The Parrishes are headed to Hamilton! Dianne
and I have been watching you all rant and rave about it for years.
Unlike many of you, we’ve not yet seen the performance. But we’ll join
you soon enough.
We’ll be catching the show in Austin on Sunday; thank you to Linda & Paul Parrish
for this extraordinary gift. It makes a fella like me inspired
to…..wait for it…..write! Oh no. There Marc goes again. Why does he
write like he’s running out of time? When will he be satisfied? In the
face of his outrageously long Facebook posts, you’re all helpless. Who
tells your story Hamilton? Right now, that’s me. Roo style.
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The New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. stands just
two blocks from the U.S. Treasury and the White House. Located at New
York Avenue and H Street, this Presbyterian church will celebrate 200
years at its current location in 2020.
New York Avenue
Presbyterian is a warm site of refuge for Americans fleeing bitter cold
Washington inauguration parades. I happened to be at the 1993
inauguration, and certainly could have used the church had I known about
it. I had driven up for a semester at the Johns Hopkins School of
Advanced International Studies (SAIS), thanks to an Austin College
program administered by Shelton Williams;
the trip itself had taken me from Sherman to Washington. How cold was
it in January 1993? I remember frequently warming my Texas boots on the
hand dryers of a local Taco Bell. No, this Texan was not dressed
appropriately.
The church is an active participant in the
Washington Interfaith Network (WIN), a broad-based, multi-racial,
multi-faith organization in the community. The Reverend Martin Luther
King preached there in the 1960s, and numerous U.S. Presidents have also
attended services. Richard Nixon, Dwight Eisenhower, Benjamin
Harrison, and Andrew Johnson have all sat in its pews. There’s even a
“Lincoln” pew; that makes sense.
Johnson’s predecessor Abraham
Lincoln had a special relationship with the church. He worshipped there
regularly during the American Civil War, and developed a friendship
with Reverend Phineas Gurley. Gurley presided over the funeral of
Lincoln’s son in 1862, and then the funeral of Lincoln himself after the
President’s assassination at Ford’s theatre in 1865.
The current
location of the church was established in 1820. The congregation
during that decade included two of Washington’s most prominent:
Secretary of State John Quincy Adams and General Andrew Jackson. Both
ran for President in 1824. Neither candidate won a majority of either
the electoral college or the (severely restricted) popular vote, so the
election winner was resolved in the House of Representatives. Jackson,
with his pluralities, was expected to win. However, House Speaker and
third place finisher Henry Clay threw his support to Adams, who was
awarded the Presidency.
Sorry Jackson…..you don’t have the votes.
Adams later awarded Clay the office of Secretary of State, leading to
allegations of a “corrupt bargain” during his administration. Jackson
began to plan his revenge, and achieved it with an 1828 election victory
over Adams. The episodes further entrenched America’s move towards a
two-party system. Jackson was a politician in the Jeffersonian/Aaron
Burr Democratic tradition; Adams had historic roots in the Alexander
Hamilton Federalist wing.
Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams.
These two men in the same pews? With their huge egos, festering
grievances, and political differences? During the famously disputed
election of 1824? There must have been a good deal of stress on the
Reverend of New York Avenue Presbyterian church at the time to keep his
flock together. But Daniel Baker? He was apparently up to the task.
Reverend Daniel Baker had accepted the position at the church in the
early 1820s after completing his studies at Princeton University, the
Presbyterian college in New Jersey. According to “Austin College: A
Sesquicentennial History,” by Dr. Light Cummins:
“Baker’s frenetic level of pastoral activity and strong preaching
insured that his church would grow quickly, which it did. Andrew
Jackson joined the congregation, along with his wife Rachel. Mrs.
Jackson was particularly attracted to Baker’s preaching while the
General, not noted for his religiosity, had great confidence in his
pastor’s ‘piety and zeal.’”
“[John Quincy] Adams formally joined
the congregation and ‘became one of the most efficient trustees’ of the
church. The two men had much in common. Baker later recalled that John
Quincy Adams became ‘one of the best friends I ever had.’ Baker’s
esteem rose when Adams was inaugurated president of the United States in
March of 1825.”
Pastor to a President? For most…..that would be enough.
By 1828, however, Baker had tired of preaching to America’s powerful in
the east. Determined to not throw away his shot, Baker’s new mission
brought him south and then west. He landed in Galveston, TX in 1840
with the intention of establishing a Presbyterian college in Texas.
