#Rufus King

[aswithasunbeam]

Hey! As you know a lot about the time period I’m wondering if I can ask you a question. From what I’ve seen, John Hamilton’s biography of his father was criticised because it claimed that Hamilton authored many of Washington’s letters (and I gather he was criticised by people who admired Hamilton). Did Hamilton actually author many of the papers under Washington’s name - did people just not want to believe it because of Washington’s reputation or for political reasons?

Hamilton definitely authored a good number of Washington's papers. During the Revolution, Hamilton's job as Washington's aide de camp included the duty to pen letters for George Washington. A quick search of Hamilton's papers on Founders Online shows a total of 889 letters written in Hamilton's handwriting that were sent under George Washington's signature.

What brought much more political controversy was Hamilton's involvement in the drafting of Washington's famous Farewell Address. All those years as Washington's aide meant Hamilton had a great knack for writing in Washington's voice. When Washington determined to step down from the presidency, he sent Hamilton a draft for a Farewell Address that James Madison had worked on four years previously (See Hamilton to Washington, 10 May 1796). Hamilton reviewed Madison's work, but decided instead to send his own version of what he thought Washington ought to say to the public. (See Hamilton to Washington, 30 July 1796). Washington ultimately tweaked Hamilton's draft and also passed it around to members of his cabinet for input, but much of the Farewell Address was in fact authored by Alexander Hamilton.

Because Washington generally tried to remain above the party politics of the time, it being widely known that his beloved last words to the public were penned by Alexander Hamilton would have started a political firestorm.

When Hamilton passed away in 1804, Rufus King went through his papers and took the draft of the Farewell Address that would have proved his authorship, fearing Hamilton's family would publish it to give Hamilton credit for the work. Eliza Hamilton spent years attempting to reclaim the document. She even visited Mount Vernon at one point to look through Washington's papers to see if there was a copy of Hamilton's draft there (see The Life and Correspondence of Bushrod Washington, v. VI, pp.617-18). Ultimately, she had to file a lawsuit against King in 1825 to reclaim the document. Eliza did not, as King feared, immediately make it widely known that Hamilton had authored the Farewell Address. However, she did record a statement to be released after her death where she detailed her own personal knowledge that Hamilton had drafted the Address for Washington. In that statement, she related the following amusing anecdote: "Shortly after the publication of the address, my husband and myself were walking in Broadway, when an old soldier accosted him, with a request of him to purchase General Washington’s Farewell address, which he did and turning to me said, ‘That man does not know he has asked me to purchase my own work.'" (Elizabeth Hamilton’s Statement as to Washington’s Farewell Address, as published in The Intimate Life of Alexander Hamilton). Her statement was one of the many, many ways Eliza worked during her life to help preserve Hamilton's legacy.

[yr-obedt-cicero]

I heard that once when Hamilton tried to publicly defend Jay's treaty with the British, he was stoned. What do you know about this?

(sorry for my english)

Stoned is a pretty exaggerated term, he got a rock thrown at his head. In the July of 1795, Hamilton saw a rally about the Jay Treaty and when he tried to convince the shouting crowd that the treaty was in their best interest, he was hit in the head with a rock and eventually left the stage. [x] Funny enough, George Cabot references this to Rufus King in a letter dated on the 27th;

It was observed here that your Jacobins were prudent to endeavor to knock out Hamilton's brains to reduce him to an equality with themselves; but I trembled at the first account which was related of that adventure & offer'd up an unfeigned prayer for his safety. I mean the silent prayer of an affectionate heart.

King, Rufus. The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King: 1795-1799. United States, G. P. Putnam's sons, 1895.

Hope this helps, and you're good!

[gracehosborn]

Yeah…... I’m never making a profit off this series 😥. But that’s okay—that wasn’t the goal anyways. My inner History major MUST verify the manuscripts though before I can move forward in planning the future volumes of The American Icarus or else, I fear. The potential insights to be found on the actual documents are too intriguing—and without the manuscripts, I can’t include little details like this (see below) that I love WAY too much.

From a scene set in November 1775, wherein Alexander is writing a letter to then-congressman John Jay:

A natural conclusion pushed my hand to yield, moving the tip of my pen up to hover above the paragraph put forth.

