I was just learning the fact that Cornelia and Kitty fought Eliza for the inheritance, I knew her brothers did it but I didn't know about the sisters. I was surprised because they seemed to be close with her before their father's death. I know Kitty and EH reconciled because they became closer in later years, but what was her relationship with Cornelia? Did Cornelia die still fighting for the inheritance or did they reconcile? And in general how all of this affected Eliza's relationships with her siblings? (I wonder how AH would have helped EH in all of this if he were alive. Perhaps PH would have named him as one of his executors of his last will)
The dispute between Eliza and her siblings seems to have grown out of what they felt was over-generosity towards her from Philip Schuyler's attempts to financially assist her after AH's death. There were rumors of him giving her cash, and then there was the matter of the land deed executed before PS's death.
[So without AH dying, I doubt the dispute would have happened. And yes, I think AH would have been one of the executors of PS's will had he been alive. The three executors were Philip Jeremiah Schuyler (his son), JB Church (son-in-law), and Stephen van Rensselaer (former son-in-law/Margarita's widower).]
Specifically, when EH went up to Albany in August 1804, PS set in motion a plan to give her a land deed of 80 acres of his property in Albany - he notes in letters in July/early August/September how much he wants to assist her and her children by whatever means possible, emotional and spiritual support, but also financial support.
The paper deed was executed but not delivered to her, however, before she returned to NY and prior to PS's death. As such, some of her siblings argued that the 80 acres deed was null and the property should be counted towards the inheritance for all 8 children (or their children, as two of PS's kids were already dead - Margarita and John Bradstreet) and split. This is what led to the fight with Caty/Kitty and Cornelia's husbands, as EH is clear in a letter to her brother Philip Jeremiah that she believed her brothers'-in-law, G. Washington Morton (married Cornelia 1796) and Samuel Malcolm (married Kitty 1803) were behind this effort. To be clear, EH fought that the 80 acre deed should be hers exclusively; took about 5 years to resolve, but it was and she sold it, as she especially claimed to need the money to pay for her children's education. Read more here: Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site: Schuyler Siblings Land Squabble
Cornelia died in 1808, and it's not clear where their relationship stood, as the issue was still unresolved at the time. They were clearly still tight in Nov 1804, prior to PS's death: The Eliza Papers — Elizabeth Hamilton to Philip Schuyler, 1804 (tumblr.com). To read my posts on Cornelia and her terrible husband (Philip Schuyler disliked him! So he lost a bunch of PS's papers! ), see here: 46ten — How not to behave at Philip Schuyler’s home (tumblr.com); 46ten — Schuyler elopements (tumblr.com)
To read more about Kitty and Samuel Malcolm, who had been John Adams' secretary, see here: 46ten — Sister Church is still with us. She goes in less... (tumblr.com); 46ten — 46ten: Kitty, who is looking over my shoulder,…... (tumblr.com) 46ten — Philip Schuyler, described by his youngest... (tumblr.com); 46ten — Philip Schuyler to Elizabeth Hamilton, 1797 (tumblr.com)
Cornelia (b 1776) and Kitty (b 1781 - she would have been named GW Schuyler if a boy! or so claimed PS in his letter to GW, likely part of an attempt to assuage any ill feelings over his brand new son-in-law pulling the stunt he had, which AH also would not have pulled if PS wasn't his father-in-law) knew 'Brother Hamilton,' as they called him, their whole lives and were very close to him. Both girls spent time living with the Hamiltons in Philadelphia and NYC. They also had children named Alexander Hamilton Morton (b 1800) and Alexander Hamilton Malcolm (b 1815), respectively, so it doesn't seem that their husbands objected to EH and her husband all THAT much, but once money is involved....
See some speculation on the relationship between EH and Kitty here: Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site: My Dear Sister: Eliza and Caty Post-Schuyler Sisters Land Squabble
To the rumors that PS had given EH thousands of dollars, that seems very unlikely, as he was notably cash poor. But over the years, PS undoubtedly supported the Hamiltons financially, providing them not only with goods from his farms and mills, but cash to EH for paying for the boys' education (particularly while AH was Sect of Treas, which makes AH's efforts to make sure bonds were funded pretty self-interested - there's quite a lot of "I'm not benefiting!" while his closest family and friends, many of whom provide him funds outright, or provide him with goods, or give him interest-free loans, are benefiting handsomely.)
Some of the siblings could have been resentful, not only of PS's support but of his general favoritism towards the Hamiltons - see here for PS sending his son Rensselaer to live with the Hamiltons to learn from their good example: 46ten — Philip Schuyler to Elizabeth Hamilton, Albany,... (tumblr.com). But PS seems to have helped out all his kids - or at least once he reconciled himself to their poor choices in spouses - EH may have been the only one who chose a spouse PS approved of from the beginning! He saved timber for the Churches to build a home, provides funds and property to his sons, etc.
Post PS's death, EH's relationship with her brother Philip Jeremiah, for example, seems fine The Eliza Papers — Philip J Schuyler (tumblr.com), she's just admonishing him for not doing more to help her resolve the claims and points out that people are talking about how little help her brothers - PJ and Rensselaer - are providing, considering how much the Hamiltons' friends have stepped up to help her.
The other matter that persists between the siblings was much older - the division of the estate Catharine Van Rensselaer had inherited (parts of the Claverack) - which was a legal fight practically from the time AH joins the family, and one in which he offered advice. There's definitely "when is that every going to be settled!" angst between the siblings so they can finally resolve the matter of their mother's inheritance.
