WHAT you don’t see on the 10-dollar bill is the woman behind the man. He, that’s Alexander Hamilton, America’s first Treasury secretary. She, on the other hand, was as Dutch as could be: Betsie Schuyler. With a father named Flip, and a mom that went by Kaat, she was a direct descendant of the Schuylers, Van Cortlandts, Van Slichtenhorsts and Van Rensselaers, all from Nijkerk. Except Van Cortlandt, who hailed from Wijk bij Duurstede and Alblasserdam.
Alexander was shot dead in a duel with the vice president. Betsie, today better known as Eliza, outlived him by fifty years. She used that half century to build a mental shrine for her husband. As a result, his popularity endured, and when the US government announced in 2019 that Hamilton would be replaced on that ten-dollar bill, Lin Manuel Miranda came up with Hamilton, the Musical. A massive success, that promptly swept the proposal off the table.
Betsie’s birthplace, the Schuyler Mansion where she and Alexander were married, is located in Albany. For ten dollars, they let you and your spouse inside.
