Monday, February 1st, 1796

My Dearest, Theodosia,

                                                Today, I received a letter from Angelica, writing to inform of my Father's current plans and tasks. He may have stepped down from his role in Government, but that did not mean the work he had to do was officially over.

She wrote to tell me that at the start of the year, Father travelled to Philadelphia in order to defend the constitutionality of the carriage tax he had introduced during his time as Treasury Secretary. According to my sister, he won his case and the tax was considered legal by the Supreme Court. Though Angelica also went on to write that he spoke for three hours without stopping, something he was known to do. How he was able to talk for three hours I do not know, it always seems like such a long time.

Since our last letter exchange, how have you been doing? Does your Father continue to watch you closely or has he started to become more trustworthy?

Write soon,

Love Always,

Philip Hamilton.

~~~

My Dearest, Philip,

                                        Since we last spoke, Father appears to have laid off considerably. He is still fretting over my education, but that is something I doubt will ever change, however, he has stopped watching my every move and I have been granted a little more freedom. I believe he is still suspicious about our communication, but I doubt he will find out about our recent collection of letters. I have been particularly sneaky when it comes to keeping them away from him.

It has also come to my attention that within the time since we last spoke, your birthday has passed and you have officially hit the age of fourteen. I apologise for not writing to you on that date, but at that point, Father was still monitoring me and I could not break away long enough to write. However, since that time, I have had the opportunity to think of a gift I deemed worthy of giving to you. I know I can never top the gift you gave me, but I hope this is worthy of your attention.

As I was growing up, Father commissioned several paintings of me and I contacted the artist of one of these paintings and asked him to recreate one in a smaller size. Seeing as we hardly get to see each other in person, I hope this small painting of me is a good enough gift for your birthday.

Love Always,

Theodosia Burr

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Notes;

Alexander Hamilton did indeed travel to Philadelphia in 1796 in order to defend his carriage tax, something he had put in place during his time in Government. This was the first time the Supreme Court ruled on the constitutionality of an act. He did indeed talk for three hours, but his argument was described to be 'clear, impressive and classic'.

There is no documentation to support that Burr ever had a small painting of herself commissioned and given to Hamilton.