Rides We Like: Alexander Hamilton’s Destiny

(2020) It is a meditative that people wonder if they have crossed paths with destiny. Because of the recent hit Broadway show, Hamilton, Bucks County can answer this question decisively: Two historical figures, destined to share the same ground with drastically different outcomes would cross paths. They would do it in different generations, but still.

Our ride on a lovely Saturday took us back to the old 2019 Festive 500 area. South of New Hope, PA, is a collection of historical houses. A handful of the houses in the area boast General Washington had slept there. An even smaller handful of houses proclaim some of his reporting commanders stayed there as well. In a curious bit, one house does not advertise that Alexander Hamilton slept there.

North of the wild cycling hill climb called Jericho Mountain (on Eagle Road), is a house with an easy-to-miss wooden sign. Perhaps it is easy to miss because the house is hidden by its front yard horizon. One would love to roll a bit down the driveway to catch a glimpse of the London Purchase Farm. It is called by that name because the London Land Company bought the acreage in 1718. At some point prior to 1735 a stone house was erected by the owner of the land John Chapman. His son took over the location after the elder Chapman’s death, and it is he who opened the door for General Henry Knox and Captain Alexander Hamilton preparing for the dramatic Christmas Eve crossing of the Delaware River by Washington and his Continental Army. No sign denotes Hamilton had stayed there, but it is in records that he did. 

This simple sign and historic structure were close to the turn-around portion of the ride. We had already pedaled past Washington’s Headquarters farm on Pineville Road. We wanted to snap a photo of the house where a young spritely Hamilton stayed in the winter of 1776. The Upper Makefield area is known for its wealth. A shiny Land Rover rumbled by. A Maserati wheezed in the opposite direction at one point. The roads were entirely peaceful.

But in 1804, a much different Hamilton found himself in a duel with Thomas Jefferson’s vice president, Aaron Burr, in Weehawkin, NJ. There is much debate surrounding the event on the New Jersey Palisades across the Hudson River from New York City, but the outcome is clear. Vice president Aaron Burr killed Hamilton in the duel. (Hamilton’s father-in-law was Philip Schuyler; the Tour of the Battenkill used to pass through Schuylerville, NY, his land holding area.) What happened afterwards would set up a brief path-crossing by Aaron Burr, who immediately fled south. 

Burr passed through New Jersey and came to a stopping point in Pennsylvania. The ferry crossing that is now New Hope, PA, is where Aarong Burr stopped. A bed and breakfast marks the location where Aaron Burr spent some time resting before heading south to Georgia. Burr’s aunt also had a house in the town. At some point Aaron Burr would have trod the same ground Alexander Hamilton had crossed some thirty years prior. Burr eventually returned to Washington, DC, to finish his term as vice president and - surprisingly - was acquitted of the charges of murder.  Because of the distrust many had regarding the duel’s outcome, Burr fled to Europe after his term as vice president. He would return to the United States in 1812 where he would practice law in New York City.

At the time of the duel, it was technically illegal to engage in the act. New Jersey was selected on account of their lax enforcement. Alexander Hamilton’s son had died in a duel in the same location three years prior. Dueling would fade from practice after the death of Hamilton.

Due to the large gatherings of people in New Hope, PA, the ride did not pass the Aaron Burr Bed and Breakfast. Considering the ride had passed Hamilton and Knox’s headquarters and came within two miles of the Aaron Burr House, it is a certainty we, too, crossed paths with Aaron Burr. Considering how close the Bucks County Playhouse is to the Aaron Burr House, perhaps Lin-Manuel Miranda could bring a one-off performance to New Hope, PA, to cross paths once again with Burr and Hamilton.