THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW YOU NEEDED TO KNOW

  We all know Aaron Burr, famous dueller. Hardly anyone knows the story of his daughter Theodosia Burr Alston. Theodosia, born June 21, 1873, was Burr's only child. Burr made sure Theodosia was better educated than others of her day - not just women. Theodosia had multiple tutors teaching her a variety of subjects. At 5 she wrote her father letters. At 10 she spoke Latin and French. Theo was seen as a prodigy. She was Burr's statement, to paraphrase Hamilton , that women "should be include(d) in the sequel." While Burr was in D.C. shaping the U.S., Theo was at home, caring for her ailing mother (also Theodosia.) After her mother died, Theo became mistress of the house. She saw to the daily running of the home, supervised staff, and entertained guests. In 1800 Burr was elected as Thomas Jefferson's Vice President.  Theo met Joseph Alston, a young man from South Carolina. They married and Theo moved to South Carolina, away from D.C. and her father. She and Joseph Al...

" I'm lookin' for a mind at work ." Ain't we all Angelica. Hamilton' s Schuyler Sisters predate Sister Sledge by 200 years, but they were family ; everyone could see they were together as they walked on by, all girl group sass and swishing hips.  And the real  Schuyler Sisters were the same, holding 1770's New York city society in thrall. But one man with a dueling pistol changed the life of middle sister Eliza, and possibly the fate of the nation. ANGELICA !  Phillip Schuyler, father of Angelica Eliza and Peggy, was a general in the Continental Army. Their mother Catherine was born a Van Renesselaer. Both were old name Dutch founders of New York City families. (Like the names Mrs. Astor would put on her 400 a hundred years later.) Angelica was the first daughter. Through their father's military connections the sisters socialized with the top political names of the era. Angelica fell in love with a Brit, John Baker Church, supplier to both the French a...

  America holds great respect for the First Lady. The woman dubbed "The First First Lady," Dolley Madison, elevated the position to how we see first lady today - hostess, ambassadress, model of American womanhood. Dolley Madison embodied America's fighting spirit, saving important American artifacts the White House was engulfed in flames. She lived through personal and professional turmoil and held herself as a beacon of early American history. Dolley Madison was a bastion of American independence. Dolley Payne, born in a log cabin in 1768, lost her father at an early age. Her mother turned their home into a boarding house. Statesman Aaron Burr resided there; he and Dolley would remain friends for the rest of their lives. In 1790 she married John Todd, a Philadelphia lawyer. She and Todd had two sons, but in 1793 John Todd and their baby son died of yellow fever. Family friend Aaron Burr gave Dolley and her son financial support, and introduced her to James Madison. Madis...