George Eacker

George I. Eacker (c. 1774 – January 4, 1804) was a New York lawyer and Freemason. He fatally shot Philip Hamilton, son of Alexander Hamilton, in a duel on November 23, 1801 in Weehawken, New Jersey.

Eacker was born to Jacob Eacker, who fought in the American Revolution and served in the New York State Assembly, and married Anna Margaret Finck, daughter of Andreas Finck.

In 1801, Eacker, a supporter of Aaron Burr, made a speech denigrating Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton's son, Philip Hamilton, and Philip's friend Richard Price confronted Eacker on November 21. Eacker called them "damned rascals" so, as was common at the time, they challenged Eacker to a duel. Price faced the 27-year-old Eacker in a duel on November 22. Shots were exchanged but neither party was injured. The following day, Eacker fatally shot the 19-year-old Hamilton in a second duel.

After Philip's death, in a letter to Rufus King, Robert Troup wrote of Alexander: "Never did I see a man so completely overwhelmed with grief as Hamilton had been." The duel foreshadows the Burr–Hamilton duel only a few years later (July 11, 1804) on the same dueling ground in Weehawken.

Eacker died less than three years after Philip Hamilton. His cause of death was reported as consumption, but his brother claimed it was prolonged sickness contracted while fighting a fire in cold weather (while a captain in the fire department).

Eacker is portrayed in the 2015 Broadway musical Hamilton through a performance originated by Ephraim M. Sykes. A fictional version of his duel with Phillip Hamilton appears in the musical number ("Blow Us All Away").

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