Editing Aaron Burr (section)

==Personal life==
In addition to his daughter Theodosia, Burr was the father of at least three other children and he [[adoption|adopted]] two sons. Burr also acted as a parent to his two stepsons by his wife's first marriage and he became a mentor or guardian to several protégés who lived in his home.<ref name=worldhistory/>

===Burr's daughter Theodosia===
{{main article|Theodosia Burr Alston}}
[[File:Aaron and Theodosia Burr.jpg|thumb|Burr and his daughter Theodosia]]
Theodosia Burr Alston was born in 1783 and was named after her mother. She was the only child of Burr's marriage to Theodosia Bartow Prevost who survived to adulthood. A second daughter, Sally, lived to the age of three.{{sfn|James|1971|p=270}} Two unnamed stillborns arrived later, with the first son in February 1787 and the second on July 9, 1788.

Burr was a devoted and attentive father to Theodosia.{{sfn|James|1971|p=270}} Believing that a young woman should have an education equal to that of a young man, he prescribed a rigorous course of studies for her which included the classics, French, horsemanship and music.{{sfn|James|1971|p=270}} Their surviving correspondence indicates that he affectionately treated his daughter as a close friend and confidante as long as she lived. Theodosia was devoted to her father as well, once having wrote to him "...you appear to me so superior, so elevated above all other men..."<ref name=unsolvedtheodosia>{{Cite web|title=The Unsolved Mystery of Aaron Burr's Daughter|url=https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2019/01/the-unsolved-mystery-of-aaron-burrs-daughter/|date=January 22, 2019|access-date=February 28, 2025|website=Library of Congress}}</ref>

Theodosia became widely known for her education and accomplishments. In 1801, she married [[Joseph Alston]] of South Carolina.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=861}} They had a son together, Aaron Burr Alston, in 1802.<ref>{{cite web |last1=MacLean |first1=Maggie |title=Theodosia Burr Alston |website=History of American Women |url=http://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2012/11/theodosia-burr-alston.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810154501/http://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2012/11/theodosia-burr-alston.html |archive-date=August 10, 2016 }}</ref> In 1812, the young boy died of [[malaria]] at age ten. Following her son's death, Theodosia sent a letter to her father, stating, "...there is no more joy for me, the world is a blank. I have lost my boy. My child is gone forever. He expired on the 30th of June."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Theodosia|url=https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5300/sc5339/000046/000000/000001/unrestricted/theodosia.htm|access-date=March 19, 2025|via=[[Maryland State Archives]]}}</ref>

[[File:Theodosia Burr Alston walks plank.jpg|thumb|[[The San Francisco Call]]'s cartoon about Theodosia's possible fate.]] During the winter of 1812–1813, Theodosia was lost at sea with the [[schooner]] ''Patriot'' off the Carolinas. Although it is unknown what truly happened to Theodosia and the other passengers, the most common theories are that they were either murdered by pirates or shipwrecked in a storm. Burr and Mr. Alston personally chose to believe the theory that she had died in a storm, not wanting to think their beloved had been murdered.<ref name=unsolvedtheodosia/>

{{Anchor|Natalie De Lage Sumter}}

===Stepchildren and protégés===
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Upon Burr's marriage, he became stepfather to the two teenage sons of his wife's first marriage. Augustine James Frederick Prevost (called "Frederick") and [[John Bartow Prevost]] had both joined their father in the Royal American Regiment in December 1780, at the ages of 16 and 14.{{sfn|Williams|1973|pp=16–17}} When they returned in 1783 to become citizens of the United States,{{sfn|Williams|1973|pp=16–17}} Burr acted as a father to them: he assumed responsibility for their education, gave both of them clerkships in his law office and frequently was accompanied by one of them as an assistant when he traveled on business.{{sfnm|Burr|1837|1p=252|Isenberg|2007|2p=76}} John was later appointed by Jefferson to a post in the Territory of Orleans as the first judge of the [[Louisiana Supreme Court]].{{sfnm|Wymond|1921|1p=113|New York Gen. & Bio. Record|1881|2p=28}}

[[File:Natalie DeLage Sumter, drawing by Saint-Memin.png|thumb|Nathalie de Lage de Volude]]
Burr served as a guardian to Nathalie de Lage de Volude (1782–1841) from 1794 to 1801, during Theodosia's childhood. The young daughter of a French [[marquis]], Nathalie was taken to New York for safety during the [[French Revolution]] by her [[governess]], Caroline de Senat.{{sfn|Tisdale|2001}} Burr opened his home to them, allowing Madame Senat to tutor private students there along with his daughter, and Nathalie became a companion and close friend to Theodosia.{{sfnm|Schachner|1961|1p=|Burr|1837|2p=387 n.1}} While traveling to France for an extended visit in 1801, Nathalie met Thomas Sumter Jr., a diplomat and the son of General [[Thomas Sumter]].{{sfn|Tisdale|2001}} They married in [[Paris]] in March 1802, before returning to his home in South Carolina. From 1810 to 1821 they lived in [[Rio de Janeiro]],{{sfn|Tisdale|2001|pp=83–90}} where Sumter served as the American ambassador to [[History of Portugal (1777–1834)|Portugal]] during the [[transfer of the Portuguese Court to Brazil]].{{sfn|Bureau of Public Affairs}} One of their children, [[Thomas De Lage Sumter]], was a Congressman from South Carolina.{{sfn|Tisdale|2001}}