That should work—hm… sufficient stock… of what? Of… reason, but he might not understand such—

With haste, I returned my pen into its inkwell, giving little mind to the blotch of black liquid which found chase to my wrist in my fast movement. Carefully, I managed to find space in the margin left between my written lines, placing of reason within as a small smile of satisfaction crept upon my expression.

This little moment was my interpretation of the described detail being seen on the manuscript of Hamilton’s letter, which was digitized by the New York Public Library. See the bottom paragraph in the first page of the letter below!

I totally recognize that I'm writing fiction, and this level of academic rigor shouldn't be necessary nor expected, but a number of reasons compel me to go as far as I possibly can to give this story the full breadth and depth it deserves. Often (as Alexander Hamilton's life is an amazing example of) history is more dramatic than fiction can be, and I strongly want to follow the historical record as close as I can in fictionalizing it. Truly and utterly insane, I know.

[asfaltics]

putterings, 274-272

  odds and ends, various little placidly; Sweden; whodunit   a dozen thin fall, air hollow, working north, a feely morning, things in the river bottom   one object beside another, and then another brain-pictures; collections of nothing

—

puutterings     |     their index     |     these derivations     |     20230312  

[nakeddeparture]

Landlord Rufus King is jumping for joy - She’s (tenant) gone - Barbados.

https://youtu.be/JhND1Vv2_v4

Like/share/subscribe - ✔️🔔/comment on YouTube (it costs you nothing). WhatsApp #2527225512.

[quotesfromall]

Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent

Nathan Dane, Northwest Ordinance

[friendly-rat-king]

I just finished Murder by Latitude and wow do I love Mr. Dumarque. What a guy.

The conversation above takes place a few steps away from the scene of a murder.

I'm fairly certain this is the first time Dumarque has ever spoken to Valcour (aka the detective investigating the murder).

When Valcour asks if he knows the other passengers, Dumarque immediately launches into this monologue (to a total stranger) (who is actively investigating a murder):

Bizarre. Incredible. Valcour is really "yes, and"-ing like the pro he is.

(Everyone else in the book speaks like a normal person.)

Look, I can't possibly quote every scene where Dumarque is Dumarque-ing. You should just read the book.

Skipping ahead, in the classic scene where the detective gathers everyone together and reveals the murderer, Dumarque interrupts and takes over, despite not actually knowing who the murderer is.

(Final bullet point beneath the readmore because of mild spoilers)

Check out this rom-com epilogue.

there is no heterosexual explanation for this

[puutterings]

odds and ends, various little

        In plain truth, instead of worrying him, the sudden skipping off of the two of them filled Oscar with a sense of peaceful relief.       He spent the day in puttering placidly through various little odds and ends he wanted to clear up. One was a letter to a very dear little woman in Sweden, or rather, to be quite accurate, a dear very big woman in Sweden, whom he...

ex Rufus King, The Fatal Kiss Mystery (1928) : 192 : link (snippet only) and here, a slight bit more : link

—

Rufus King (1893-1966), author of whodunit crime novels wikipedia : link

There was also a later, Popular Library #43 paperback of this (1945), illustrated by H. Lawrence Hoffman (1911-77), wikipedia : link; gallery of his covers at flickr : link (a wonderful gathering, btw; photostream : link)  

[retquits]

sooooo new winter outfits huh 🤭

the aftermath:

[medievalandfantasymelee]

THE HOT MEDIEVAL & FANTASY MEN MELEE

SECOND ROUND: 8th Tilt

Thorin Oakenshield, The Hobbit Trilogy (2012-2014) VS. King Marke of Cornwall, Tristan + Isolde (2006)

Propaganda

Thorin Oakenshield, The Hobbit Trilogy (2012-2014) Portrayed by: Richard Armitage Defeated Opponents: - Thierry of Janville [Jean-Claude Drouot], Thierry la Fronde (1963-1966) - King Edward IV Plantagenet [Max Irons], The White Queen (2013)

“Mr. Broody Himself. He is tortured, hot, a warrior of great renown, has no sense of direction and definitely needs a massage and a three-year nap. The complete package!”

