Henry D. Hamilton papers (Ms. 2009.009)

Biographical note

Henry DeWitt Hamilton was born in White Hall, Illinois on February 26, 1863. He was the fifth of six children of B.B. (Benjamin Brown) Hamilton (1822-1894), a Baptist clergyman, and May Ann Chandler Hamilton.

Hamilton attended Shurtleff College in Alton, Illinois before receiving an appointment to the United Stated Military Academy at West Point, New York. According to the West Point Archives, after reporting for duty on June 14, 1881, cadet candidate Hamilton was found to be deficient in arithmetic by the Academic Board and was therefore not duly qualified for admission. Hamilton then attended Columbia University for two years and worked as a law clerk before being admitted to the New York State Bar in 1884. While in New York he worked in the law office of Eldridge Gerry, father of Peter G. Gerry, who became the United States Senator from Rhode Island (1917-1929 and 1935-1947).

Hamilton married Ada Estelle Brown (1864-1942) on June 21, 1893 in Plainfield, New Jersey. They had two children, Philip, born June 11, 1894, and Warren, born September 2, 1898.

Before he came to Rhode Island, Hamilton was active in Democratic politics in New York. The Providence Journal described him as a prominent member of Tammany Hall who was once considered as a possible mayoral candidate. In 1912 he was a presidential elector from the state of New York.

In 1916 Hamilton came to Rhode Island to manage the successful campaign of Peter G. Gerry for the United States Senate. After moving to Rhode Island permanently in 1918 he and two partners formed the Hope Publishing Company, which purchased the newspaper The Providence News. He was admitted to the Rhode Island Bar in 1923. That same year he became secretary of the Rhode Island Democratic Party and served in that office until his death in 1942.

In spite of not having attended West Point, Hamilton had a long and successful military career. In 1884 he enlisted as a private in the 23rd Infantry Regiment of the New York National Guard. He was promoted to 1st Lieutenant in 1892. During the Spanish American War he served as a Major in the 201st Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, and was discharged in 1898. He served as the Adjutant General of the State of New York from January 1, 1913 to December 31, 1914. During World War I he served as a Colonel in the infantry from August to December, 1918. He was appointed Adjutant General of Rhode Island in 1923 and served in that post for one year. Hamilton retired from the National Guard with the rank of Brigadier General.

Hamilton was very active in the Royal Arch Masons, attaining the rank of 33rd Degree Mason. He was a member of many other organizations, including the American Bar Association, the Society of Mayflower Descendants, the Sons of the American Revolution, and the United Spanish War Veterans.

Hamilton passed away on August 18, 1942 at his home in West Barrington, Rhode Island. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

Hamilton's son Philip also attended Shurtleff College. In 1918 he worked as a labor organizer in the western United States before beginning his career as a newspaperman in Rhode Island and California. Warren Hamilton was a Flight 1st Lieutenant in the American Expeditionary Force during World War I. He was in Europe working as a courier for the United States Foreign Service when the German occupation of France began in May 1940. After being interned in Germany he was exchanged and returned to the United States in 1942.

B.B. Hamilton was born February 4, 1822. He married May Ann Chandler on December 21, 1844 in Jersey County, Illinois. He served as a chaplain in the 61st Illinois Volunteer Infantry from 1862 to 1865. After leaving the Army he resumed his work as a Baptist minister. In 1876 he published a book entitled Historical Sketch of Jersey County, Illinois. He was appointed Postmaster of White Hall, Illinois in 1883. He was active in the temperance and antislavery movements and was a member of the Royal Arch Masons.

Reverend Hamilton died November 11, 1894.

John B. Hamilton, Henry Hamilton's elder brother, was born December 1, 1847. While only sixteen he enlisted in the 61st Illinois Volunteer Infantry, his father's unit. He was honorably discharged two months later after his father refused to consent to the enlistment because of his son's extreme youth. In 1869 he graduated from Rush Medical College in Chicago, Illinois and began his medical practice in Jersey County, Illinois. Dr. Hamilton married Mary L. Frost soon after. They had two children.

Dr. Hamilton was commissioned as an Assistant Surgeon in the Marine Hospital Service (M.H.S.) in 1876 and served as its second Surgeon General from April 3, 1879 to June 1, 1891. Most of his medical career was devoted to public health, especially to developing quarantine procedures to prevent and contain epidemics of diseases such as yellow fever and cholera. After leaving the M.H.S. he taught at Rush Medical College. From 1893 to 1898 he also served as the editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Dr. Hamilton passed away on December 24, 1898. He is buried in the officers' division at Arlington National Cemetery.