George Eacker

George I. Eacker ( 1774 – January 4, 1804) was a New York lawyer. He is best known for having fatally shot Philip Hamilton, the eldest son of Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, in a duel on November 23, 1801, in Weehawken, New Jersey.

George I. Eacker ( 1774 – January 4, 1804) was a New York lawyer. He is best known for having fatally shot Philip Hamilton, the eldest son of Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, in a duel on November 23, 1801, in Weehawken, New Jersey. ==Death and legacy== Following the duel, Eacker resumed his life as a prominent lawyer and active community member. However, according to Eacker's brother, George Eacker fought a raging fire as part of his fire brigade duties on a bitterly cold night in January 1802, two months after the duel. He was soaked to the skin, and his clothes froze. This severe exposure led to a lingering illness that developed into tuberculosis (then known as consumption). As his health deteriorated, some speculated that grief over the duel had contributed to his decline, but his brother later stated that George never regretted his actions and would have dueled again under the same circumstances. Eacker died on January 4, 1804, at the age of 30. His funeral was a grand event, featuring military honors and participation from the fire brigade, the Howard Lodge of Freemasons, and various civic leaders. His remains were interred in the graveyard behind St. Paul’s Chapel, and a volley of musketry was fired over his grave. Eacker and his fiancée never married. In January 1808, Harriet Livingston married the steamboat inventor Robert Fulton with whom she had four children.

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1370869504 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.