King Marke of Cornwall, Tristan + Isolde (2006) Portrayed by: Rufus Sewell Defeated Opponents: - Leofric [Adrian Bower], The Last Kingdom (2015-2022) - Prince Prospero [Vincent Price], The Masque of the Red Death (1964)

“He was just supposed to be the borderline-villainous husband whose existence gets in the way of a great, timeless love affair... so why do I end up rooting for him more than the titular hero? Honestly, if I were Isolde, as soon as I stepped out of that carriage and saw King Marke, it would be 'Tristan who?'”

Additional Propaganda Under the Cut

Additional Propaganda

For Thorin Oakenshield:

“He worked so hard to care for his people and be there for his family and reclaim his home!!!! He’s a tragic figure! His relationship with Bilbo was fantastic and his death made me cry.”

For King Marke:

"Time for my ESSAY on how the Tristan + Isolde movie made King Marke outrageously sexy and somehow expected us to root against him. This is a man who is a valiant soldier and brilliant strategist, but what he really wants is to broker peace (sexy.) We can tell he is also a scholar and theorist, in part because he wears a Roman haircut, in this post-Roman world, to signal his allegiance to something other than internecine tribal fighting.

Moreover, the context in which we meet him is his riding to the rescue! Tristan is still a child, and terrified, in the burning wreckage of his home; his parents have been killed. Marke, arriving almost too late, blocks a killing blow with his sword arm, meaning that he loses a hand. And he still rides home with Tristan on his saddlebow. He is gray with exhaustion by the time they get there, of course, but that traumatized boy is going to have the comfort of his only living relative holding him, damn it. I'm emotional about it.

Also, this means that in a vaguely early medieval-ish Arthurian world, where the health of the king's body and the health of the land are often linked, Marke is still respected as a successful king despite having a disability. Wildly hot. Says a lot about his rulership. And he loves his nephew so tenderly. All of which is to say nothing about the man's bone structure, or the way he looks at his wife. Which. Is a lot."

[yr-obedt-cicero]

The “sad rake” quote definitely predates Flemming's book, it seems to have spurred into many biographies and historical books in the 20th century—As it's been referenced in 1985, 1971, 1968, 1959, 1957. But the earliest mention I've found of it is from Nathan Schachner, in 1957 or 1946 (Depending which edition of the book).

Schachner wrote of many historical figures, particularly the founding fathers. His biography of Hamilton seems to be the earliest mention of this quote;

The young man was talented and possessed of much native ability, and his father was certain of “his future greatness,” Troup wrote after the event. But, the old friend of the family pursued wryly, Philip “was however a sad rake & I have serious doubts whether he ever would have been an honor to his family or his country!”

Schachner, Nathan. Alexander Hamilton. United Kingdom, T. Yoseloff, 1946.

An interesting detail here, Schachner's quote is phrased differently from how it is commonly repeated. For example, Raymond Locke, like many others, quotes the letter as; “alas Philip is a sad rake and I have serious doubts whether he would ever be an honour to his family or his country.” The bolded text is mine showcasing the altered words. An important thing to note is that from Schachner's quote Troup is speaking from after Philip's death, saying “would have been an”, while many retell it as “would ever be”.

Unlike many biographers, Schachner actually cites his source for this quote. He claims it was in a letter dated December 5th, 1801, from Robert Troup to Rufus King;

MS. letter, Troup to King, Dec. 5, 1801; King Papers, N. Y. Hist. Soc. Troup's unflattering estimate of Philip Hamilton is omitted from the published version in King Correspondence, op. cit., III, p. 28. The editor might have been justified in the deletion had not the context which he did print given rise to a complete distortion of Troup's remarks. On the basis of the text as published, all later biographers have conjured up a picture of young Philip which has little relation to the facts.

And if we look at the December 5th 1801 letter that was published in The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King in 1894, it is clearly missing a lot of sentences;

New York, 5th December, 1801.

