Alexander Hamilton is getting an honorary law degree in New York

Joseph Spector | Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle

Show Caption Hide Caption Alexander Hamilton's letters to be sold In NYC The hottest Broadway show is now shining its spotlight on a collection of historic American documents: Alexander Hamilton's letters, being auctioned at Sotheby's. (Jan. 10)

ALBANY — Alexander Hamilton will finally get his law degree: an honorary one from Albany Law School.

The nation's first treasury secretary, whose life has been immortalized in the eponymous Broadway play, will be conferred the honorary degree at the college's graduation May 18.

His 5th great grandson, Douglas Hamilton, will accept the degree, the school announced Thursday.

There's good reason for Albany to honor Alexander Hamilton, one of the nation's founders. He had long ties to the state capital, the college said.

"Alexander Hamilton's ties to the Albany area are significant," Alicia Ouellette, the college's president and dean, said. "Hamilton studied law and practiced law in Albany."

She added, "He wrote Federalist #1 while traveling between Albany and New York City. By conferring this degree, we are acknowledging his impact on the Capital Region and New York's legal community."

The college noted that Hamilton first traveled to Albany in 1777 on behalf of George Washington to get General Horatio Gates to provide Washington with troops during the Revolutionary War.

Two years later, Hamilton married Elizabeth Schuyler at the Schuyler Mansion in Albany.

She was the daughter of the prominent Albany family patriarch Philip Schuyler, a Revolutionary War general, and Catherine Van Rensselaer Schuyler, the college said.

Throughout his career, Hamilton spent time in Albany with his in-laws or because of his legal work.

Hamilton attended King's College, which is now Columbia University, but didn't graduate. He later passed the bar exam, allowing him to practice law.

He and Aaron Burr were regulars in Albany because the state's main courts were there.

Burr even attended Hamilton's wedding in Albany. Of course, that was well before their rivalry led to a duel in 1804 that led to Hamilton's death at the age of 47.

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