Husband Hon. Albert Gallatin 1
Born: 29 Jan 1761 - Geneva, Switzerland 2
Christened:
Died: 12 Aug 1849 - Astoria, Long Island, NY 3
Buried:
Marriage: 11 Nov 1793 4
Other Spouse: Sophia Allegre ( -Abt 1789) 4 - 14 May 1789 4
Wife Hannah Nicholson 4
Born:
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Father: Commodore James Nicholson, U.S.N ( -1804) 5
Mother: Frances Witter ( - ) 5
Children
General Notes: Husband - Hon. Albert Gallatin
He was a native of Switzerland, born at Geneva, Jan. 29, 1761. His ancestor, John Gallatin, secretary to the Duke of Savoy, emigrated to Geneva early in the sixteenth century, and, having embraced the Reformation, was one of the city magistrates when Switzerland became a republic. The family was one of no little note, embracing among those allied to it the celebrated Madame de Stael and her distinguished father, Necker, the famous French minister of finance.
Albert Gallatin graduated at Geneva in 1779, and in 1780, when in his twentieth year, he emigrated to America, being attracted here by the great struggle for liberty that was then in progress. Landing at Boston, one of his first acts after his arrival was to offer his services to the American Congress, which were accepted, and he was assigned to duty in the defense of Passamaquoddy, where, as well as at Machias, he served under Col. John Allen. He did not, however, long remain in the military service. In 1782 he came into possession of a moderate patrimony in Switzerland, and immediately after the close of the Revolution he was located in Richmond, Virginia, as the agent of a European commercial house. While there he became acquainted with a number of prominent men, and among these was Patrick Henry, Governor of the State; and it was in accordance with the advice of Governor Henry that he purchased lands in the West, in the valleys of the Ohio and Monongahela, which resulted in his becoming a resident in the south part of Fayette County, Pennsylvania. While in Richmond he became acquainted with an Italian lady, Madame Allegre, and her daughter Sophia, who was the acknowledged belle of the city. The young people became mutually attached to each other, and this resulted in the marriage of Gallatin to Sophia Allegre, though it was done against the violent and determined opposition of her mother. The young couple removed to the valley of the Monongahela, and occupied a log house in Springhill township. Three weeks later the bride died, and her remains were interred at "Friendship Hill," where they still repose, in a grave unmarked by any memorial stone (in accordance with her dying request to Gallatin), but which in later years was inclosed by a neat fence, by direction of the then proprietor of the estate, the Hon. John L. Dawson. On the 11th of November, 1793, Gallatin married Hannah Nicholson, daughter of Commodore James Nicholson, U.S.N.
Five years prior to his first marriage he had visited the West to purchase lands, and in 1787 his name appears for the first time on the assessment-rolls of Springhill township, he being assessed on the "Friendship Hill" lands, purchased from Nicholas Blake in the previous year. For a few years after his first coming there his residence was somewhat migratory, being a part of the time in Springhill, and sometimes at Morgantown, Virginia. Upon his marriage he made his home (intended to be permanent) at "Friendship Hill." In October, 1789, he was chosen a delegate, with John Smilie, of Fayette, to the convention which framed the constitution of 1790. It was in that body that he was first brought to public notice as a talented debater, though then but twenty-nine years of age. In 1790 he was elected, with Judge James
Finley, to the Pennsylvania Assembly, where he served in 1791, '92, and '93. The high qualities he there displayed caused his election by the Legislature, at the session of 1792-93, to the Senate of the United States, though a majority of the members were opposed to him in politics, he being a member of the Republican-soon afterwards known as the Democratic-party. He took his seat in the Senate in December, 1793, but a question was raised as to his eligibility to the office, as he had not been for a sufficient length of time a citizen of the United States. The question was referred to a committee, who reported adversely, and in February, 1794, he was unseated by a strict party vote of fourteen to twelve. It was during this visit to the East in his senatorial capacity that he was married to Hannah Nicholson, as before mentioned. In May, 1794, he returned to Springhill, and purchased from John and William George Wilson the site of the village of New Geneva, and started the enterprise of the old glass-works. It was also at this time that he became unfortunately identified with the insurgent party in the "Whiskey Insurrection," but he afterwards deeply regretted the course he had at first taken, and did all in his power to quench the flame he had to some extent been instrumental in kindling.
At the close of the Whiskey Insurrection (in October, 1794), Mr. Gallatin was again elected to the Assembly of Pennsylvania, and was also at the same time elected a member of Congress. The Congress to which he was thus elected did not meet till December, 1795, and he served through that session, and was re-elected in 1796, 1798, and 1800 from the same district, composed of the counties of Allegheny, Washington, and Greene, the latter county having been erected in 1796. His service in Congress embraced the last two years of Washington's administration and the whole of the administration of President John Adams. It was during this period that Mr. Gallatin, with others, established a gun-factory near New Geneva.
When Thomas Jefferson became President, in March, 1801, he indicated to Mr. Gallatin his wish to appoint him Secretary of the Treasury. There existed, however, an obstacle in Mr. Gallatin's connection with the Fayette gun-factory, which held contracts to furnish arms to the government. Mr. Gallatin thereupon returned to New Geneva, sold out all his interest in the factory and the contracts to Mr. Baker, and was appointed to the Secretaryship May 14, 1801. He remained at the head of the Treasury Department through both of Mr. Jefferson's Presidential terms, through Mr. Madison's first, and in his second term until February, 1814, though in the mean time (April, 1813) the President had appointed him a plenipotentiary, jointly with John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, and James A. Bayard, of Delaware, to sign a treaty of peace with Great Britain, which it was then hoped would be effected through the friendly mediation offered by the Emperor of Russia. On this mission the President had sent him to Europe, but without allowing him to relinquish the Secretaryship of the Treasury. The Senate refused to confirm his appointment, on the ground that the two offices of Secretary of the Treasury and peace commissioner or minister were incompatible. He was not, however, recalled. England rejected the czar's mediation, but offered to treat untrammeled. Thereupon Mr. Gallatin, having been relieved of the Secretaryship, was appointed, Feb. 9, 1814, one of the commissioners in the treaty negotiations, which resulted in the conclusion of a treaty of peace, signed at Ghent, in Belgium, Dec. 24, 1814. In 1815, Mr. Gallatin was appointed minister to France, where he remained from 1816 to 1823, during which time he was intrusted with special and important missions to England and to the Netherlands. On his return to the United States, in 1824, he declined a seat in the Cabinet, also the candidacy of his party for Vice-President. The new mansion at Friendship Hill had been provided for his reception, and there he took up his abode soon after his return from Europe, and there in 1825 he received the memorable visit of his illustrious friend, the Marquis de Lafayette, "the like of which old Springhill had never seen, may never see again."
In 1826, Mr. Gallatin was sent as minister plenipotentiary to the court of St. James, where he remained over a year, and successfully accomplished all the objects of his mission. He returned to the United States in December, 1827, but never again resided in Fayette County. He lived a short time in Baltimore (which was the place of residence of two of Mrs. Gallatin's sisters), but soon removed to the city of New York, where he spent the remainder of his long and brilliant life, devoting himself chiefly to literature, science, historical and ethnological researches.
He was mainly instrumental in founding and became the first president of the Ethnological Society, and he was from 1843 until his death president of the New York Historical Society. He was perhaps the best talker of the century, at home on all topics, with a wonderful memory for facts and dates. He died at the residence of his son-in-law, at Astoria, L. I., on Sunday, Aug. 12, 1849, in the eighty-ninth year of his age.