Historical Figure: The Curious Case of John Faucette, Alexander Hamilton's Grandfather

Alexander Hamilton was and still is known for his notorious and infamous lineage. Very little is known about the people in his lineage. The little information we have about John Faucette, his maternal grandfather, comes from Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton's version of John Faucette may have been positively exaggerated. Hamilton, claimed that his grandfather, John, was a French Huguenots and a physician. 

Hamilton hardly ever spoke about his family members and his upbringing in Nevis or his life in St. Kitts. Clearly he had good reasons for hiding his earlier life. His grandfather John died about ten years before Alexander Hamilton's birth. Not much is available about John's parents or life before he arrived in Nevis.  There are discrepancies about where he was born and raised as well. There are some sources which claim, John was born in Saintonge, Kingdom of France in 1680, possibly 1683 or 1684 also could be true of his birth year. If these claims are accurate, we can explore to find John's ethnic origin and race. Saintonge was land of Santones, a Gallic Tribe in ancient times. After eight years of war between Romans and Santones, Romans took over Saintonge in 50 BCE. Roman rule ended in 476 AD in Saintonge when Franks defeated Romans. Variety of different Frank Tribes ruled the region until 888 AD. From 888 AD to the French revolution which  ended in 1799, Saintonge's rulers varied between Franks and English. John might had been mixed with so many possible ethnicities: French, Santones, English, Romans, etc., these are the ethnicities which survived to this day. One thing is for sure, he is a Euro-mixed. His genetic make up, more than likely, predominantly was Frank and English aka Anglo-Saxon. Even if there was some Roman blood it must have been very little to none. We reach this conclusion based on his grand-son's genetic make up and its visual presentation in drawn pictures of him. John Faucette was white. Meaning, he had lighter hair color, colored eyes, and white skin. 

It is assumed that John spoke French however, he must have rather spoken Saintongeaise language which was the language spoken in Saintonge. It is a language related to French but was different.  Due to claims that Rachel spoke French, which is not verified, it is assumed that she learned it from her father, John. Did he learn to speak English in Nevis or did he already know it before his arrival? It is not clear. There were English speakers in Saintonge in 1600s. It is important to note, John's last name is a Frank name but there is a strong possibility he could have been English ethnically living in the Kingdom of France as a Huguenots who assimilated to French. If in fact he was Saintonge or French his name was then his name was Jean Faucette. His name must have Angloised by the British Colony in Nevis. 

In 1559, a new movement started in Saintonge which was called French Calvanism and those who followed it were called Huguenots. The conflict between the Catholic rule and the Huguenots built up for more than a century before the birth of Jean. There is no record of any family members for Jean in Saintonge. Hamilton claimed that his grandfather left Saintonge after the Revocation of Edict of Nantes in 1685.  As soon as Louis XIV forbade the Reformed to emigrate in 1669, and again after the revocation of the Edict, Huguenots tried to escape Saintonge to avoid force conversion back to Catholicism. Over 100,000 Huguenots crossed borders between 1685 and 1987. Men who were caught were sent to the galleys and women to jail. The exit channels were closely watched. The sea was easily crossed from the ports of Bordeaux, La Rochelle, Dieppe and Rouen, where rowing boats came and fetched fugitives and took them to English, Dutch or Danish ships anchored offshore. The ships left with a few official passengers, such as pastors, but mostly with clandestine travelers, in terrible conditions down in the holds after they had paid the smugglers handsomely. The attempts often failed because of informers. A young Jean, probably in his middle or late teens, must have followed the similar routes to escape Saintonge. 

After his escape from Saintonge, on an unknown date, Jean arrived in the Island of Nevis, at the time, a British colony. There is no reason to believe that Jean had any money when he arrived in Nevis as Huguenots who escaped to other countries were extremely poor. In 1706, French invaded Nevis and in 1720, by then known as, John made his case for his loss during 1706 invasion. In 1720, in court records, John is recorded as a thirty-six year-old. if his age in 1720 was accurately recorded, in 1706 he must have been twenty-two years-old. He must have arrived earlier than 1706. This takes us to his middle or late teens to escape Saintonge. According to the census of 1708, taken just two years after the French invasion, John was found with two unidentified white females and seven slaves. Some sources claim that there was a first wife which is not supported by any official record. There is only one Marry Faucette exists as the wife of John Faucette who at the time of this census couldn't have been older than eight years-old. As for the seven slaves, this paltry number of slaves was far too few to run a sugar plantation of any size but many for a new comer who must have recently arrived to Nevis. This suggest that he had not made it as a big planter yet. 

