Friday, February 17th, 1795

My Dearest Theodosia,

                                                As I pen this letter, my family are preparing themselves to move from Philadelphia to New York City, where Father is renting lodgings for a couple of days. They are then going to travel to my Grandfathers residence in Albany for a rest that Father believes is well deserved after his time in office.

My brother and I do not know if we will be accompanying them in Albany, or if we are to remain at school until there is a break in our work load. So far our letters have yet to receive a response from either of our parents, though I expect that is due to how busy they are, getting ready for the move. I wish they would keep Alexander and me in the loop more often, I feel as though we are left to our own devices whilst we are away.

Moving away from myself, how is your health? After your Mother declined so quickly last year I feel inclined to ask about your health and well-being as well. I would hate to forget to ask, only to receive details of your passing, as morbid as that may sound. If I forget to ask one day, please inform me of your health anyway, it would lift a lot of weight from my shoulders.

Yours,

Philip Hamilton.

~~~

My Dearest Philip,

                                       To imagine your Father taking any kind of break is an extremely amusing image for me, he has never been the type to take breaks in the past. If my memory serves me correctly, he has never once taken time out for himself, not as long as my Father has known him anyway. Was he not the man that was able to write fifty-one essays in six months? That does not sound like a man who would step back from his job, nor his lifestyle, so easily. I expect he will use his new freedom to spend more time with his family, you and Alexander included.

I cannot speak for either of your parents, but I assume that keeping you informed is bound to be a tricky thing. They give you information they deem important for you to know and any other little details are bound to escape their attention. For the time being, their priority is arranging the move and making sure it runs as smoothly as possible. With several young children, I expect that is a difficulty.

As for your concern regarding my health, I can assure you that I am completely well, albeit struggling with a cold, but as Winter passes it is expected. I understand your concern, Philip, but what illness my Mother had is unlikely to plague me anytime soon, or I hope that to be the case. Though I can assure you, if anything changes with my health, you will be one of the first to know. I hope you will do me the same justice and inform me if your health ever changes or declines.

Yours,

Theodosia Burr.

****************************

Notes;

In mid-February, the Hamilton family moved from their home in Philadelphia to rented lodgings in New York City. Days later, the family moved to the Schuyler residence in Albany, New York. This was done so that Hamilton could spend more time with his family as well as take a break from the work he had finished with Washington. It is unclear whether Alexander and Philip joined them during this move or stayed at boarding school in New Jersey. If they did join the rest of the family, there is no knowledge or evidence to support this.

The comment made by Hamilton in regards to Burr's health left us extremely curious for several different reasons. We know, of course, that Burr's mother fell ill in 1972 and died two years later, the cause her illness being unknown at this time, but several historians have assumed Cancer. Since this announcement from Burr to Hamilton, Hamilton has only asked about her health once. For him to bring it up several months later has left us with more questions then perhaps it answers. It is possible that during this time period, Hamilton himself was suffering from some kind of ailment, though there is no way to confirm this.