James Hamilton, Jr., Governor

James Hamilton, served as a major in the War of 1812 and was elected Governor of South Carolina in 1830. He became known as "the Great Nullifier" He later moved to Texas where he fought in its war with Mexico.

http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fha35

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hamilton_Jr.

James Hamilton, Jr. (May 8, 1786 – November 15, 1857) was an American lawyer and politician. He represented South Carolina in the U.S. Congress (1822–1829) and served as its 53rd Governor (1830–1832).

James was born on May 8, 1786 in Charleston, South Carolina to James and Elizabeth (Lynch) Hamilton-daughter of Congressman Thomas Lynch and sister of Thomas Lynch, Jr. He practiced law in Charleston, and for several years served the city as its mayor. He was elected to the South Carolina state House of Representatives, and served from 1819 until 1822. When William Lowndes resigned from the U.S. Congress, Hamilton was elected to complete his term, and started his congressional career on December 13, 1822. He was re-elected in 1824 and 1826. He was a States' Rights Democrat and a Nullifier.

Hamilton personally loaned $216,000 to the young Republic of Texas, and arranged other loans for them from the Bank of the United States. He served as a special agent for them in Europe, gaining diplomatic recognition for the new republic from Great Britain and Holland. He finally moved to Texas in 1855.

In 1857, while returning to Texas from Washington, D.C., Hamilton’s steam-boat was sunk, and he drowned in the Gulf of Mexico, reportedly after yielding his seat in a lifeboat to a woman and her child. Hamilton County, Texas is named in his honor. His brother-in-law Barnard E. Bee, Sr was the son of Congressman Thomas Bee and father of Confederate Generals Barnard E. Bee Jr. and Hamilton Prioleau Bee and grandfather of Texas Congressman Carlos Bee.

http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fha35

James Hamilton, Jr. (May 8, 1786 – November 15, 1857) was an American lawyer and politician. He represented South Carolina in the U.S. Congress (1822–1829) and served as its 53rd Governor (1830–1832).

James was born on May 8, 1786 in Charleston, South Carolina to James and Elizabeth (Lynch) Hamilton-daughter of Congressman Thomas Lynch and sister of Thomas Lynch, Jr. He practiced law in Charleston, and for several years served the city as its mayor. He was elected to the South Carolina state House of Representatives, and served from 1819 until 1822. When William Lowndes resigned from the U.S. Congress, Hamilton was elected to complete his term, and started his congressional career on December 13, 1822. He was re-elected in 1824 and 1826. He was a States' Rights Democrat and a Nullifier.

Hamilton personally loaned $216,000 to the young Republic of Texas, and arranged other loans for them from the Bank of the United States. He served as a special agent for them in Europe, gaining diplomatic recognition for the new republic from Great Britain and Holland. He finally moved to Texas in 1855.

In 1857, while returning to Texas from Washington, D.C., Hamilton’s steam-boat was sunk, and he drowned in the Gulf of Mexico, reportedly after yielding his seat in a lifeboat to a woman and her child. Hamilton County, Texas is named in his honor. His brother-in-law Barnard E. Bee, Sr was the son of Congressman Thomas Bee and father of Confederate Generals Barnard E. Bee Jr. and Hamilton Prioleau Bee and grandfather of Texas Congressman Carlos Bee.

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hamilton,_Jr.

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https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/hamilton-james-jr/

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http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/p/e/t/David-H-Peter-NV/G...

13. JAMES24 HAMILTON (JAMES23, WILLIAM22, JOHN21, WILLIAM20, HANS19, WILLIAM18, HANS17, ARCHIBALD16, JAMES15, WILLIAM14, JAMES13, WALTER12, JOHN11, DAVID10, DAVID FITZWALTER9, WALTER FITZGILBERT8, GILBERT7 DE HAMILTON, WILLIAM6 DE HAMBLETON, ROBERT III5 DE BEAUMONT, ROBERT II4, ROBERT I3, ROGER2, FURLOF OF POUT1 AVDONCERE) was born 08 May 1786 in Charleston, South Carolina, and died 15 Nov 1857 in Gulf of Mexico. He married ELIZABETH MATHEWS HEYWARD. She was born Abt. 1790.

Notes for JAMES HAMILTON:

Governor of South Carolina 1830 - 1832 

Political Party: Democrat 

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Born: May 8, 1786 in Charleston, SC 

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Education 

Studied law in Charleston, SC 

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Occupations 

Major, United States Army 

Planter 

Lawyer 

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Died: November 15, 1857 in the Gulf of Mexico 

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Buried: 

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Major Events and Accomplishments - 1830-1832 

The US Congress passed the Tariff of 1832 - 1832 

Governor Hamilton presided over the convention that passed the Ordinance of Nullification - 1832 

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Other Government Positions 

South Carolina House of Representatives - 1820-1822 

US House of Representatives - 1822-1829 

South Carolina Senate - 1836 

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Other Accomplishments, Honors, Distinctions, etc. 

Hamilton declined an offer from President Andrew Jackson to become United States Secretary of War. 

Hamilton helped found the Southern Quarterly Review. 

The Republic of Texas honored Hamilton with the title "perpetual citizen of the Republic of Texas" - 1835 

Hamilton died in a shipwreck in the Gulf of Mexico - 1857 

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Web Resources 

Biographical information - US Congress 

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Election Results 

Election - December 9, 1830 

Hamilton was elected by the South Carolina General Assembly by secret ballot. 

