Alexander Hamilton descendant loans heirlooms to museum

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The fifth great-grandson of Alexander Hamilton loaned some family heirlooms, including a ring that has a lock of his hair inside, to the Museum of the American Revolution Monday.

Douglas Hamilton was in Philadelphia to give the artifacts to the museum to be featured as part of the museum's "Year of Hamilton" in an exhibit called "Hamilton Was Here: Rising Up in Revolutionary Philadelphia." The items include a Society of the Cincinnati Eagle insignia worn and owned by Hamilton and a gold mourning ring — featuring a lock of his hair set under a glass jewel — worn by his wife Elizabeth after his death.

"My dad never talked to me about it," Douglas Hamilton said of growing up as a Founding Father descendant. "The only story I got from my father was that being a descendant from Alexander Hamilton and 10 cents would get you a cup of coffee."

The 67-year-old Ohio man said their famous distant relative wasn't something the family focused on. He said a cardboard box containing the heirlooms was passed quietly from generation to generation, and stowed away until it passed on again.

But as Hamilton's legacy has re-emerged with the hit Broadway musical and a number of books in recent years, he has been embracing his ancestor and sharing his stories and objects. He even has a grandson named Alexander Hamilton who was born on what might have been the 250th anniversary of the Founding Father's birth. (His birthday has been speculated as Jan. 11, 1755 or Jan. 11, 1757.)