Person:Robert Hamilton (84)

... Robert Hamilton was born in Pennsylvania, June 17, 1768, before the state government of Kentucky was formed, and while the Indians were yet causing great trouble with the white settlers "on the dark and bloody ground" he went to Kentucky and became identified with its agricultural interests. He never sought or desired political off1ce, but was often called upon to aid in settling disputed land claims. When the war of 1812 broke out he recruited a company of Kentucky riflemen, of which he was elected captain, and on the 20th of September of that year he wrote to his wife from Vincennes, in the territory of Indiana, giving an account of the march of his company to that post and their muster into the United States service, under command of Major General Samuel Hopkins. From Vincennes they marched against Shawnee, Prophetstown and other Indian villages on the Illinois river, and on the expiration of their term of service the members of this company were discharged and sent home. Robert Hamilton was not only a loyal soldier and an enterprising farmer, but was also a consistent Christian gentleman, and died firm in his faith in the Creator and the future destiny of man. He died June 17, 1817, and was buried in the Concord churchyard in Nicholas county, Kentucky. ...

THE PIONEERS
Our Oldest Citizens, Who Made This Country What It Is
A Successful Farmer, Stock Raiser And A Splendid And Public Spirited Citizen
As the musing organist first lets his fingers wander where they list over the keys - beginning far away, and builds a bridge for his theme, this article begins with a family driven from Scotland, the land of hills and heather, to the north of Ireland by the Catholics, in the days of persecution for conscience sake, on account of their Presbyterian belief. After the middle of the eighteenth century - probably about 1767 - William Hamilton, the first of the family that came to America, married Isabella Thompson. They soon afterwards came from Ireland to the new world, and took up their abode in Pennsylvania; but the romantic story of Daniel Boone and the far-famed fertility of the vales and hills of Kentucky attracted thither ambitious young men from the West. Catching the spirit, William Hamilton, with his wife and three sons, Robert, Thomas and Samuel, located on McBride's creek, in Bourbon county, Kentucky, and lived for several years upon a body of land that grew into a valuable estate, and was the nucleus of the fortunes owned and controlled by his descendants in later days - not only in Kentucky, but in Indiana. That branch of the Hamilton family which came from Kentucky and settled in Indiana, has been connected in some way, with all movements looking towards the religious, moral, social, educational and material growth of the community in which they have lived. It behooves the writer, in order to narrow the limits of this sketch, to trace the genealogical line directly to the subject of this sketch.

His grand father, Robert Hamilton, was born in Pennsylvania, June 17, 1768, before the state government of Kentucky had been formed, and while the Indians were still on the war path in the "Dark and Bloody Ground," to resent the occupation of their hunting grounds by the whites. Being taken by his parents to Kentucky while yet a boy, Robert grew up with the country, and became identified with its agricultural interests. In the war of 1812 he was captain in a regiment of Kentucky Riflemen. Under the command of Gen. Samuel Hopkins, his command marched from Vincennes, on September 20, 1812, and was on duty in the Territory of Indiana until discharged at the close of the war. He died June 17, 1817, and was buried at Concord in Nicholas county, Kentucky.

Captain Robert Hamilton had married Mary Eward, the oldest daughter of James Eward, an emigrant from Ireland, who had settled first in Pennsylvania, then in Virginia, but finally in Bourbon county, Kentucky. This marriage, which occurred June 9, 1794, connected the two families - Scotch and Irish - by whose descendants has been established the prominent Hamilton family of Decatur county.

The widow of Capt. Robert Hamilton (Mary Eward) came with her children to Indiana, and settled in the present Kingston neighborhood in 1823. She died at the home of her son, Robert M. Hamilton, March 17, 1848. ...

... On both the fathers' and the mothers' side, the Hamiltons are of Scotch-Irish descent and of the Presbyterian faith, and, tradition says, were driven from Scotland over to Ireland at the time of the Catholic persecution of Protestantism in Scotland. William Hamilton, the paternal grandfather of the men who settled here, came from Ireland to Pennsylvania about the middle of the last century. When or where he was married is not known, but his wife's name was Isabella Thompson. Soon after a settlement was begun in Kentucky, he with his wife and three sons (Robert, Thomas and Samuel) emigrated to that State and settled on McBride's Creek, in Bourbon County, where he died not many years thereafter. ...