HAMILTON, James, Jr., 1786-1857 

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HAMILTON, James, Jr., a Representative from South Carolina; born in Charleston, S.C., May 8, 1786; completed academic studies; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Charleston; served in the War of 1812 as major; mayor of Charleston; member of the State house of representatives, 1819-1823; elected to the Seventeenth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of William Lowndes; reelected to the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Congresses and served from December 13, 1822, to March 3, 1829; chairman, Committee on Military Affairs (Eighteenth through Twentieth Congresses); Governor of South Carolina 1830-1832; moved to Texas; appointed diplomatic agent of the Republic of Texas to France, Great Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands in 1839; was drowned on November 15, 1857, while on his way from New Orleans to Galveston. 

Bibliography 

DAB; Glenn, Virginia L. “James Hamilton, Jr., of South Carolina: A Biography.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1964; Kell, Carl Lewis. “A Rhetorical History of James Hamilton, Jr.: The Nullification Era in South Carolina, 1816-1834.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Kansas, 1971. 

James Hamilton, 1786-1857 

James Hamilton was born in Charleston, South Carolina on May 8, 1786, the son of Major James and Elizabeth Hamilton. Hamilton studied law in Charleston and was admitted to the bar in 1810. He served as Secretary to South Carolina Governor Henry Middleton until the War of 1812, when he volunteered to fight. 

After the War of 1812, Hamilton became increasingly involved in South Carolina politics. He served in the state Lower House of Legislature from 1819-1822. Hamilton first gained national recognition for his role in the suppression of the Denmark Vesey slave revolt in 1822. He represented South Carolina in the U.S. Congress from 1822-1829. While in Washington, D. C., Hamilton was very active in affairs of national government. He became well known as an advocate of state's rights. 

In 1830, Hamilton was elected Governor of South Carolina. Upon his retirement from the governorship, he was placed in command of the state's army as brigadier general. In 1855, Hamilton moved to Texas (he was a strong advocate of Texas statehood), where he was given a large land grant. James Hamilton drowned in the Gulf of Mexico in 1857. 

HAMILTON, JAMES (1786-1857). James Hamilton, governor of South Carolina and a financial agent of the Republic of Texas,qv son of James and Elizabeth (Lynch) Hamilton, was born in Charleston, South Carolina, on May 8, 1786, and educated in New England. He was a lawyer in Charleston and for several years served as mayor of that city. He became a member of Congress in 1822 and served until 1829. In 1830 he was elected governor of South Carolina and became a leader in the Nullification movement. 

Although still a resident of South Carolina in 1836, he won many admirers in Texas due to his support for Texas independence. Because of this he was offered command of the Texas army in late 1836, but he declined for personal reasons. He later offered his services to negotiate a loan for the financially pressed republic and was appointed loan commissioner by President Mirabeau B. Lamar.qv Hamilton immediately met with the Texas Congress to secure passage of legislation strengthening the public credit of Texas and improving prospects for a loan. He then borrowed $457,380 from the Bank of the United States in Philadelphia. When further attempts to borrow in the United States failed, he turned to Europe. 

Because he believed that stable and peaceful international relations were essential to the success of Texas, he strongly advocated and worked toward diplomatic recognition by European powers and peace with Mexico. France seemed to offer the best hope for a sizable loan, and so Hamilton worked with the Texas minister to that country, J. Pinckney Henderson,qv in negotiating a commercial treaty. His effort to obtain a $5 million loan from interests in France was on the verge of success when the French government withdrew its support and the deal collapsed. Hamilton had been cultivating Great Britain and Holland and had gained diplomatic recognition from these two countries but no direct funds. He then made a tentative agreement with Belgium and returned to Texas to promote it. 

He arrived in Texas to find that Sam Houstonqv had replaced Lamar as president and repealed all laws relating to the European loan in January 1842. Hamilton's services had been terminated, and although he had labored for several years at his own expense, he was unable to collect money owed him by Texas. Drained financially, he returned to South Carolina in March. In late 1843 he attempted to secure appointment to a collectorship at Sabine. In 1855 he finally moved to Texas, where he held land grants in Nacogdoches, Milam, and Harris counties. In 1857 he traveled to Washington but quickly decided to return when he received word that Texas was ready to negotiate a settlement on the funds he was owed. En route, in mid-November or early December, his ship was rammed in the Gulf of Mexico. He drowned after giving up his chance for safety to a woman and her child. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY: James M. Day, comp., The Texas Almanac, 1857-1873: A Compendium of Texas History (Waco: Texian Press, 1967). Joseph William Schmitz, Texan Statecraft, 1836-1845 (San Antonio: Naylor, 1941). Stanley Siegel, A Political History of the Texas Republic (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1956). 

Charles W. Brown 

The first Hamilton County in Texas to be named in honor of Gen. James Hamilton was created by the Sixth Congress of the Republic of Texas on 2 February, 1842, when Montgomery and Houston Counties were divided, creating two new counties for "judicial and other purposes". Only a few weeks later, the Spring, 1842, session of the Supreme Court of Texas declared the act creating the two new counties was unconstitutional. 

General Hamilton, an orator, statesman, and former governor of South Carolina became a benefactor to the Republic of Texas. James Hamilton sacrificed much of his personal fortune ($210,000 in gold) in business related to the welfare of the State of Texas. He was on his way back to Texas to collect some of the debt due him when he died in a shipwreck near the port of Galveston on 15 Nov., 1857. The gallant Hamilton gave his life preserver to a woman and her child. To honor him, his name was bestowed upon a new county created in the next meeting of the State Legislature -- thus creating the second Hamilton County in Texas. 

More About JAMES HAMILTON:

Elected Official: Bet. 1819 - 1823, US Congress

Child of JAMES HAMILTON and ELIZABETH HEYWARD is:

 i.   ELIZABETH HEYWARD25 HAMILTON, b. Abt. 1812.