Robert Hamilton
(1781-1845)
Died aged c. 64
Robert Hamilton, early settler and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, son of William and Euphemia (Alston) Hamilton, was born in Eastquarter, Glassford Parish, Lanarkshire, Scotland, on October 17, 1781. With brothers James, William, Alexander, and cousin Thomas Alston Brown, he immigrated to the United States in 1799 and settled in Granville County, North Carolina. In 1812 the brothers started a commercial enterprise in which each one continued his own business as a managing partner but for the benefit of the concern. Robert Hamilton had two plantations in North Carolina, with mills and other industries thereon. In 1834 Hamilton moved to an area on the Red River claimed by both Arkansas and Texas. According to his statement to the Red River County commissioners, he arrived in the area on December 15, 1834, a single man.Hamilton, probably the wealthiest man to sign the Declaration of Independence, was one of the five men sent by Pecan Point and vicinity or the Red River District to the Convention of 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos. Because of his financial experience, wealth, and extensive connections, Hamilton was appointed, with George C. Childress, on March 19, 1836, to go to Washington, D.C., to seek recognition of the independence of Texas and establishment of commercial relations with the United States. On December 20, 1836, President Sam Houston nominated him chief justice of Red River County, and in this post Hamilton authorized law enforcement in the area. He had large landholdings in Red River County.In October 1837 Hamilton was living in New York and entered into a partnership with his nephew, William F. Hamilton, under the name of Hamilton & Co. for the transaction of a commission business. He had never married. He died on July 22, 1845, in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, at the home of his nephew. His remains were later moved from New Jersey and re-interred at the family plot of William F. Hamilton at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York, on December 9, 1847. Believing that Hamilton died in Red River County, the Texas Centennial Commission erected a monument to his memory in the old Rowland Cemetery, twenty-two miles from Clarksville.
Handbook of Texas Online, L. W. Kemp, rev. by Ian Hamilton, "HAMILTON, ROBERT," accessed July 22, 2020, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fha37
Commemorated on 4 plaques
Texas Historical Marker #08399
Washington County. To the memory of those courageous souls, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention held here March 1-17, 1836 who declared Texas free, organized a Republic, and framed its constitution Jessie B. Badgett; Dr. George Washington Barnett; Thomas Barnett; Stephen William Blount; John White Bower; Asa Brigham; Andrew Briscoe; John Wheeler Bunton; John S.D. Byrom; Mathew Caldwell; Samuel Price Carson; George Campbell Childress; William Clark, Jr.; Robert M. Coleman; James Collingsworth; Edward Conrad; William Carroll Crawford; Richard Ellis; Dr. Stephen Hendrickson Everitt; John Fisher; Samuel Rhoades Fisher; James Gaines; Dr. Thomas Jefferson Gazley; Benjamin Briggs Goodrich; Jesse Grimes; Robert Hamilton; Bailey Hardeman; Augustine Blackburn Hardin; Samuel Houston; William Demetris Lacey; Albert Hamilton Latimer; Edward Oswald Legrand; Samuel Augustus Maverick; Collin McKinney; Michel Branamour Menard; William Menefee; John W. Moore; Dr. Junius William Mottley; Jose Antonio Navarro; Martin Parmer; Sydney Oswald Pennington; Robert Potter; James Power; John S. Roberts; Sterling Clack Robertson; Francisco Ruiz; Thomas Jefferson Rusk; William Bennett Scates; George Washington Smyth; Elijah Stapp; Dr. Charles Bellinger Stewart; James Gibson Swisher; Charles Standfield Taylor; David Thomas; John Turner; Edwin Waller; Claiborne West; James B. Woods; Dr. Lorenzo De Zavala May these names be engraved on the hearts of all Texans #8399
?, Washington-on-the-Brazos, TX, United States where they was
Texas Historical Marker #10881
Robert Hamilton. In memory of Robert Hamilton - a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence - March 2, 1836 - Born in Blevard, Scotland - March 24, 1783 - Died in Red River County, Texas - 1843 #10881
?, Negley, TX, United States where they was
Texas Historical Marker #12409
Pecan Point Signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence. Five of the most prominent delegates to the Constitutional Convention of Texas, held March, 1836, hailed from Pecan Point, in this vicinity. Richard Ellis (an attorney and judge) was chosen president of the meeting and later served four terms in the Senate of the Republic. Collin McKinney (a magistrate) helped draft the declaration and served three terms in the house. A. H. Latimer (an attorney) served two terms. Samuel Price Carson (attorney) became Texas' Secretary of State and with Robert Hamilton (financier) was an agent to the United States. (1969) #12409
?, Hooks, TX, United States where they was
Texas Historical Marker #15884
Five Signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence from Red River County On March 2, 1836, members of the Convention of 1836 signed the Texas Declaration of Independence at Washington-on-the-Brazos, declaring Texas independent from Mexico. Of the 59 signers, five were from Red River County, more than from any of the other old Spanish-Mexican districts or the new Republic of Texas counties. The five signers were Richard Ellis, Robert Hamilton, Albert Hamilton Latimer, Samuel Price Carson and Collin McKinney. Richard Ellis (1781-1846) was born in Virginia and moved to Pecan Point on the Red River by 1834, establishing a plantation. He was President of the Convention of 1836 and served two terms as Senator (1836-40) of the Republic of Texas. Robert Hamilton (1783-1843) immigrated from Scotland to North Carolina in 1807. He fought in the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812 and came to Texas in 1834, settling on Pecan Bayou near Lagrange (later Madras). In 1836, he became Chief Justice of Red River County. Albert Hamilton Latimer (c. 1800-1877) settled near Pecan Point in 1833 and served two terms (1840-42) as Representative for Red River County. A Unionist, Latimer was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1866, and was appointed State Comptroller (1857) and Associate Justice of the Texas Supreme Court (1869). Samuel Price Carson (1798-1838) served as a state and U.S. Representative for North Carolina before coming to Texas. He was elected Secretary of State for the Texas ad interim government. Collin McKinney (1766-1861) was born in New Jersey. He served three terms (1836-38, 1839-40) as a Texas State Representative. Both Collin County and the City of McKinney are named for him. Today, these Red River County pioneers continue to be remembered as leading figures in Texas Independence. (2009) #15884
101 North Walnut Street, Clarksville, TX, United States where they was