John escaped from Saintonge, his own land, due to economic inequalities causing the violence, conflict and oppression of his people by the Catholic government which was called Ancien Regime. He did what any oppressed person would have done and started to inspect, buy and sell enslave west African people who were kidnapped and brought to the new world. John's occupation was to inspect the enslaved people, similar to inspecting a cattle before they were sold as properties. This was the precise occupation Alexander Hamilton was referring to when he referred to his grandfather as a "physician." John continued accumulating his wealth by enslaving people for the land he obtained. John started a relationship with a child and they had two children out of wedlock together before he married her on August 21st 1718.  His bride, Mary Uppingham was somewhere between eleven and/or eighteen years-old and John was either thirty-four or thirty-eight. There must have been between sixteen to twenty years age gap between the two. It is unknown how long they were together before they got married but their first child was born four years before their marriage. Mary was a British woman, and more than likely from a lower class, poor and of course a woman of a questionable character. Ron Chernow in his 2004 book, Alexander Hamilton, reports that their son, John and daughter, Ann were born before their marriage in 1718. Their oldest daughter Ann was born in 1714 and John was born two months before their marriage in 1718. After their marriage, they had five more children, including Alexander Hamilton's mother, Rachel. Rachel was born in 1729. John and Mary lost five of their children, only Rachel and Ann survived the harsh life in Nevis. This must have been devastating for both. The huge age gap between John and Mary is astounding. Mary's assumed birthday year is around 1700 or 1707. Assuming the 1700 is correct, she was barely a teenager when she gave birth to their daughter Ann whereas John was well advanced in his age, close to forty. By the time she was forty, she wanted to have nothing to do with him and to a point of cutting herself from his estate and inheritance.  

As John exploited enslaved people and gained access to a free land, he occupied a house in southern Nevis foothills. He ended up owning a small sugar plantation and had at least seven slaves. In an island such as Nevis, the nature worked against people due to constant diseases, natural disasters, etc. Thus it was inevitable that the economy would plummet. In 1737, Nevis' lost the prominence and a vast exodus happened. In 1737, Ann, who had been married a well-to-do planter named James Lytton, moved to St. Croix. 

Mary and John got separated in 1740. John paid her annuity of fifty-three pounds and Mary renounced all her rights to John's sugar plantation and seven slaves. Five years later, in 1745, John died. After his dead, sources claim that he left everything he owned to his youngest, unmarried daughter, Rachel. This inheritance must have helped Rachel to find a suitor because shortly after her father's death, Rachel married a possibly Sephardic Jew named Johann Micheal Lavien. 

It is not clear why John didn't leave anything to Ann, his oldest daughter, except the fact she was born out of wedlock. John must have been somewhere between sixty and/or sixty-five when he died. It is assumed John died of natural causes. In an island plagued with diseases and natural disaster, it is not hard to imagine a feeble man of over sixty struggling to survive of old age. Malaria, dysentery, and fellow fever were notorious for taking the lives of the people on the island. At the time of his death, it is not clear if Rachel, who was sixteen, was living with him. Ann was married to James and was living in St. Croix.  Some sources suggests that Rachel may have left with her mother after her parents' separation in 1740. 

What kind of man was John Faucette, whose wealth allowed Rachel to support herself and her children after his death? John was a man who fornicated with a child. Marry Uppingham was barely a teenager when she gave birth to Ann. He committed fornication for an unknown number of years before he finally married to Marry. Then he separated from her. It is not known if he fornicated with anyone else after his separation from his wife but in an island like Nevis it is a high possibility that he did. 

As a person who escaped oppression, John's first action, after his escape, was to focus on exploiting and enslaving vulnerable people. Slave owners in Nevis were notorious for their brutality, mistreatment and even savagery against their slaves. There is no evidence to suggest John Faucette was any different.  He officially owned seven enslaved people and his job was to inspect these human beings like animals before they were traded on a market place. This was how he made a living and how he gained his wealth.  

As mentioned in the beginning, Alexander Hamilton never met his grandfather but did benefit from his grandfather's inheritance and earnings as a child and a teenager. Even though John never met Alexander Hamilton, John's past, his way of life, actions, etc, shaped the man Alexander Hamilton became and the life Hamilton strived for all his life. 

Chernow, R. (2004) Alexander Hamilton. Penguin Books

Geni. https://www.geni.com/people/Dr-John-Faucett/6000000000984453012

Hendrickson, J. T. (1981) The Rise and Fall of Alexander Hamilton. Dodd, Mead

Newton, Michael E. Discovering Hamilton (2017, December 11) . https://discoveringhamilton.com/john-faucett-deposition-nevis-invasion-1706/

The Huguenots Refugees https://museeprotestant.org/en/notice/the-huguenot-refuge/?parc=56944