Dear Sir: ... We received the account of peace between Great Britain and France in this city on the 20th ulto, via Boston. It instantly operated almost like the hand of death upon all busi- ness. I had two auctions on that day on hand at the Coffee House: one of Sir Wm. (Pulteney's) real property in this city; the other of lands in my hands as an executor of an insolvent estate. There were several other auctions depending. All was knocked up, instead of being knocked down! Not a bid was given; every thing was buzz and confusion in the Coffee House. Ships have fallen. Wheat, corn and flour have been constantly on the fall! In short all business dull and nearly at a stand. I hear however, of no bankruptcies, and much serious mischief does not seem to be apprehended. For twelve days past the city has been much agitated with a duel between Hamilton's oldest son Philip and a Mr. Eacher—a brother lawyer of mine and a violent and bitter democrat... Young Hamilton was mortally wounded and soon after died. Never did I see a man so completely overwhelmed with grief as Hamilton has been. The scene I was present at, when Mrs. Hamilton came to see her son on his deathbed (he died about a mile out of the city) and when she met her husband and son in one room, beggars all description! Young Hamilton was very promising in genius and acquirements, and Hamilton formed high expectations of his future greatness! ... At present Hamilton is more composed and is able again to attend to business; but his countenance is strongly stamped with grief. Eacher has not since made his appearance at the bar. There is a general current of opinion agt. him, except amongst the violent democrats.

Very truly yours, R. T.

King, Rufus. The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King: Comprising His Letters, Private and Official, His Public Documents, and His Speeches. United States, G. P. Putnam's sons, 1894.

According to Schachner, he had seen the actual manuscript of the letter located at the Historical New York library. And claims that the published version is much more censored to sugarcoat the perception of Philip. If so, it can be presumed that the real letter roughly follows along the lines of; “Young Hamilton was very promising in genius and acquirements, and Hamilton formed high expectations of his future greatness! [Philip Hamilton] was however a sad rake & I have serious doubts whether he ever would have been an honor to his family or his country!” If we trust Schachner's telling of the letter.

I haven't seen the actual letter myself, and I'm pretty sure half the writers who use the quote haven't either since they seem to have altered the wording in comparison to Schachner's (Which eventually was regurgitated enough so that it was believed that was the actual wording), and barely source it. If anyone has seen or can see the original manuscript, feel free to prove this wrong! But I'm willing to bet my money on Schachner being correct since he had seen the manuscript, and is one of the few who has actually properly sourced it.

“Sad Rake” Philip Hamilton?

From Wikipedia: 

Robert Troup, a family friend who had been Alexander Hamilton’s college roommate, wrote that Philip “was very promising in genius and acquirements, and Hamilton formed high expectations of his future greatness!”[7] Troup wrote privately, however, that despite Hamilton’s certainty that Philip was destined for greatness, “alas Philip is a sad rake and I have serious doubts whether he would ever be an honour to his family or his country.”[8][9] 

The first quote is from a letter from Troup to Rufus King [5Dec1801]: 

For twelve days past the city has been much agitated with a duel between Hamilton’s oldest son Philip and a Mr. Eacher—a brother lawyer of mine and a violent and bitter democrat.… Young Hamilton was mortally wounded and soon after died. Never did I see a man so completely overwhelmed with grief as Hamilton has been. The scene I was present at, when Mrs. Hamilton came to see her son on his deathbed (he died about a mile out of the city) and when she met her husband and son in one room, beggars all description! Young Hamilton was very promising in genius and acquirements, and Hamilton formed high expectations of his future greatness! … At present Hamilton is more composed and is able again to attend to business; but his countenance is strongly stamped with grief. Eacher has not since made his appearance at the bar. There is a general current of opinion agt. him, except amongst the violent democrats” (King, The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King, IV, 28).

So where does the second quote come from where he “privately” - I’m pretty sure his letter to King was also private - termed Philip a “sad rake”? Spoiler: I have no idea. 

Follow the Wikipedia citations, and these are the references: 

Realistic Robert Troup, belying his fond parents’ view of Philip’s talent and promise, described him as a ‘sad rake.’

pg 7 of Thomas Fleming, Duel: Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr and the Future of America (1999). Although Fleming does have footnotes for other citations, he has none for this. 

The other footnote/source:

“His father,” one of Hamilton’s colleagues said regarding Philip, “is certain of his future greatness but alas Philip is a sad rake and I have serious doubts whether he would ever be an honour to his family or his country.” 

p 117, The Aaron Burr Affair (1967) by Robert Hardy Andrews, in The Birth of America: Selected Readings from Mankind Magazine

No name is provided of this “colleague,” and there are no citations/footnotes in the version reprinted in this book. The references to Hamilton (father) and future greatness make it seem like it could be a Troup reference, but there’s no “sad rake” quote in his letters to King. The Robert Troup papers are at the NYPL (not digitized, it seems), but this quote might be with the recipient’s correspondence, and I don’t know who that was. 

