Alexander Hamilton was born as a British subject on the island of Nevis in the West Indies on the 11th of January 1755. His father was James Hamilton, a Scottish merchant of St. Christopher. His grandfather was Alexander Hamilton, of Grange, Lanarkshire. One of his great grandfathers was Sir R. Pollock, the Laird of Cambuskeith. Hamilton's mother was Rachael Fawcette Levine, of French Huguenot descent. When she was very young, she married a Danish proprietor of St. Croix named John Michael Levine. Ms. Levine left her husband and was later divorced from him on June 25, 1759. Under Danish law, the (the court ordering the divorce) Ms. Levine was forbidden from remarrying. Thus, Hamilton's birth wasillegitimate. Alexander Hamilton had one brother, James Hamilton. Heavy burdens fell upon Hamilton's shoulders during childhood. Business failures caused Hamilton's father to become bankrupt. Soon thereafter, his mother died in 1768. At twelve, Alexander entered the counting house of Nicholas Cruger and David Beekman. There, young Alexander served as a clerk andapprentice. At the age of fifteen, Mr. Cruger left Alexander in charge of the business. Early on, Hamiltonwished to increase his opportunities in life. This is evidenced by a letter written to his friend EdwardStevens at the age of fourteen on Nov. 11, 1769 where he stated, "[m]y ambition is prevalent, so that Icontemn the groveling condition of a clerk or the like and would willingly risk my life, though not mycharacter, to exalt my station." During adolescence, Hamilton had few opportunities for regular schooling. However, he possessed acommanding knowledge of French, due to the teaching of his late mother. This was a very rare trait in theEnglish continental colonies. Hamilton was first published in the Royal Danish-American Gazette with hisdescription of the terrible hurricane of August 30th, 1772 that gutted Christiansted. Impressed by this, anopportunity to gain his education was...
