Aaron Burr

Aaron Burr was born in Newark, New JerseyNew JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the eastern United States on the Atlantic Ocean, bordered by New York State, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, with the Hudson River forming its northeastern boundary and the Delaware River its western boundary; its capital is Trenton and its largest city is Newark. One of the original 13 colonies, it became the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution on December 18, 1787, and its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 9,288,994.Open the full entry, on February 6, 1756. His father, Aaron Burr Sr., served as the second president of the College of New JerseyPrinceton UniversityPrinceton University is a private university and Ivy League member in Princeton, New Jersey. Chartered on October 22, 1746 as the College of New Jersey, it moved to Princeton in 1756 and adopted its present name in 1896. Undergraduate education leads to A.B. and B.S.E. degrees and emphasizes small-group discussion, independent research and residential college life. Graduate education spans the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and engineering. As of October 2026, Christopher L. Eisgruber was president. Its 2026–27 operating budget was $3.407 billion, including $342 million for undergraduate aid.Open the full entry, the forerunner of Princeton, and his maternal grandfather, Jonathan Edwards, was its third president. Burr lost both parents in early childhood and was raised by his maternal uncle, Timothy Edwards.⁠[1][2]

At age thirteen, Burr entered the College of New Jersey as a sophomore, and he graduated in 1772 at age sixteen. He joined the Cliosophic Society and delivered a commencement oration titled On Castle Building. After graduating, he first studied theology and then turned to law.⁠[2]

During the Revolutionary War, Burr served in the Continental Army and took part in military operations in New York, Quebec, and Monmouth. He left the army in 1779 for health reasons and then resumed his legal training.⁠[1]

In 1782, Burr was admitted to the bar in Albany; the following year, he moved to New York City to practice. In 1784, he entered the New York State Legislature, and in 1789 he was appointed the state’s attorney general. He entered the U.S. Senate in 1791 and served until 1797.⁠[1][3]

The yellow fever epidemic of 1798 increased New York’s need for clean water. At the time, financial resources were provided mainly by the Bank of New York and the New York branch of the Bank of the United States. Burr pushed to establish the Manhattan Company, hoping to use a water company’s charter to start a bank.⁠[4]

Burr and Hamilton at one point jointly promoted the plan for a private water company, and the act took effect on April 2. The capital finally authorized was $2 million; the charter allowed the company to use its surplus capital for lawful investments and financial transactions, which enabled it to take deposits and make loans. The authorized capital is not the same as a verified amount of paid-in capital.⁠[5][6]

The Manhattan Company used $100,000 of its authorized capital for the water system, and its banking business opened at 40 Wall Street in September 1799, creating a new institution that competed with the bank associated with Hamilton. On the water side, the company turned to wells within the city and wooden pipes, and the scale and quality of its water supply did not meet the city’s needs.⁠[5]

In the presidential election of 1800, Burr received the same number of electoral votes as Thomas JeffersonThomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson (1743–1826) was the author of the Declaration of Independence and the third president of the United States, serving from 1801 to 1809. He had earlier been governor of Virginia, minister to France, secretary of state and vice president.Open the full entry. After thirty-six ballots, the House of Representatives chose Jefferson as president, and Burr became the third vice president, serving from 1801 to 1805. The deadlock led to the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution, which provides for separate votes for president and vice president.⁠[3]

Burr also borrowed personally from the Manhattan Company. A seven-page record of a meeting dated December 16, 1802, preserves a committee’s review of his debts, the assets pledged as security, and the conditions for further financing. According to the archival catalog description, the committee, despite its reservations, recommended further loans and an adjustment of the terms of the old debts subject to additional financial conditions, and the board made implementation conditional on Burr’s consent.⁠[7]

After Burr lost the 1804 election for governor of New York, his political and personal conflict with Hamilton continued to escalate. On July 11, the two men fought a duel at Weehawken, New Jersey; Hamilton was mortally wounded and died the next day. Burr was later indicted in New York and New Jersey in connection with the duel but was never tried for Hamilton’s death.⁠[6][3]

After the duel, Burr returned to Washington to preside over the Senate. He presided over the impeachment trial of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase; the Senate voted to acquit on March 1, 1805. The next day, Burr delivered his farewell address to the Senate.⁠[8]

In 1807, Burr was tried in Richmond on a charge of treason. Chief Justice John MarshallJohn MarshallJohn Marshall (1755–1835) was an American statesman and jurist who served as a U.S. Representative and Secretary of State and, from 1801 to 1835, as Chief Justice of the United States, establishing the principle of judicial review in Marbury v. Madison.Open the full entry presided over the trial, and the case ended in an acquittal. Burr then lived in Europe and returned to New York in 1812 to resume practicing law.⁠[1][3]

Burr died on September 14, 1836, in Port Richmond on Staten Island, New York, at age 80. His funeral was held in Princeton, and he was buried near the graves of his father and maternal grandfather.⁠[1][2]

In 1955, the Bank of the Manhattan Company merged with Chase National Bank to form Chase Manhattan Bank. In 2000, Chase Manhattan merged with J.P. Morgan & Co. to form JPMorgan Chase. The bank Burr founded is thus part of the group’s historical lineage.⁠[6]