Troup, a family friend who had been Alexander Hamilton's college roommate, wrote that Philip "was very promising in genius and acquirements, and Hamilton formed high expectations of his future greatness!"[7] Troup wrote privately, however, that despite Hamilton's certainty that Philip was destined for greatness, "alas Philip is a sad rake and I have serious doubts whether he would ever be an honour to his family or his country."[8][9] 

The first quote is from a letter from Troup to Rufus King [5Dec1801]: 

For twelve days past the city has been much agitated with a duel between Hamilton’s oldest son Philip and a Mr. Eacher—a brother lawyer of mine and a violent and bitter democrat.… Young Hamilton was mortally wounded and soon after died. Never did I see a man so completely overwhelmed with grief as Hamilton has been. The scene I was present at, when Mrs. Hamilton came to see her son on his deathbed (he died about a mile out of the city) and when she met her husband and son in one room, beggars all description! Young Hamilton was very promising in genius and acquirements, and Hamilton formed high expectations of his future greatness! … At present Hamilton is more composed and is able again to attend to business; but his countenance is strongly stamped with grief. Eacher has not since made his appearance at the bar. There is a general current of opinion agt. him, except amongst the violent democrats” (King, The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King, IV, 28).

So where does the second quote come from where he “privately” - I’m pretty sure his letter to King was also private - termed Philip a “sad rake”? Spoiler: I have no idea. 

Follow the Wikipedia citations, and these are the references: 

Realistic Robert Troup, belying his fond parents’ view of Philip’s talent and promise, described him as a ‘sad rake.’

pg 7 of Thomas Fleming, Duel: Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr and the Future of America (1999). Although Fleming does have footnotes for other citations, he has none for this. 

The other footnote/source:

“His father,” one of Hamilton’s colleagues said regarding Philip, “is certain of his future greatness but alas Philip is a sad rake and I have serious doubts whether he would ever be an honour to his family or his country.” 

p 117, The Aaron Burr Affair (1967) by Robert Hardy Andrews, in The Birth of America: Selected Readings from Mankind Magazine

No name is provided of this “colleague,” and there are no citations/footnotes in the version reprinted in this book. The references to Hamilton (father) and future greatness make it seem like it could be a Troup reference, but there’s no “sad rake” quote in his letters to King. The Robert Troup papers are at the NYPL (not digitized, it seems), but this quote might be with the recipient’s correspondence, and I don’t know who that was. 

The author of the latter essay seems to be this Robert Hardy Andrews. Let me say that there are some bizarre lines in all of the essays that are re-published in The Birth of America including this one: 

But Philip had begun to drink, and loved the theater, and yearned to prove himself “as more than ‘General Hamilton’s son.’” 

Again, whom is Andrews quoting? Are these just scare quotes, and he largely made everything up? Andrews died in 1976, so we cannot ask him. 

Let’s get back to Fleming (died in 2017), since he is the source that Chernow, etc, are quoting for Troup’s supposed description of Philip as a “sad rake.” 

On pg 78, Fleming writes: 

Even one of Hamilton’s closest friends, Robert Troup, lamented that his character was “radically deficient in discretion.” 

Um, this is what Troup wrote [31Dec1800] to Rufus King: 

The influence … of this letter upon Hamilton’s character is extremely unfortunate. An opinion has grown out of it, which at present obtains almost universally, that his character is radically deficient in discretion, and therefore the federalists ask, what avail the most preeminent talents—the most distinguished patriotism—without the all important quality of discretion? Hence he is considered as an unfit head of the party …” my emphasis, (King, The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King, III, 359).

Troup was referring to the Federalists’ opinion of AH, not his own. (In fairness, this would have been a decently shared opinion even among those closest to AH.) 

So where the “sad rake” quote comes from, and how it got attributed by Fleming to Troup, remains a mystery to me. 

Side note: I need to write about William Coleman, first editor of the NY Post, and his duel with Thompson (he mortally wounded Thompson) in 1804. 

#Philip Hamilton #Robert Troup #Thomas Fleming #Rufus King

[asfaltics]

putterings, 274-272

  odds and ends, various little placidly; Sweden; whodunit   a dozen thin fall, air hollow, working north, a feely morning, things in the river bottom   one object beside another, and then another brain-pictures; collections of nothing

—

puutterings     |     their index     |     these derivations     |     20230312  

#derivation2 #Almon Henry Gardiner #Rufus King #William Davies King

[quotesfromall]

Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent

Nathan Dane, Northwest Ordinance

#landback #occupied land #land acknowledgement #irony #nathan dane #dane #1787 #northwest ordinance #dane 1787 #rufus king #king #king 1787

[puutterings]

odds and ends, various little

        In plain truth, instead of worrying him, the sudden skipping off of the two of them filled Oscar with a sense of peaceful relief.       He spent the day in puttering placidly through various little odds and ends he wanted to clear up. One was a letter to a very dear little woman in Sweden, or rather, to be quite accurate, a dear very big woman in Sweden, whom he...

