Hamilton family
of the United States
Parent familyClan Hamilton
Current regionUnited States
Place of originScotland
MembersAlexander Hamilton
Elizabeth Hamilton
Connected familiesSchuyler family
Van Rensselaer family
Morgan family
Livingston family
MottoViridis et fructifera
 (Latin for 'Verdant and fruitful')
Estate(s)The Grange

The Hamiltons of the United States are a family of Scottish origin, whose most prominent member was Alexander Hamilton (1755/57–1804), one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Their ancestors and relations in Scotland included the Lairds of Kerelaw Castle in Stevenston, North Ayrshire, of the Cambuskeith branch of Clan Hamilton.

Background

Coat of arms of Hamilton of Grange
Versions
Coat of arms of the Lairds of Hamilton of Grange in Ayrshire, Scotland, including Alexander Hamilton's paternal grandfather
BlazonGules, a lion rampant, argent, betwixt three cinquefoils, ermine

The paternal lineage of American founding father Alexander Hamilton was rooted in Scotland, where his relations were landed gentry known as the Hamiltons of Grange.

The Hamiltons of Grange descended from Walter de Hamilton, founder of the Cambuskeith branch of Clan Hamilton, who held lands in Edinburgh by a charter from Robert III of Scotland given between 1390 and 1406.[1][2][3] The last Laird of the Hamiltons of Grange, who held the title from 1774 until his death in 1837, was Alexander Hamilton's first cousin, also named Alexander.[1][4]

James Alexander Hamilton was born in Ayrshire, Scotland in 1718. He was the fourth son of Laird Alexander Hamilton of Grange. His mother, Elizabeth Pollock, was the eldest daughter of Sir Robert Pollock, 1st Baronet of Pollock.[3] With little prospect of an inheritance in Scotland, James moved to the West Indies to become a merchant and businessman on the island of Saint Kitts. He and Rachel Faucette (who was of English and French descent), became the parents, out of wedlock, of Alexander Hamilton and his older brother James Hamilton Jr.

Alexander Hamilton moved in October 1772 to the Thirteen Colonies (later the United States) to earn an education. He later became the aide-de-camp to General George Washington and first Secretary of the Treasury. He married Elizabeth Schuyler, who was the daughter of Philip Schuyler and Catherine Van Rensselaer, both members of prominent Dutch-American families, the Schuyler and Van Rensselaer families. Elizabeth and Alexander Hamilton were married on December 14, 1780, at the Schuyler Mansion in Albany, New York.[5] They went on to have eight children, thus establishing the Hamilton family in the United States.[6]

Notable members

The following list, organized by generation, begins with the establishment of Alexander Hamilton's family. It selectively includes notable descendants of Alexander and Eliza Hamilton.

First generation

Second generation (children)

Third generation (grandchildren)

Fourth generation (great-grandchildren)

Fifth generation (great-great-grandchildren)

Sixth generation (great-great-great-grandchildren)

Family tree

The following partial family tree begins with the paternal grandfather of Alexander Hamilton, and includes both Scottish and American family members.[3][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c Hamilton, John Church (1879). Life of Alexander Hamilton: a History of the Republic of the United States of America, as Traced in His Writings and in Those of His Contemporaries. Vol. 7. pp. 837–841.
  2. ^ Robertson (of Irvine), George (1820). Topographical Description of Ayrshire; more particularly of Cunninghame.
  3. ^ a b c d Paterson, James (1852). History of the County of Ayr: with a Genealogical Account of the Families of Ayrshire, Vol. 2. Edinburgh: Thomas George Stevenson. p. 203.
  4. ^ Hamilton, Allan McLane (1910). The Intimate Life of Alexander Hamilton: Based Chiefly Upon Original Family Letters and Other Documents, Many of Which Have Never Been Published. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 436–437.
  5. ^ Chernow, Ron (2004). Alexander Hamilton. Penguin Books. pp. 128–129. ISBN 978-1-59420-009-0.
  6. ^ a b Reynolds, Cuyler; Cutter, William Richard (1914). Genealogical and Family History of Southern New York and the Hudson River Valley: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Building of a Nation. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. pp. 1376–1392. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
  7. ^ Ramsing, Holger Utke (1939). "Alexander Hamilton". Personalhistorisk Tidsskrift (in Danish). Copenhagen: 225–70.
  8. ^ Ordained a Mennonite bishop in 1887, in Catlin, Kansas. He had thirteen children (4 sons with his first wife, 6 sons and 3 daughters with his second wife). See:

Further reading

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