Mayflower Society Letters to Mary Clark Spurr Hamilton, 1910–1912

This preview presents a selection of letters addressed to Mary Clark Spurr Hamilton (1875–1952), second wife of the Reverend Schuyler Alexander Hamilton IV (1847–1928). The Mayflower Descendants Museum preserves a substantial collection of art, documents, correspondence, and personal objects associated with this family across several generations.

Dating primarily from 1910 to 1912, the letters include communications from the Society of Mayflower Descendants in New York and Connecticut. Hamilton, herself a Mayflower descendant through multiple ancestral lines, also appears to have added some of her own handwritten notes, markings, and genealogical notations to materials preserved within the group. These personal annotations provide another layer of evidence for how she engaged with, organized, and researched her family history.

Together, the documents offer an unusually personal look at the practical side of Mayflower Society membership in the early twentieth century. The letters discuss genealogical proof, membership dues, transfers between state societies, and historical research. One letter includes an offer from Mayflower Society historian Edwin A. Hill to search records in Plymouth, Massachusetts, along with the fee he charged for that work.

Hamilton’s marriage joined two significant strands of American family history. Her sons inherited descent from Founding Father Alexander Hamilton through their father and Mayflower ancestry through their mother.

The letters later remained in the estate of her son, the Reverend Alexander Van Cortlandt Hamilton V (1914–1994), who left no descendants. His brother’s family line likewise did not continue. Reverend Hamilton V carefully preserved the family’s records and maintained an active interest in both branches of his ancestry. He belonged to the General Society of Mayflower Descendants and the Sons of the American Revolution, reflecting his connection to both his Mayflower heritage and his descent from Alexander Hamilton.

Preserving a Family Across Generations

The Museum’s Hamilton holdings extend well beyond these letters. Art, family papers, personal correspondence, genealogical material, handwritten annotations, and everyday objects together preserve a more intimate record of the family—how they lived, what they valued, the histories with which they identified, and what they deliberately carried forward.

With the direct family lines represented by these materials no longer continuing, their preservation takes on additional significance. The Mayflower Descendants Museum is honored to keep these objects and documents together and to continue researching and sharing the stories of the people who preserved them.

Holdings of the Mayflower Descendants Museum.

Sources & Further Reading

Hamilton National Genealogical Society, “Descendants of David Hamilton, Page 4.” Provides genealogical information on the Reverend Alexander Schuyler Hamilton (1847 1928), including his marriage to Mary Clark Spurr on May 26, 1909, and identifies her parents as George Henry Spurr and Harriet Elizabeth Smith.

https://www.hamiltongensociety.org/hamilton/alexander-hamilton/descendants-of-david-hamilton-page-4/

FamilySearch, “Mary Clark Spurr (1875–1952).”

Provides biographical and family information for Mary Clark Spurr Hamilton, including her marriage to Reverend Alexander Hamilton and their sons, Reverend Alexander Van Cortlandt Hamilton and Richard Warren Hamilton.

https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/29WT-GVT/mary-clark-spurr-1875-1952

American Association of Variable Star Observers, “Richard Warren Hamilton (1918–1975),” Journal of the AAVSO, Vol. 43 (2015).

This biographical notice identifies Richard Warren Hamilton as a great-great-grandson of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton and states that his mother, Mary Clark Spurr Hamilton, descended from settlers of Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts.

https://www.aavso.org/sites/default/files/images/anniversaryposters/3073_4.pdf

American Ancestors / New England Historic Genealogical Society, “Mayflower Research Databases.” American Ancestors provides access to the General Society of Mayflower Descendants Membership Applications, 1620–1920, which contains applications and supplemental applications submitted to the Society beginning with its founding in 1897. Reverend Alexander Van Cortlandt Hamilton appears in this Mayflower Society membership collection.

https://mayflower.americanancestors.org/mayflower-research-databases

General Society of Mayflower Descendants, “GSMD and NEHGS.”

Describes the partnership between the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, American Ancestors, and FamilySearch that created the digitized General Society of Mayflower Descendants Membership Applications, 1620–1920. The database includes Society applications for applicants born before January 1, 1920.

https://themayflowersociety.org/about/members-landing/gsmd-and-nehgs/

Stowe’s Clerical Directory, 1941, Episcopal Church.

Documents the clerical career of Reverend Alexander Van Cortlandt Hamilton (1914–1994), including his parentage, education, and ordination.

Congressional Record, 1957, Report of the Alexander Hamilton Bicentennial Commission.

Records Reverend Alexander Van Cortlandt Hamilton’s participation in the Alexander Hamilton Bicentennial observances and identifies him as a direct descendant of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton.