Did Martha Washington have a tomcat named Hamilton? Was Alexander Hamilton a tomcat? In this presentation, Hamilton scholar Michael E. Newton fully refutes a popular myth about the most remarkable Founding Father. Presented at Liberty Hall on July 7, 2016.

1. 1© Michael E. Newton

2. 2© Michael E. Newton

3. 
Is it true?
“Truth is powerful and will prevail.”
Alexander Hamilton, 1774
3© Michael E. Newton

4. 
Original Story
On January 1, 1780, a Captain Smythe wrote:
Mottled: “Marked with spots or blotches of
different color or shades of color.”
4© Michael E. Newton

5. 
From the dozens of books and essays
retelling this story, a few examples…
Repeated & Embellished
5© Michael E. Newton

6. 
Gertrude Atherton’s The Conqueror (1902):
 Story reported as true but Atherton changed details.
Instead of a tomcat named Hamilton, Hamilton was
called “Mrs. Washington’s Tom-cat.”
 Printed in Tory press!
 Took place in 1777.
 Historical fiction, but very influential.
Repeated & Embellished
6© Michael E. Newton

7. 
Nathan Schachner’s Alexander Hamilton (1946):
Hamilton’s “notoriety” with the ladies well
known.
Tomcat story printed in Tory newspaper.
Also had it in 1777.
Repeated & Embellished
7© Michael E. Newton

8. 
Thomas Fleming’s Duel (1999):
Repeated & Embellished
Story reported as true.
“Bigheaded, extremely amorous tomcat.”
Tomcat named after Hamilton because of
“his reputation as a ladies man.”
8© Michael E. Newton

9. 
Arthur S. Lefkowitz’s George Washington’s
Indispensable Men (2003):
Repeated & Embellished
Tomcat story reported as true.
“Large, lusty tomcat.”
Named Hamilton because of his “reputation.”
9© Michael E. Newton

10. 
Ron Chernow’s Alexander Hamilton (2004):
Repeated & Embellished
Again, story is reported as true.
“Large, lascivious tomcat.”
10© Michael E. Newton

11. 
Hamilton musical (2015) from Hamilton: The
Revolution:
Repeated & Embellished
“Feral tomcat.”
Even Hamilton agrees the story is true.
11© Michael E. Newton

12. 
Hamilton: The Revolution note:
Repeated & Embellished
12© Michael E. Newton

13. 
Story is true.
Martha Washington had a tomcat.
Tomcat was “extremely amorous,” “lusty,”
“lascivious,” and “feral.”
For that reason, it was named Hamilton.
Story was reported in the Tory press.
John Adams “most likely” spread this tale.
Repeated & Embellished:
Summary
13© Michael E. Newton

14. 
Where does one start to look for
the truth?
“Let’s start at the very beginning.
A very good place to start.”
I.e., go to the original source!
Is the tomcat story true?
14© Michael E. Newton

15. Tomcat Story: As First Published
15© Michael E. Newton

16. 
“Thirteen is a number peculiarly
belonging to the rebels.”
“Lord Stirling takes thirteen glasses of
grog every morning, has thirteen
enormous rum-bunches on his nose…”
True?
The Tomcat Story
16© Michael E. Newton

17. 
“Mr. Washington has thirteen toes on his
feet, (the extra ones having grown since
the Declaration of Independence,)…”
True?
The Tomcat Story
17© Michael E. Newton

18. 
“Sachem Schuyler has a top-knot of
thirteen stiff hairs, which erect
themselves on the crown of his head
when he grows mad…”
True?
The Tomcat Story
18© Michael E. Newton

19. 
“Old Putnam had thirteen pounds of
his posteriors bit off in an encounter
with a Connecticut bear…”
True?
The Tomcat Story
19© Michael E. Newton

20. 
“Mrs. Washington has a mottled tom-
cat, (which she calls, in a complimentary
way, ‘Hamilton,’) with thirteen yellow
rings around his tail, and that his
flaunting it suggested to the Congress
the adoption of the same number of
stripes for the rebel flag.”
True?!?!?
 * Grand Union Flag with 13 stripes made its first appearance in
December 1775, long before Hamilton and Martha Washington first met.
The Tomcat Story
20© Michael E. Newton

