Sweetwater County WY Archives Biographies.....Hamilton, O. A. 1848 - 
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 21, 2011, 12:28 pm

Source: See below
Author: A. W. Bowen (Publisher)

O. A.  HAMILTON.

    Every honorable profession or vocation has its legitimate place in the
scheme of human activity and constitutes a part of the general plan whereby
life's methods are pursued and man's destiny ultimately achieved. While all
reputable callings are needful, the actual importance of each is largely
determined by its relative usefulness. So dependent is man upon his fellowmen
that the worth of the individual is determined by what he has done to benefit
his kind and in the main a man succeeds best in a single vocation, yet there are
many who have achieved prominence in different lines of effort. The gentleman
whose name appears above belongs to the latter class in that his career has been
a varied one, devoted at different times to different pursuits. As a civilian he
has been a forceful factor in business and industrial affairs and as a soldier
in the greatest civil war of history he did valiant service for his country,
earning a record of which any defender of the Union might feel justly proud. O.
A. Hamilton was born in Beaver county, Pa., in 1848, and his father, Milton
Hamilton, was also a Pennsylvanian by birth and for a number of years a
distinguished teacher in his own state and Ohio. He moved to Ohio about 1853 and
until his death thirty-one years later was principal of schools at various
places, his last field of labor being the town of Middleport, where he departed
this life in 1884. Pie was the son of Robert Hamilton, a native of Scotland who
emigrated to America in an early day and settled in the Keystone State. Sophia
Lyon, wife of Milton Hamilton and mother of the subject of this review, was the
daughter of Samuel and Katherine (Eaton) Lyon, all three born in Pennsylvania
and the father a farmer by occupation. O. A. Hamilton was a lad of five years
old when his parents moved to Ohio and he grew to maturity and received his
educational training in that state, remaining at home until the breaking out of
the Civil War when realizing that the country had need of all the aid her loyal
sons could render, he joined the army as an artificer, being too young to carry
arms and perform the duties of a soldier, entering the service when only
fourteen years and ten months old. A little later he served as private in the
Fourth Independent Battalion, Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, and at the expiration of
his period of enlistment joined the Second Ohio Cavalry, being promoted corporal
of his company. Mr. Hamilton's military career covered five years of time,
during which be saw much active service and took part in a number of campaigns,
participating in some of the bloodiest battles for which that great struggle is
noted. When the war closed he enlisted in the Fourth U. S. Infantry, serving
until 1870 and passing the greater part of the time in the western territories.
He was discharged at Fort Laramie, Wyo., in 1870 and immediately began
freighting and ranching. He followed this life for a number of years, meeting
with many interesting and thrilling experiences but was always exempt from
personal danger, as witness the Ute outbreak of 1879 in which he lost his entire
freighting outfit. In 1890 he engaged in sheepraising in Wyoming and continued
the business until the fall of 1894, when he sold out and purchased the Natrona
County Tribune, which he edited and published for one year, then, severing his
connection with journalism, he engaged in mining at South Pass and he has
devoted his energies to that business to the present time. Mr. Hamilton has led
a very active and strenuous life. Experiencing all the hardships, dangers and
other vicissitudes of war, he discharged his every obligation with commendable
fidelity, never shirked a responsibility however onerous or dangerous, and left
the service cheered by the consciousness of duty bravely and uncomplainingly
performed. His business career has also been varied and at times not as
successful as he could have desired but in the main satisfactory from a
financial point of view. He has realized a handsome income from his mining
operations, having located and developed some valuable properties, besides
owning others which promise large returns. Mr. Hamilton has taken an active part
in the political affairs of Sweetwater county, being one of the prominent
Republicans in this part of the state. Recently he was elected the
superintendent of Water District No. 4, and at the present writing is a member
of the state board of control. He also served as sergeant-at-arms of the House
of Representatives of Wyoming, and in various other capacities has been brought
to the public gaze. In 1876 he was united in the bonds of wedlock with Miss
Maggie Higley of Ohio, daughter of Austin and Eliza (Smith) Higley, the union
resulting in the birth of four children: Clara, who died in 1894 at the age of
seventeen, Milton A., Lilia N. and Maggie. Mr. Hamilton has always had the
welfare of the community at heart and as a public spirited man of affairs lends
his support and active cooperation to every measure for the general good. He has
upheld worthily an honored ancestral name and has been faithful to every trust
confided to him, loyal in his friendships and devoted to the best interests of
his family, friends and country. He possesses broad humanitarian principles and
is essentially a man of the people. As a citizen none stand higher and his
relations with his fellow men are characterized by courtesy, suavity, culture
and good breeding. His manners are kindly, and all who come within the range of
his personal influence acknowledge his fine social qualities and speak of him as
a true type of the generous and free-hearted gentleman.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

PROGRESSIVE MEN OF THE STATE OF WYOMING

ILLUSTRATED

CHICAGO, ILL.
A. W. BOWEN & CO.
PUBLISHERS AND ENGRAVERS
1903


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