Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton was born out of wedlock on the Caribbean island of Nevis, orphaned young, and sent to New York to study at King's College, the school that is now Columbia. He served as Washington's aide through the war, wrote most of the Federalist essays, and as the first secretary of the treasury built the country's credit, its first national bank and the revenue cutters that became the Coast Guard.

In July 1804 he was shot in a duel by Aaron Burr, the sitting vice president, across the Hudson in Weehawken, and died the next day. His funeral was held at Trinity Church at the head of Wall Street, the street his finance made, and his grave is in the churchyard there. At Columbia, Hamilton Hall still carries his name on College Walk.