Susan Holloway Scott > Quotes

“know you believe that the politics in London are especially uncivil, but you’ll soon see that the style here in America is every bit as ferocious, and marked with backbiting, lies, deceit, and ill will.”
― Susan Holloway Scott, I, Eliza Hamilton

“She didn't answer, and in that moment I realized that she felt the same as I. The men we loved would determine our destinies along with their own, no matter how we might wish otherwise.
We walked the rest of the way arm in arm, our heads bowed, in sisterly agreement. We said nothing more, nor did we need to.

I, Eliza Hamilton”
― Susan Holloway Scott, I, Eliza Hamilton

“But remember, dear sister, that the easiest men for us to love are often the same ones who hurt us the most.”
― Susan Holloway Scott, I, Eliza Hamilton

“Her long life spanned American history from the colonial era to the eve of the Civil War, and she died as the last remaining widow of a Founding Father.”
― Susan Holloway Scott, I, Eliza Hamilton

“I wore a blue silk Brunswick jacket, close-fitting and edged with dark fur, and a matching petticoat, both quilted with a pattern of diamonds and swirling flowers. My gloves were bright green kidskin, and on my head I wore the one extravagant hat I'd brought, the sweeping brim covered in black velvet and crowned with a profusion of scarlet ribbons.

I, Eliza Hamilton.”
― Susan Holloway Scott

“This was a far different conversation than the one I'd had earlier with Papa. He clearly believed that colonel Hamilton would in fact be mine for the taking, like an apple that dropped from the tree into my hand of its own accord. Aunt Gertrude, however, expected me to climb to the highest branches of the apple tree, reach for the fruit, and tug it free if I wanted it.
And yet I found that I preferred Aunt Gertrude's perspective. Fed only by memory and an impression, I had come this far through snow and ice. I needed to learn if colonel was not only special for for this country, but special for me. If he proved he was, if love grew between us, then I would do whatever I must for the sake of that love. In a land full of soldiers, this would be my battle.
And I would win.

I. Eliza Hamilton.”
― Susan Holloway Scott, I, Eliza Hamilton

“...I greeted him as warmly as if we'd been separated for months, not days. I'd never claimed to possess a sentimental nature, but it did seem that our fondness for each other ha strengthened with that first kiss, as if the very moon her self had blessed our love.

I, Eliza Hamilton”
― Susan Holloway Scott, I, Eliza Hamilton

“Mr. Monroe, if you have come to tell me that you repent, that you are sorry, very sorry, for the misrepresentations and the slanders, and the stories you circulated against my dear husband, if you have come to say this, I understand it. But, otherwise, no lapse of time, no nearness to the grave, makes any difference.”
― Susan Holloway Scott, I, Eliza Hamilton

“From the instant he fired the shot that killed Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr showed no remorse, let alone guilt, for the duel or its aftermath.”
― Susan Holloway Scott, I, Eliza Hamilton

“With his death, he had become their martyred hero.”
― Susan Holloway Scott, I, Eliza Hamilton

“My love,” he said without opening his eyes. “When we first met, you said you’d pray for me.” “I did,” I said, my voice breaking. “I still do. Oh, my dearest!”
― Susan Holloway Scott, I, Eliza Hamilton

“Only much later did I understand it for what it was: not unhappiness”
― Susan Holloway Scott, The Secret Wife of Aaron Burr

“But though God will test us sorely, He never gives us more than we can bear.”
― Susan Holloway Scott, I, Eliza Hamilton

“If she was proud of everything that Alexander had done in his life, then he would have been equally proud of what she achieved on behalf of her orphans.”
― Susan Holloway Scott, I, Eliza Hamilton

“He nodded again and cleared his throat, and I thought of how rare it was for the great Colonel Hamilton to be without words.”
― Susan Holloway Scott, I, Eliza Hamilton

“With great effort he opened his eyes again. He did not speak, but I knew from his expression—oh, most excellent of fathers!—that this was the most painful reminder of all he was leaving behind.”
― Susan Holloway Scott, I, Eliza Hamilton

“He didn’t answer, content to watch our son instead, and uneasily I knew he remained still convinced of his blasphemous superstitions. And from what befell us all later, perhaps in the end he was the one who was right.”
― Susan Holloway Scott, I, Eliza Hamilton

“The Federalists were so determined against anything with the taint of the French that they tried to deny a French-speaking congressman from Pennsylvania”
― Susan Holloway Scott, The Secret Wife of Aaron Burr

“Oh, no, Fanny,” said Angelica with open disgust. “We can’t go in here, because Mamma and Papa are kissing.”
― Susan Holloway Scott, I, Eliza Hamilton

“Among us servants”
― Susan Holloway Scott, The Secret Wife of Aaron Burr

“What would perhaps have been most galling to Burr is that he is remembered today primarily as the man who killed Hamilton. The majority of his personal papers were lost at sea with Theodosia, and with them vanished much of his legacy. There are many modern, scholarly volumes devoted to the collected writings of other men of his generation. Jefferson’s work requires thirty-three volumes, while Hamilton’s papers fill twenty-seven. The entirety of Burr’s surviving writings are contained in just two. The man who believed in keeping his thoughts to himself has ironically done exactly that.”
― Susan Holloway Scott, I, Eliza Hamilton

“And yet there was fresh grief in the years ahead. In early 1802, my younger sister Peggy sickened and died with little warning.”
― Susan Holloway Scott, I, Eliza Hamilton

“I have had a double share of blessings and I must now look forward to Grief. . . . for such a husband, his spirit is in heaven and his form is in the Earth, and I am nowhere any part of him.”
― Susan Holloway Scott, I, Eliza Hamilton

“I would not cry. I would not cry.”
― Susan Holloway Scott, I, Eliza Hamilton

“Yet although Eliza was married to Alexander for only twenty-four of her ninety-seven years, he remained the shining centerpiece of her life.”
― Susan Holloway Scott, I, Eliza Hamilton

“You are a prize, yes, but he will not wander your way willy-nilly. You must plot and wage a campaign to capture the colonel’s heart, and be prepared to defend your prize once it is yours.”
― Susan Holloway Scott, I, Eliza Hamilton

“The marble portrait bust carved by Giuseppe Ceracchi stood near to her chair, and she’d often address it directly, as if it truly were her husband.”
― Susan Holloway Scott, I, Eliza Hamilton

“her meanness had been able to creep right into me through the weakness of my own disappointment.”
― Susan Holloway Scott, The Secret Wife of Aaron Burr

“In May of 1803, my dear mother was taken all of a sudden by a stroke, and her death left an emptiness at The Pastures that would never again be filled.”
― Susan Holloway Scott, I, Eliza Hamilton

“My dearest sister come at once. Your Philip has suffered a Terrible accident. ~ A.C.”
― Susan Holloway Scott, I, Eliza Hamilton