Posted on 06/30/2005 9:18:43 AM PDT by Coleus
WAYNE - Alexander Hamilton was no stranger to what is now Passaic County.
He stood alongside George Washington, acting as his aide at the Dey Mansion in Wayne during the Revolutionary War. And he played a major role in establishing Paterson as one of the country's early industrial centers.
Now the county has another reminder of Hamilton's legacy: a legal decision penned by him more than 200 years ago.
The document belonged to the Hamilton Club, a social club that formerly met in Paterson until the early 1990s. Last week the club's president, Walter Hunziker, presented it to the county at the Dey Mansion. It will remain locked up for now, but there are plans to someday put it on display.
When that happens, visitors will be able to see what a historical figure's handwriting looks like, personalizing one of the founding fathers.
Hamilton wrote the opinion in response to a question, handwritten on the same paper by someone else. Its 18th century legalese might not mean much to the layperson, but Hunziker, an attorney with offices in Wayne, said Hamilton's opinion in that letter is still valid.
"It says an executor who borrows money and gives a note does not incur personal liability on the note," he said. "He's only liable in his capacity as an executor. So if the executor of an estate has to borrow money to pay off the debts of someone who died, the estate, not the individual executor, is responsible for repaying it."
It was unclear who gave the document to the Hamilton Club, but in the 1950s the club lent it to Passaic County. In 1991 the county returned it to the club so its remaining members could have it appraised. The document sat in a safe in a lawyer's office.
Hunziker said the last 15 members of the club met in May, agreeing to donate the letter to the county rather than sell it.
"Nobody belonged to the club to make money, and the club didn't owe anything. This was |the logical place to have it," he said.
Classic Frames by Pak in West Paterson donated a special backing and dust cover to help preserve the paper, and Hunziker then presented it to County Historian Edward A. Smyk and Freeholder Pat Lepore.
Hamilton likely wrote the opinion in his capacity as a private attorney circa 1795, Smyk said.
Though it will eventually go on display for a short time at the mansion, Smyk said it wouldn't go on permanent display. He said that without a special display case, light could damage the document. There are no plans to buy such a case.
Meanwhile, renovations to the grounds surrounding Dey Mansion are about to get under way.
The county is working with Olmstead Brothers landscaping to design a new garden. And this year the county plans to undertake a historic structure report, which will identify any work the mansion might require.
The mansion on Totowa Road is open Wednesdays through Fridays from 1 to 4 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4.
E-mail: ratish@northjersey.com
* * * In Hamilton's words
A word-for-word text of the letter, including a legal opinion handwritten by Alexander Hamilton. The two questions were written by someone else. Hamilton's reply follows:
Questions
Is the note of an Executor given as such, for a debt due from the Estate of his testator binding on the Estate?
Is the creditor's claim on the Estate for his debt lessened by taking such a note from the Executor?
I do not think that the substitution of the Note of the Executor signing as such for that of the Testator (which I understand to be the operation intended) with an agreement in writing that it is not to be received as payment would lessen the security of the Creditor as to the Assets of the Testator.
But as I do not know of any judicial settlement of this question, I would advise that the Creditor retain the original note of the Testator & that an agreement in writing be made signifying that the renewals by the Executor are not to be construed to discharge the original till final payment in fact.
A Hamilton
The name of an indorser may be struck off without injury.
Timeline
c.1795 - Alexander Hamilton writes the legal opinion.
1892 - The Hamilton Club forms in Paterson as a social club for influential members of the community.
c.1930 - The Hamilton Club becomes owner of the document.
1957 - The club lends the document to Passaic County.
1991 - Passaic County returns the document to the club so its members can have it appraised.
2005 - Members of the club give the document to the county.
The passion may have been Hamilton's, but the prose and the reasoning was all Madison.
N.J. favorite son? I thought it was Sinatra!
fyi
So by your reasoning George Washington was responsible for what part of his own speeches?
Prose and reasoning ALL Madisons? I think not.
In fact, Madison and Hamilton had a falling-out over politics.