... Taylor's Creek, Bourbon County. Here it was that these two Scotch-Irish families, after a generation's wanderings in a new world, united, in some measure, their destinies by the marriage of Robert Hamilton and Mary Eward, which event occurred June 19, 1794. It is with them and their descendants that this sketch has particularly to do, as the Miss Mary Eward of 1794 is the widowed mother, who, with her four sons, seven daughters and two sons-in-law, settled here in Decatur County in 1822 and 1823.

Robert Hamilton was born in Pennsylvania June 17, 1768; emigrated to Kentucky before a State government was formed and while the Indians were yet giving the whites great trouble. He was a farmer by occupation and never sought official preferment, though he was often called upon to officiate in the settlement of disputed land claims in that State. On the breaking-out of the war of 1812, he recruited a company of Kentucky riflemen, of which he was elected Captain, and, on the 80th of September following, we find him writing to his " affectionate wife" from "Vincennes, Indiana Territory," giving an account of the march of his company to that post and the muster of his company into the United States Service, under the command of Maj. Gen. Samuel Hopkins. From there he went on the movement against the Shawnee Prophet's Town and other Indian villages on the Illinois River, after which, their time having expired, the company was discharged and sent home.

From a personal memoir, left by the late Thomas Hamilton, we copy the following description of his father:
"Father was tall and straight, measuring six feet in height and weighing 170 pounds — rather lean of flesh but of more than ordinary muscular power ; hair, black: eyes, dark blue; heavy eye-brows, ample beard, high forehead, with baldness extending up from the region of causality; brisk and active in his gait and at all kinds of labor ; was expert in the use of mechanics tools, tender-hearted and benevolent, a real friend of the poor; strongly opposed to slavery and all grades of oppression. He was hasty in his temper, but soon cooled and was disposed to forgive injuries. I do not know at what time he made a profession of religion, but think not until after he was married. He lived a consistent life, had the esteem and confidence of his neighbors and died trusting in God, June 17, 1817, after bestowing a parting blessing upon his wife and children."

He was buried at old Concord Church, Nicholas County, Ky. ...

... The eleven children (the fruits of the union of Robert Hamilton and Mary Eward), all of whom inherited very largely the characteristics of both the father and the mother, lived to the estate of manhood and womanhood — the one dying youngest being thirty-two and the oldest nearly eighty-six. Four are yet living, the youngest of them being in her sixty-fifth year. The following is a record of their births, marriages and the deaths of the departed:
- James E. Hamilton was born March 30, 1795; married to Jane McCoy November 5, 1818; died January 13, 1881.
- Fidelia Hamilton was born September 18, 1796; married to Elijah Mitchell April 18, 1816; died in Iowa, July 17, 1860.
- Thomas Hamilton was born August 25, 1798 ; married to Juliann Donnell February 23, 1820; died June 16, 1880.
- Cyrus Hamilton was born July 14, 1800; married to Mary McCoy February 22, 1822 ; died August 19, 1879.
- Spicy G. Hamilton was born October 12, 1802; married to John Thomson November 22, 1821 ; died December 22, 1838. - - Eliza E. Hamilton was born November 11, 1804; died December 26, 1880.
- Ellen E. Hamilton was born September 12, 1806; married to Barton S. McCoy April 14, 1831 ; died September 26, 1832, leaving a young child - Diorus - who died three days thereafter.
- Sarah Hamilton was born April 14,1809; married to Thomas Donnell February 14, 1835; he died June 5, 1871.
- Robert M. Hamilton was born November 17, 1811; married to Mary Morgan September 26, 1834; now living in Washington Township.
- Mary J. Hamilton, born November 15, 1814; married to Jackson G. Lowe May 9, 1838; he died May 30, 1879.
- Minerva Hamilton was born January 2, 1817; married to Peter J. Bartholomew September 15, 1836; he died in 1841; she was again married, to John C. Donnell, March 3, 1845.

After the death of the father, Robert Hamilton, in 1817, the management of the old Kentucky farm and the charge of the family mainly devolved upon James E., he being the eldest which was continued until his marriage, at which time it was assumed by Thomas and Cyrus, by whom it was continued until after the marriage of the latter. ...

HAMBLETON (HAMILTON), Wm. -
sons, Alexander, Thos., Robt., and Samuel;
daughters, Nelly BLAIR, Ibby HINMAN;
wife, Isabella.
Made 29 Mar 1800. Proved Jan 1801.
Witnesses: John HOPKINS, John WAGNER; Sam. DONNELL.
(Will Book B, p. 112)