Yolo-Sacramento-Amador County CA Archives Biographies.....Hamilton, David 1825 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com December 5, 2005, 4:49 am Author: Tom Gregory DAVID HAMILTON It was sixty-three years ago, on the 3rd of April, 1849, that twenty-nine men started from McDonough county, Ill., enroute to California. Of that party probably only two are now living, David Harris, now of San Francisco, and David Hamilton, the subject of this sketch. He was born December 25, 1825, at Rushville, Muskingum county, Ohio, the son of Alexander and Hannah (Gabriel) Hamilton, the former of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio. The father died in 1828 and the mother in 1840. Alexander and David were their only children. When he was quite young David went to Miami county, Ohio, where he learned the trade of blacksmith. In 1848 he located in Macomb, Ill., where he remained about a year, thence coming to California, as above mentioned. The trip was made overland with ox teams and required six months and was attended by many disagreeable features, which, however, were speedily forgotten by the travellers upon reaching their destination. From Shingle Springs, Cal., where the little company separated, Mr. Hamilton went to Coloma, where he mined a short time. In October he purchased an ample stock of living necessities and made his way to Amador county, Cal., where he spent the winter mining. The following March he again changed his residence to Calaveras county, and after two months took the trail for Sacramento, where he conducted a combination feed store and blacksmith shop. In October, 1850, he moved to Yolo county and took up his abode on a ranch three miles south of Knights Landing, and today he is one of the oldest living settlers in this county. Stock-raising was his next venture, but after two years he left his farm to engage in hauling freight from Colusa to the mines of Shasta. In the fall he returned to his ranch and continued operations there until the year 1857, when he again took up teaming between Davisville and Sacramento. One of the notable events of that summer was the hauling by Mr. Hamilton of a large threshing machine from Yolo county to Carson valley, Nev., ten mules being used, six for hauling the machine, and four for hauling the hops and feed. The trip was a success in spite of the hills and bad roads. This was the first threshing machine hauled into Nevada and Mr. Hamilton did the first threshing there that fall, pay at that time being every tenth bushel. Soon after this he sold his outfit and returned to his ranch. The winter of 1858-59 he spent at the Fraser river mines, this proving another wild-goose chase attended with much danger, three men of the party being killed in Indian fights. Mr. Hamilton returned to his farm in the spring of 1860. Mr. Hamilton's marriage occurred June 15, 1861, to Phoebe P. Brownell, who with her brother, W. W. Brownell, came to California from their native town, New Bedford, Mass., in 1857, via Panama. In 1862 Mr. Hamilton purchased a quarter section of land one and one-half miles west of Knights Landing, and for some years engaged in stock-raising and farming with great success, frequently adding to his land holdings, until he became the owner of four hundred acres of excellent land which he sold to great advantage in 1892. Woodland was the home of Mr. Hamilton for the next three years, when he bought a ten-acre tract one-third of a mile west of the city limits, where he has a large residence with the necessary improvements. The only child born to Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton, Eugenia Forest, passed away when seventeen and one-half years of age, leaving bereft not only her parents, but her many friends as well. Her education had been carefully conducted, primarily at Knights Landing, and later at Mrs. Perry's Seminary in Sacramento. In December, 1909, Mrs. Hamilton followed her daughter "over the bar," leaving the husband and father to wait and hope for the reunion which will one day be theirs. Mr. Hamilton adheres to Republican principles and first voted for president in 1852. Broad-minded and sympathetic, he has always 'enjoyed many friends who attribute his success to his generous heart and his conscientious devotion to duty. Additional Comments: Extracted from HISTORY OF YOLO COUNTY CALIFORNIA WITH Biographical Sketches OF The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been Identified With Its Growth and Development From the Early Days to the Present HISTORY BY TOM GREGORY AND OTHER WELL KNOWN WRITERS ILLUSTRATED COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA [1913] File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/yolo/bios/hamilton88nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/cafiles/ File size: 5.0 Kb