Madison wouldn't have been the reasoning behind Washington's speeches - the men were political adversaries.
I know that - I was replying to Post #3 who seems to be a Madison devotee.
Hamilton and Washington were VERY close, Hamilton was extremely loyal and Washington trusted him and his words.
Madison wrote Washington's Inaugural address. Washington relied on Madison as a rational counterbalance to Hamilton. Washington, in demeanor, was certainly more Madison than Hamilton.
It is true that Madison and Washington had their differences, but Washington was wise enough not to let disagreements about policy separate him from Madison, a fount of political and philosophical understanding. And, Madison had a strong pen to boot.
I just read a book about the 1800 election that portrayed Hamilton, Adams, and other Federalists very negatively. Said they were basically elitists who believed the aristocracy should be in power and watch out for the 'little people' from their benevolent good will. That's an exaggeration but it's close. According to the book, Washington spent a lot of his time keeping Hamilton and Jefferson away from each others' throats.
I just read a book about the 1800 election that portrayed Hamilton, Adams, and other Federalists very negatively. Said they were basically elitists who believed the aristocracy should be in power and watch out for the 'little people' from their benevolent good will. That's an exaggeration but it's close. According to the book, Washington spent a lot of his time keeping Hamilton and Jefferson away from each others' throats.
In fact, Washington was much closer to Hamilton, both personally and politically, than he ever was to Madison.
You misunderstand my point. Washington was a closer friend to Hamilton than to Madison and he was certainly closer politically to Hamilton than to Madison, but in demeanor he was more like Madison. Also, there can be no dispute that Washington relied much more on Madison's understanding of government (specifically, republics and their shortcomings) than an anyone else.
"Also, there can be no dispute that Washington relied much more on Madison's understanding of government (specifically, republics and their shortcomings) than an anyone else."
I think there *can* actually be a dispute on that point. Washington made few public pronouncements in an attempt to appear above the fray, but he was certainly in favor of a strong federal government.
He was the political enemy of the Madison/Jefferson Republican party. To the extent that he was allied with Madison, it was from Madison's earlier days, in which he advocated stregthening the federal government.
I respect Madison and his pen, but I think you're reaching here. Hamilton was more the voice of Washington than Madison.
Yeah, you could have fooled me too. He's all over talk radio on Friday night and Saturday. I don't remember the last time they mentioned Hamilton.
I feel we've both gone too far at this point, Sir. Washington was his own man and cannot be painted as needing to hide behind the knickers of Hamilton or Madison. Washington was, I'm sure you'll agree, the "Indispensable Man" without whom all of Hamilton's fire and all of Madison's ink would have amounted to little more than "sound and fury...."
Hamilton and Madison were never very allied. They worked together for a common cause (ratification of the Constitution), but that was motivated by a shared belief that such was the best way for this country to move forward. As you know, Highball, Hamilton felt that the Constitution he signed was far removed from his personal vision of the best government. He ardently worked to secure it's adoption, however, because he, like Madison and Washington, was sagacious enough to know that nothing better would ever be conceived by man.
Agreed. I don't really have a beef with you, I'm just enjoying the chance to discuss these great men.
Looking back, it seems strange that Madison and Hamilton ever worked together on anything. The Federalist Papers are much more out of character for Madison - he was to change course and argue *against* the strong federal government that he helped create!
I don't think many Americans really understand Washington's politics. He was in favor of a much more powerful central government than most people on this site could stomach. Doesn't make him any less a giant, but it's important to know that he wasn't a conservative as we understand it.
All very true, my friend. I, too, enjoy discussing this with you. Difficult to find anyone that knows anything more about the Founders than that which they get through the television or partisan radio.
I must agree, Washington was a "conservative" in the classical sense (read: Hobbesian). I consider myself a "Madisonian Liberal."
Mind you, the notion of a powerful central government endorsed by Washington, Hamilton, et al is incomparable to the monstrosity presently squatting on the banks of the Potomac!
Too true, although I suspect Hamilton might actually approve of what we have now, at least in an economic sense.
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