Poor Samuel Seabury comes off worse during the "Farmer Refuted" sequence in Hamilton?, but what happened to the stuffy loyalist afterwards? Portrayed by Thayne Jasperson, Samuel Seabury makes only one appearance in the stage show (now released on Disney+) as a loyalist who opposes the revolutionary ideals of Alexander Hamilton (Lin-Manuel Miranda) and speaks out in support of King George III. The title "Farmer Refuted" references a famous letter written by the film's protagonist, but the sequence leaves out crucial information about Seabury's real-life interactions with Hamilton.
Seabury first appears at the 18-minute mark in Hamilton, just after "The Schuyler Sisters." He's portrayed as a loyalist dandy, evidenced by his "Hear ye, hear ye" introductory line and proper behavior while presenting the 1774 letter "Free Thoughts on the Proceedings of the Continental Congress." Hamilton watches with a grin as Seabury states his case for the British Crown, while Hercules Mulligan (Okieriete Onaodowan) suggests that his fellow revolutionary should "tear this dude apart." Once Seabury references King George III, Hamilton interrupts and lets him know that a revolution is indeed coming. Musically, "Farmer Refuted" is notable for the lyrical overlap between Miranda and Jasperson's performances, which blend through harmonizing and build to contrasting boasts about "shame" and "revolution." Seabury's lone appearance in Hamilton ends abruptly with a message from the King ("You'll Be Back").
In real life, Hamilton didn't know that the Yale-educated Seabury wrote the 1774 letter "Free Thoughts on the Proceedings of the Continental Congress," as it was published under the pen name A.W. Farmer. He did, however, respond vehemently to the "Farmer's Letters" and ultimately ended the beef with "The Farmer Refuted." For the Hamilton musical, Miranda condenses the real-life exchanges and frames Seabury as a young and impressionable man, when in fact the loyalist was approximately 45 years old when he wrote his now-historic letters. Seabury apparently wasn't even identified as the author until 1783, the year that the American Revolutionary War ended.
After the war, Seabury became the first bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. He later moved to New London, Connecticut and was influential in restoring religious customs, such as weekly mass services. By 1794, Seabury established what would become a boarding school known as Cheshire Academy, which was later attended by musician Eric Bloom (Blue Öyster Cult), musician Mike Heller (Fear Factory), hip-hop artist Talib Kweli, author Robert Ludlum (The Bourne Identity), and actor James Van Der Beek.
Seabury passed away at age 66 in February 1796. At the time, Hamilton had just resigned as Secretary of the Treasury and was about to become the focus of America's first sex scandal after admitting to his affair with Maria Reynolds in "The Reynolds Pamphlet." As for Seabury, Hamilton doesn't quite honor his legacy as a literary master of style, but the Disney+ musical has made him a relevant pop culture figure over 200 years after his death. Seabury was married to Mary Hicks and had five children.