That effort bore fruit when the Synod of the Brazos met at Independence,
TX in 1845. The Synod petitioned the Texas legislature for a college
charter. That charter was granted in 1849. Austin College, the oldest
small college in the state of Texas and the oldest Texas college
operating under an original charter, was born.
While the New York
Avenue location of the Presbyterian church dates to Daniel Baker’s
tenure in 1820, the congregation itself has been officially active since
the year 1803. No building was available for services that year, so
the Presbyterians used the U.S. Treasury building itself for worship
instead. Located just east of the White House, the U.S. Treasury has
occupied the same site since the capital’s move from Philadelphia to
Washington in 1800. A statue of Hamilton graces its entrance.
The congregation unofficially traces its origins all the way back to
1793, when Alexander Hamilton was George Washington’s Treasury
Secretary. Not known to…..take a break, among Hamilton’s
accomplishments that year included securing passage of legislation which
created the United States Mint.
What’s it like to be the
Director of Hamilton’s U.S. Mint? Beats me. I’m just a guy who tells
Roo Tales. But we can probably ask Philip Diehl, the 35th Director of the U.S. Mint.
Did I mention that he’s also an Austin College Kangaroo? Well…..if you don’t know, now you know.
The American penny was born in 1793 during Hamilton’s tenure at
Treasury; Diehl says that after 225 years of inflation, it’s time to put
the penny out to pasture. In a 1999 article about U.S. Mint
modernization, Diehl also mentioned Hamilton and noted the following:
“The Mint needed a new story to move it into the future,” says Diehl.
“So the story of the Mint was retold, starting with its founding by
Alexander Hamilton. The story reminded people that the Mint was on the
leading edge of the industrial revolution and was one of the first
manufacturing companies in the United States. Telling that story helped
to create a new spirit among the staff.” See the comments.
Aaron
Burr was a Princeton man. Burr’s father, who founded the school, has a
building on campus named for him. Burr returned from a self-imposed
European exile in 1812 after his famous duel and settled into the quiet
life of a distinguished alumni, occasionally attending graduations at
Princeton.
Daniel Baker was also a Princeton man. Princeton,
founded in 1746, is the oldest Presbyterian university in the United
States. Baker received his degree at historic Nassau Hall on campus.
He graduated in 1815, surrounded by family, friends, and distinguished
alumni.
It’s unknown if Burr attended Baker’s 1815 graduation at
Princeton. But maybe…..the world was wide enough..…for the founder of
Austin College to shake the hand of the man who paid for ending the life
of Alexander Hamilton.
Daniel Baker’s departure for Texas had
left the New York Avenue Presbyterian church with some big shoes to
fill, and current AC Chaplain John Williams was not yet available. 😉
While Baker was proposing the idea of an Austin College in the new
republic, New York Avenue hired Rev. Cortlandt Van Rensselaer as a Baker
successor. Rev. Van Rensselaer, like Baker and Burr, was a Princeton
man. His father Stephen was a Federalist contemporary of Alexander
Hamilton.
Van Rensselaer’s step-mother? One Peggy Schuyler, who
passed suddenly in 1801 with her brother-in-law at her bedside.
According to Ron Chernow, author of the 2004 book “Alexander Hamilton:”
“[Alexander] Hamilton visited [Peggy’s] bedside often and kept [his
wife] Eliza [Schuyler] posted on developments. When Hamilton finished
his court work, Peggy asked him to stay for a few days, and he complied
with her wishes. In mid-March, Hamilton had to send Eliza a somber
note: ‘On Saturday, my dear Eliza, your sister took leave of her
sufferings and friends, I trust, to find repose and happiness in a
better country.’”
Alexander Hamilton’s famous duel with Aaron
Burr occurred three years later in 1804; Peggy’s two sisters Angelica
& Eliza were by Hamilton’s side when he passed. Eliza put herself
back in the narrative, stopped wasting time on tears, and lived another
50 years to tell Alexander Hamilton’s story. Eliza passed in 1854, soon
after Austin College’s first graduation in Huntsville, TX. Daniel
Baker was in attendance.
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The Parrishes are headed to Hamilton! Dianne and I have been watching
you all rant and rave about it for years. Unlike many of you, we’ve not
yet seen the performance. But we’ll join you soon enough.
