Burr, Aaron

Born: 1756-02-06 Newark, New Jersey

Died: 1836-09-14 New York, New York

Aaron Burr was a lawyer, army officer, state legislator, state attorney general, U.S. senator, and vice president of the United States. Son of theologian Aaron Burr and grandson of Jonathan Edwards, Aaron Burr entered the College of New Jersey (Princeton) at the age of thirteen and received his B.A. in 1772. After a year of theological study, Burr shifted to the law, studying with his brother-in-law Tapping Reeve. The American Revolution interrupted Burr's studies. He enlisted in the Continental Army, holding various commands until March 1779, when he left the army citing poor health. He resumed his law studies, earning admission to the New York bar in 1782. He married Theodosia Bartow Prevost that same year, and they had one child before Theodosia's death in 1794. In 1783, Burr moved to New York City, where he battled Alexander Hamilton to become the city's preeminent attorney. Burr's political career began in 1784 when voters elected him to the New York State Assembly. He was New York attorney general (1789-91), U.S. senator from New York (1791-96), member of the New York State Assembly (1798-99), and vice-president of the United States (1801-1804). In 1804, he ran for governor of New York, but lost to Morgan Lewis. In July 1804, Burr shot and killed Hamilton in a duel arising out of Hamilton's opposition to Burr's gubernatorial candidacy. In 1805, he became embroiled in a conspiracy to create a separate nation in the American West. Arrested in 1806, Burr was indicted for treason in 1807 and brought to trial. The court acquitted him due to lack of evidence, but the trial ended his political career. Burr lived in Europe from 1808 to 1812, seeking unsuccessfully to attract British and French support for his new nation venture. In May 1812, he returned to New York City to practice law. In July 1833, he married Eliza Bowen Jumel, but within a year she had filed for divorce, citing infidelity. A court granted the divorce on the day of Burr's death.

Steven E. Siry, "Burr, Aaron," American National Biography, ed. by John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), 4:34-36; Milton Lomask, Aaron Burr: The Years from Princeton to Vice President, 1756-1805 (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1979); Milton Lomask, Aaron Burr: The Conspiracy and Years of Exile, 1805-1836 (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1982).