In the mid-1830s, as a lawyer in the New York Court of Chancellery, Alexander Hamilton represented Eliza Jumel in her divorce proceedings against her husband Aaron Burr. Maria Reynolds had also previously divorced James Reynolds with Burr as her lawyer. It is believed that Burr found out about Hamilton's exploits from her. Interestingly, Hamilton's son was the one to have the final say against his father's nemesis during the divorce trial. The case was conducted privately in the Chancery Court, with Charles O'Conor representing Burr and Hamilton representing Jumel.
On September 14, 1836, coincidentally the day of Burr's death, Judge Philo T. When it became clear that Thomas Jefferson would withdraw Burr from his candidacy in the 1804 election, the vice president ran for governor of New York. Rumors circulated that Burr and a faction of federalists were encouraging Republican representatives to vote for him, blocking Jefferson's election to the House of Representatives. The incident ended their long-standing rivalry, but Hamilton's son seems to have had the final say against his father's nemesis during a divorce trial. Although Jefferson and Burr won New York, they tied for the overall presidency with 73 electoral votes each.
After leaving military service in 1779, Burr practiced law in New York City, where he became a prominent politician and helped form the new Democratic-Republican Party of the Jeffersonian. It was a brilliant line of reasoning, and the New York Supreme Court upheld it although Jumel was held liable for legal fees incurred after July 8th, the date of the divorce when she became a single woman whose contracts were enforceable. Others included Harman Blennerhassett who offered the use of his private island to train and equip Burr's expedition. Because of Burr's habit of putting self-interest above the good of the whole, these men thought that he posed a serious threat to the ideals they had fought for in the revolution. Jumel argued that since she was married to Burr when she asked Wilson to handle her divorce, any implied contracts between her and the lawyer were invalid. That said, this statement is more traditional than likely, Shelton added, as it would be fair in the period of the divorce trial during which correspondents were thrown at each other and on Burr's side in an unfair ratio of four to one. As a New York Assemblyman in 1785, Burr supported a bill to end slavery despite having owned slaves himself.
He was also offered a commission as brigadier general in Washington's army during the quasi-war with France but rejected it. After leaving his vice presidency at the end of his term in 1805, he traveled to western border areas west of the Allegheny Mountains and through Ohio River Valley eventually reaching lands acquired in Louisiana Purchase. The divorce lasted for more than three years from July 1833 to September 1836 during which time Burr suffered several strokes. With him safe in his grave he refused to pay his divorce lawyer Wilson and devised a justification for ripping him off that remained in court. News of this conspiracy reached President Jefferson in Washington and a warrant was issued for Burr's arrest.