21. 
Sarcasm! A joke!
No one in 1780 would have believed
any of these stories.
No one now should believe them
either.
The Truth About
the Tomcat Story
21© Michael E. Newton

22. 
 “The Adams Family’s Revenge
Against Alexander Hamilton,”
TheFederalist.com, October 8, 2015:
 “Clearly…a joke.”
 “The notion that Hamilton was a
serial philanderer, a ‘tomcat,’ was a
lie first disseminated by his wartime
British enemies and later circulated
by his domestic political
opponents.”
Stephen Knott
22© Michael E. Newton

23. 
 Admitting that the story was a joke, satire…
 Admitting that Martha Washington had no tomcat…
 Nevertheless…
 Story shows that British in 1780 knew Hamilton was
a “tomcat.”
 Tale was published in the “Tory press” and
“disseminated by his wartime British enemies and
later circulated by his domestic political opponents.”
 Thus, everyone knew Hamilton was an “extremely
amorous,” “lusty,” “lascivious,” “feral” tomcat!
 Right???
Fake but Accurate?
23© Michael E. Newton

24. First Publication
24© Michael E. Newton

25. Original Source
25© Michael E. Newton

26. 
Private journal/diary of a British officer.
Not a “Tory Press” or “newspaper.”
Tomcat story not “disseminated” to public
in 1780.
Smythe’s Journal/Diary
26© Michael E. Newton

27.  Frank Moore’s Diary of
the American Revolution
(1860).
 No record of story prior
to 1860.
First Appearance in Print
27© Michael E. Newton

28. 
 Admitting Martha Washington had no tomcat…
 Admitting the story did not appear in the press in
1780 and was not known until 1860…
 Nevertheless…
 The tale written in 1780 calls Hamilton a “tomcat.”
 Proves that Hamilton was widely known on both
sides as an “extremely amorous,” “lusty,”
“lascivious,” “feral” tomcat!
 Right???
Fake but Still Accurate?
28© Michael E. Newton

29. 
Tomcat Defined: Google
29© Michael E. Newton

30. 
Which definition did Captain Smythe have
in mind?
Was Smythe’s fictional “mottled tomcat”
just a male cat?
Or was Smythe’s fictional “mottled
tomcat” a “lusty” and “amorous” male cat?
What did “tomcat” mean in 1780?
Smythe’s Tomcat Defined
30© Michael E. Newton

31. 
Tomcat Etymology:
Oxford English Dictionary
31© Michael E. Newton

32. 
Tom the Cat
32© Michael E. Newton

33. 
Tomcat Etymology:
Oxford English Dictionary
33© Michael E. Newton

34. 
Chambers’s English
Dictionary: 1872
34© Michael E. Newton

35. 
Webster’s Handy
Dictionary: 1877
35© Michael E. Newton

36. 
Webster’s Collegiate
Dictionary: 1917
36© Michael E. Newton

37. 
Tomcat Etymology:
Oxford English Dictionary
37© Michael E. Newton

38. 
Tomcat Etymology:
Today’s Merriam Webster’s
38© Michael E. Newton

39. 
In 1780, “tomcat” meant “male cat.”
“Tomcat” had no sexual connotation.
Smythe never meant for Hamilton to be
seen as an “extremely amorous,” “lusty,”
“lascivious,” “feral” tomcat!
In fact, Smythe wrote that Martha named
the tomcat Hamilton “in a complimentary
way.” It was never meant to disparage him.
Captain Smythe’s Tomcat
39© Michael E. Newton

40. 
Martha Washington had no tomcat named
Hamilton nor did she call him a tomcat.
Tomcat story was a satirical tale written in
1780 by Captain Smythe in a private
journal/diary.
Tomcat story not known by public until 1860.
The word “tomcat” had no sexual
connotation when story written in 1780 or
when first published in 1860.
Tomcat Fully Refuted:
Conclusions
40© Michael E. Newton

41. 41© Michael E. Newton