James Alexander Hamilton was born in New York, April 14, 1788,
the third son of Alexander (1755-1804) and Elizabeth Schuyler
Hamilton. After graduating from Columbia College in 1805, he
studied for the law, earning admittance to the New York bar in
1809. In the following year, Hamilton established a law practice
in Hudson, N.Y., and in October, 1810, married Mary, the
daughter of Robert Morris and granddaughter of former New York
chief justice, Richard Morris. Following military service in the
War of 1812, Hamilton returned to private law practice with
vigor. An easy-mannered, slick-talking and ambitious man, he
jockeyed for political position, slowly working his way into the
most influential Democratic circles of the day, developing a
particularly close professional relationship with Martin Van
Buren. For several years, Hamilton co-published the New York
American, a newspaper reflecting Clintonian Democrat sympathies.
As part of Andrew Jackson's "so-called Appointing Council" in
1829, he helped to secure Mar