Mar 15, 2012 - Sale 2273

Sale 2273 - Lot 194

Price Realized: $ 3,840
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 4,000 - $ 6,000
HAMILTON'S HAIR (HAMILTON, ALEXANDER.) A lock of Hamilton's hair, with accompanying letter from his widow. Autograph Letter Signed from Elizabeth (Schuyler) Hamilton to the Rev. Jarvis, signed as "E. Hamilton," one page, 9 1/2 x 7 3/4 inches, with attached address panel, and accompanying lock of hair in 3-inch paper wrapper. [New York?], 25 [March] 1820
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Additional Details

The provenance on this lock of hair would be very difficult to beat, as it is accompanied by the original gift letter from Hamilton's widow. Writing to her clergyman, she expresses regret for his departure for a new post in Boston. She concludes, "Let me request your acceptance of a small lock of hair of Mr. Hamilton's as a remembrance, the most valuable gift I have to bestowe, and none more worthy could I deposit it with."
The recipient, Samuel Farmar Jarvis (1787-1851), served as rector of St. James Church in New York City until 1819, and was briefly an instructor in the city's General Theological Seminary before becoming rector of St. Paul's Church in Boston.