
Angelica Schuyler (20 February 1756 – 13 March 1814) was the eldest daughter of Continental Army general Philip Schuyler, the sister of Eliza and Peggy Schuyler, the sister-in-law of Alexander Hamilton, and wife of British member of parliament John Barker Church.
Biography[]
Angelica Schuyler was born on 20 February 1756 in Albany, New York, the eldest daughter of Philip Schuyler and Catharine Van Rensselaer. Through her mother, she was related to New Netherlands founder Kiliaen van Rensselaer, while her father's family was a fourth-generation Dutch family as well. In 1777, she eloped with Member of Parliament John Barker Church during the American Revolutionary War, with Church being an agent of the Continental Congress during the revolution against Great Britain. However, she was smitten with Alexander Hamilton, whom she introduced to her sister Eliza. Angelica had very fond correspondence with Hamilton, leading to suspicion that they may have been lovers at one point. From 1783 to 1785 her family lived in Paris, and she befriended Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette while there. In 1785, the family moved to London, and in 1789 they briefly visited America for George Washington's inaugaration as president. She died in New York in 1814 at the age of 58.