Alexander Hamilton's eldest son and proudest hope for the future, Philip, died young in an ill-considered duel. After Philip's death, his father plunged into a grief from which he never fully recovered.

How did both Hamilton and his son die?

“But we were near the same spot your son died…”

Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton's 19-year-old son Philip was killed in a duel near present-day Jersey City in November 1801 that had resulted from Philip's conflict with George Eacker, a Democratic-Republican who maligned Philip's father in a speech.

How did George Eacker die?

Eacker died on January 4, 1804. His death was attributed to consumption, or tuberculosis. According to Eacker's brother, the prolonged illness began in January 1802 on a bitterly cold night when Eacker fought a raging fire with his brigade and contracted a severe cold that "settled upon his lungs" until his death.