The author of the latter essay seems to be this Robert Hardy Andrews. Let me say that there are some bizarre lines in all of the essays that are re-published in The Birth of America including this one: 

But Philip had begun to drink, and loved the theater, and yearned to prove himself “as more than ‘General Hamilton’s son.’” 

Again, whom is Andrews quoting? Are these just scare quotes, and he largely made everything up? Andrews died in 1976, so we cannot ask him. 

Let’s get back to Fleming (died in 2017), since he is the source that Chernow, etc, are quoting for Troup’s supposed description of Philip as a “sad rake.” 

On pg 78, Fleming writes: 

Even one of Hamilton’s closest friends, Robert Troup, lamented that his character was “radically deficient in discretion.” 

Um, this is what Troup wrote [31Dec1800] to Rufus King: 

The influence … of this letter upon Hamilton’s character is extremely unfortunate. An opinion has grown out of it, which at present obtains almost universally, that his character is radically deficient in discretion, and therefore the federalists ask, what avail the most preeminent talents—the most distinguished patriotism—without the all important quality of discretion? Hence he is considered as an unfit head of the party …” my emphasis, (King, The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King, III, 359).

Troup was referring to the Federalists’ opinion of AH, not his own. (In fairness, this would have been a decently shared opinion even among those closest to AH.) 

So where the “sad rake” quote comes from, and how it got attributed by Fleming to Troup, remains a mystery to me. 

Side note: I need to write about William Coleman, first editor of the NY Post, and his duel with Thompson (he mortally wounded Thompson) in 1804. 

[diary-of-a-pretentious-asshole]

List of ships/people my grandma agrees with me are gay combined with her own statement:

•Troy and Abed- “Oh my” 🫢

•Ben Affleck and Matt Damon- “Straight women don’t even do that” 😨 and “Are their wives are ok with that?!” 😟

•Spock and Captain Kirk- “Oh yeah, they’re super gay” 😄 and “No wonder my mom didn’t want us watching it” 😆

•House and Wilson- “Aww, that’s sad” 🙁

•Hannibal and Will Graham- “Oh” 😰

•Eve and Villanelle- “Oh” 😰

•Regina and Emma- “How do you keep track of all that?” 🤨 and “Oh” 😰

•Batman and Joker- “Oh” 😰

•Deadpool and Spiderman- “Aww they’re good for each other” 🥰

•James Buchanan & William R. King- “Oh like Abe Lincoln” ☺️

•Susan B. Anthony- “Too bad she’s racist” 🙁

Bonus- People my grandma convinced me are gay + my reaction:

•Abe Lincoln- “His wife was chill” 😼

•Raj and Howard- “You’re so right” 🫢

[gwydpolls]

Time Travel Question : Murder and Disappearance Edition I

Given that Judge Crater, Roanoke, and the Dyatlov Pass Incident are credibly solved, though not 100% provable, I'm leaving them out in favor of things ,ore mysterious. I almost left out Amelia Earhart, but the evidence there is sketchier.

Some people were a little confused. Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury are the Princes in the Tower.

[dustzvacuumcleaner]

【Antebellum/AMV】Psycho Killer

Happy Independence Day guys!! Hope you all enjoy this!

Like I've said the theme of this amv is probably: humorously(?) compressed simple antebellum history (1812-1861) group portraits into 4 minutes. So most scenes are basically related to historical facts, and the numbers there are the years of the events. However I'm historically illiterate in antebellum era, and this was something I decided to make before I even understood antebellum people lol. I hope there aren't any big mistakes x

While playing this song on repeat it suddenly struck me that everyone in the antebellum era was a god damned Psycho Killer, hence the idea for this group portrait. It's kinda sad that some of the characters I didn't get a chance to draw or that I didn't know enough about them.

If you like this, please tell me your favourite scene and feel free to share any thoughts!!! I want comments so badly😭😭😭I will probably make an explanation of timeline later!!!

BGM: Psycho Killer-Talking Heads

[starlight-tequila]

[nakeddeparture]

Rufus King has come to you again - Shakira James - What legal road should he take - Landlord-Tenant - Have your say - Barbados. Naked!!

LISTEN HERE: https://youtu.be/JkhHKQwv7i4

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