In the 1790s, Burr also took the painter [[John Vanderlyn]] into his home as a protégé,{{sfn|Isenberg|2007|pp=158–159}} and provided him with financial support and patronage for 20 years.{{sfn|National Gallery}} He arranged Vanderlyn's training by [[Gilbert Stuart]] in Philadelphia and sent him in 1796 to the [[École des Beaux-Arts]] in Paris, where he remained for six years.{{sfnm|1a1=National Gallery|2a1=Kip|2y=1867|2pp=228–229}}

===Adopted and acknowledged children===
Burr adopted two sons, [[Aaron Columbus Burr]] and Charles Burdett, during the 1810s and 1820s after the death of his daughter Theodosia. Aaron ([[Name change|born]] Aaron Burr Columbe) was born in Paris in 1808 and arrived in America around 1815, and Charles was born in 1814.{{sfn|Isenberg|2007|p=397}}{{sfn|Lomask|1982|pp=387–388}}{{sfn|Schachner|1961|p=513}} Both of the boys were reputed to be Burr's biological sons. A Burr biographer described Aaron Columbus Burr as "the product of a Paris adventure", conceived presumably during Burr's exile from the United States between 1808 and 1814.{{sfn|Schachner|1961|p=513}}

In 1835, the year before his death, Burr acknowledged two young daughters whom he had fathered late in his life, by different mothers. Burr made specific provisions for his surviving daughters in a [[will and testament|will]] dated January 11, 1835, in which he left "all the rest and residue" of his estate, after other specific bequests, to six-year-old Frances Ann (born {{circa|1829}}), and two-year-old Elizabeth (born {{circa|1833}}).{{sfnm|Oppenheimer|2015|1pp=165–169|Stillwell|1928|2p=66}}

{{Anchor|Mary Emmons}}
{{Anchor|Louisa Charlotte Burr}}

===Unacknowledged children===
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{{See also|Mary Emmons}}
In 1787 or earlier, Burr began a relationship with [[Mary Emmons]] (called "Eugenie"), who may have been East Indian. She worked as a servant in his household during his first marriage. Emmons may have come from [[Calcutta]] to [[Saint-Domingue]] or Haiti before coming to America.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4lNoVq79qn8C&q=calcutta&pg=PA68|title=One More Day's Journey: The Story of a Family and a People|first=Allen B.|last=Ballard|year=2011|publisher=iUniverse|isbn=9781462052837 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB112847391696860205 |title=Fans of Aaron Burr Find Unlikely Ally In a 'New' Relative |first1=Greg |last1=Ip |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |date=October 5, 2005}}</ref> Burr fathered two children with Emmons, both of whom married into Philadelphia's "[[Free Negro]]" community in which their families became prominent:
* Louisa Burr (Webb) (Darius) ({{circa|1784}}-1878) worked most of her life as a valued servant in the home of Elizabeth Powel Francis Fisher, a prominent Philadelphia society matron, and later in the home of her son [[Joshua Francis Fisher]].{{sfn|Maillard|2013|pp=261–300}} She was married to Francis Webb (1788–1829), a founding member of the Pennsylvania Augustine Education Society, secretary of the [[Haitian emigration|Haytien Emigration Society]] formed in 1824, and distributor of ''[[Freedom's Journal]]'' from 1827 to 1829.{{sfn|Maillard|2013|pp=261–300}} After his death, Louisa remarried and became Louisa Darius.{{sfn|Maillard|2013|pp=261–300}} Her youngest son [[Frank J. Webb]] wrote the 1857 novel ''The Garies and Their Friends''.{{sfn|Maillard|2013|pp=261–300}}
* [[John Pierre Burr]] ({{circa|1792}}–1864) became a member of Philadelphia's [[Underground Railroad]] and served as an agent for the [[abolitionism|abolitionist]] newspaper ''[[The Liberator (newspaper)|The Liberator]]''. He worked in the National Black Convention movement and served as chairman of the [[American Moral Reform Society]].{{sfnm|Willson|2000|1p=123 n.11}}

One contemporary of John Pierre Burr identified him as a natural son of Burr in a published account,{{sfn|Pickard|1895|p=224}} but Burr never acknowledged his relationship or children with Emmons during his life, in contrast to his adoption or acknowledgment of other children born later in his life.

In 2018, Louisa and John were acknowledged by the Aaron Burr Association as the children of Burr after Sherri Burr, a descendant of John Pierre, provided both documentary evidence and results of a [[DNA test]] to confirm a familial link between descendants of Burr and descendants of Pierre.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/24/aaron-burr-vice-president-who-killed-hamilton-had-children-of-color|title=Aaron Burr, vice-president who killed Hamilton, had children of color|last=Holpuch|first=Amanda|date=August 24, 2019|work=The Guardian|access-date=August 24, 2019|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/08/24/aaron-burr-villain-hamilton-had-secret-family-color-new-research-shows/|title=Aaron Burr – villain of 'Hamilton' – had a secret family of color, new research shows|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> The Association installed a headstone at Pierre's grave to mark his ancestry. Stuart Fisk Johnson, the president of the Association, commented, "A few people didn't want to go into it because Aaron's first wife, Theodosia, was still alive, and dying of cancer [when Aaron fathered Pierre] ... But the embarrassment is not as important as it is to acknowledge and embrace actual living, robust, accomplished children."<ref>{{cite news|last=Natanson|first=Hannah|title=Aaron Burr – villain of 'Hamilton' – had a secret family of color, new research shows|language=en-US|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/08/24/aaron-burr-villain-hamilton-had-secret-family-color-new-research-shows/|access-date=September 25, 2020|issn=0190-8286}}</ref>