ex Rufus King, The Fatal Kiss Mystery (1928) : 192 : link (snippet only) and here, a slight bit more : link

—

Rufus King (1893-1966), author of whodunit crime novels wikipedia : link

There was also a later, Popular Library #43 paperback of this (1945), illustrated by H. Lawrence Hoffman (1911-77), wikipedia : link; gallery of his covers at flickr : link (a wonderful gathering, btw; photostream : link)  

#1928 #Rufus King #placidly #Sweden #whodunit

[retquits]

sooooo new winter outfits huh 🤭

the aftermath:

#my art #stardew valley #sdv #sdv sebastian #farmer rufus #sdv farmer #is rufus short or is seb tall? #yes #i think it'd be fun if rufus gradually gets taller as the full moon approaches #and then goes back to being a short king post-wereing out <3

[gwydpolls]

Time Travel Question : Murder and Disappearance Edition I

Given that Judge Crater, Roanoke, and the Dyatlov Pass Incident are credibly solved, though not 100% provable, I'm leaving them out in favor of things ,ore mysterious. I almost left out Amelia Earhart, but the evidence there is sketchier.

Some people were a little confused. Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury are the Princes in the Tower.

#Time Travel #Famous Murders #Jack the Ripper #La Bete du Gevaudan #Gandillon Family #Werewolves #William Rufus #King William II #Edward V #Richard of Shrewsbury #French History #English History #Early Modern Europe #Victorian England #Lord Darnley #Mary Queen of Scots #Scottish History #Amy Robsart #Lord Dudley #The Sodder Children #The Somerton Man #Australian History #Prime Minister Harold Holt #Elizabeth Short #The Black Dahlia

[dustzvacuumcleaner]

“Hush”

#19th century rpf #antebellum #james buchanan #william rufus king

[illustratus]

Death of William Rufus, King of England, 1100

by Alphonse de Neuville

#william ii #william rufus #king #england #death #art #hunting #walter tirel #walter tyrrell #assassination #history #new forest #forest #woods #woodland #medieval #middle ages #hampshire #king william ii of england #normandy #anglo norman #norman #europe #english #hunt #archer #arrow #arrows #archery #alphonse de neuville

[angelic-impala-67]

Got my sister into supernatural recently. Watched season seven for eight hours straight and I swear if it had been ten more minutes I would've started hallucinating Lucifer too.

#supernatural #spn #spn season 7 #series marathon #dean winchester #sam winchester #castiel #cas #crowley #crowley spn #king of hell #leviathans #bobby singer #rufus #lucifer spn

[opalite-illusions]

JAMES BUCHANANA AND WILLIAM R. KING 🗣️🗣️🗣️🍌👑

#i think i made it too fancy #antebellum #james buchanan #william rufus king #chibi art #not good #🥲 #i don’t think i really like it anymore

[yr-obedt-cicero]

“Alexander, son of the Genl. was graduated the first of this month. He was destined by his father for a merchant. On many accounts it will be best that he receive his education for this profession out of the city. I pray you to inquire whether a respectable place can be obtained for him in Boston. He is now about 18 years of age. I make this request on the suggestion of his family.”

Oliver Wolcott to Rufus King, [August 14, 1804]

#amrev #american history #oliver wolcott #rufus king #alexander hamilton jr #history #letters #quotes #hamilchildren #hamilton family #hamilton kids #hamilkids #hamilton children #cicero's history lessons

[luckydiorxoxo]

Arrivals to the 2024 White House Correspondents' Dinner

#coco rocha #molly ringwald #quest love #rufus sewell #keri russell #red carpet #white house correspondents' dinner #rachel brosnahan #Billy porter #rosario dawson #da'vine joy randolph #gayle king #jen psaki #lynda carter #karinejeanpierre #scarlett johansson #colin jost #aldis hodge #Sophia bush

[scampthecorgi]

Let the good times roll! Happy Mardi Gras!!

#scamp the corgi #corgi #dog #mardi gras #king cake #maple the leonberger #Rufus the golden retriever #pet #pets #animal #animals #corgis #dogs #cute #adorable #silly #funny #pembroke welsh corgi #lol #comedy #humor #haha

[daeva-agas]

You know, in the April Fool story, if you choose just one dude it will always just jump to a lovey dovey scene and at no point in was it ever mentioned that the other dude that’s not chosen left the premises. So there’s this niggling thing in my mind where I can’t help imagining that the other person are always just standing there awkwardly watching

#cod #court of darkness #cod april fool #makai ouji nightmare #kings of darkness #pfft #I should actually tag my thirst shitposts of the kings as kings of darkness #makai kokuou to miwaku no nightmare #guy avari #guy monus #rufu monus #roc avari #rukh monus