Even a cursory Google search will tell you Theodosia Burr Alston’s life was marked by tragedy, and ended in mystery at the very young age of 29. When I learned how unconventionally (for the time) Aaron Burr and his wife (also named Theodosia) raised their daughter to be, essentially, an 18th century proto-feminist, I was hooked.
And that hook deepened when it became very apparent how Burr inadvertently controlled every part of Theodosia’s life through his unending pursuit of political power.
Here was a woman who had the means and access to an education normally reserved for boys at that time, yet didn’t use it for much other than to help her father further his political career.
Theodosia’s life was built around her father’s
Every moment of her life that would have been defining in some way was marked by Burr’s obsession with power. What’s wild is this: it’s not that Burr even had one specific goal around gaining political power. He appears to have simply just wanted it for the sake of having it.
Which means the choices Theodosia made were not truly her own. They didn’t even bring about some kind of master plan other than “Aaron Burr wants to rule the known world.”
After her mother passed away when she was 10, Theodosia became the Lady of the house. This meant hosting salons and dinners designed to deepen existing political connections and create new ones. All for the benefit of Burr’s career.
She debuted as the Lady of the house at the very young age of 14 when she hosted (on her own!) what amounted to a state dinner on behalf of her father at their estate called Richmond Hill. Imagine being 14 and having the pressure of planning and hosting a state dinner for your father who has a presidential dream!
When she was 17, Theodosia found herself engaged – though scholars debate if it was truly for love. The man she ultimately married at 18, Joseph Alston, was a wealthy plantation owner from South Carolina. The Alston family was very influential politically in addition to being wealthy.
Not to mention, at that time in the early 1800s, the influence the south had over politics was growing. Burr wanted those connections to help his career. Not to mention, Burr was always in some sort of financial trouble. The Alston’s wealth (built, of course, on the backs of slaves) would help alleviate Burr’s troubles.
The match seemed perfect for Burr… while letters from Theodosia’s friends to her indicate Alston wasn’t a popular suitor for her.
Despite her friends’ reservations, she married him.
Joseph and Theodosia welcomed their first and only child shortly after their wedding and… guess what they named their son? Yep. Aaron.
When Burr murdered Alexander Hamilton in their famous duel, forcing Burr out of political life, Theodosia’s true feelings about her father’s choice remains forever lost to history.
We don’t know if she supported his choice, or judged it. All we know is, in the coming years when Burr’s ability to make sensible choices completely unraveled and he found himself at the center of a plot to set up his own government in Mexico – Theodosia bought right into it, writing of how excited she was to be the first Empress of Mexico.
Perhaps most surprising of all is, in her final years, when her father lived in disgrace in self-imposed European exile (after his plot was found out and he was driven out of the country to avoid prison), Theodosia wrote to political allies on his behalf trying to bring him home. Rejection after rejection didn’t deter her; she was determined to reunite with Burr no matter what.
She almost got that wish.
Theodosia’s legacy is shaped by her father
Theodosia’s final moments in her very short life were spent aboard a doomed ship headed for New York to see Burr. He had returned. Even after suffering the tragic loss of her only son just months before, and dealing with debilitating uterine cancer, Theodosia boarded The Patriot, surely knowing it was a death sentence. She was compelled to try to see her father one last time anyway… only to be lost at sea.
After her disappearance, her husband died a few years later (maybe from a broken heart? Though having Aaron Burr as a father-in-law impacted Joseph, too. Aaron expected his son-in-law to be just as ambitious as him, pushing him into a life of politics Joseph never wanted… and wasn’t very good at.).
Burr persisted, fielding questions and avoiding rumors that surrounded Theodosia’s death. She was a bit of an icon in the afterlife, since her body was never found. And while she was alive, she was an inspiring figure. There was so much speculation about what happened to her, ranging from she was taken by pirates to she washed up on the shores of Texas and married a Native American chief.
Theodosia Burr Alston’s story is wild, right?
I couldn’t get her out of my head. I knew I needed to write about her because a novel focused solely telling her unique story didn’t seem to exist. At least one without placing her in unlikely romantic relationships or outrageous situations (like the pirates I mentioned).
Besides… watching this strong, well educated woman end up purposefully choosing – over and over – to devote her time, attention and energy to a parental figure who only brought chaos and drama to her life was like witnessing a train wreck that felt all too personal.
When a historical figure’s story becomes personal…
In my own life, I grew up with a father who prioritized his own pursuit of power to the detriment of having genuine relationships with me and my sister. We knew, in some subconscious way, we were always second to the work. It’s only been recently, now that I’ve had children of my own and began unearthing so many of the memories and feelings I pushed away, that I’ve understood how deep of an impact that kind of father had on me and my development into adulthood.
So, you could say, Theodosia’s story also felt a bit personal.
Where Theodosia lost her life – quite literally – without ever being able to separate herself from her father’s influence and a desire to please him… I’ve done the opposite. Where Theodosia could, presumably, forgive her father’s many faults and turn a blind eye to his selfish ambition, I have yet to be able to reach that point.
Theodosia’s story deserves to be told, through her eyes
Ultimately, what my Theodosia Burr Alston novel is exploring a story that exists in the middle of the raw, bare facts history has left us about Theodosia and my own personal realities.
At the surface level, it’s exploring the parent-child dynamic and what happens when that is out of balance.
Below the surface, I’m digging into Theodosia’s correspondence, Burr’s letters, and other historical details to piece together a more balanced view of her story. What if she questioned Burr? What if she realized the hold her had on her life and she demanded a reckoning? What if she went to see him when he came back from exile simply to show him what sort of woman she had become when she was free of his influence?
Through this novel, I hope to give Theodosia the justice she never received – the voice that’s been lost to the waters, and the agency she was never allowed to develop. And, in the process, I hope to heal my own heart a little too.
If you’d like to grab the working first chapter of this as-of-yet unnamed novel about Theodosia Burr Alston, use the form below. I’ll add you to my email list just for book updates, and you’ll get the chapter for free. I’d love to hear your feedback on it, too!
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