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Post by Robert Braun on Jul 15, 2003 10:40:51 GMT -5
We are all familiar with this image of William "Billy" Stephen Hamilton.  There's just one problem... Based on work done by Ms. Jenifer Cloutier of Minnesota this is probably not Billy!It most likely is, instead, Billy's oldest brother Phillip, at about age 19. Read all about the image and additional details regarding the life of Billy Hamilton in the updated "Hamilton's Diggings" article on the OLRHS website-- www.geocities.com/old_lead/wiota.htmBob. |
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Post by Greg Carter on Jul 15, 2003 12:45:41 GMT -5
Excellent article and of course, discovery!
GMC
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Post by Marge Smith on Jul 16, 2003 8:58:22 GMT -5
In reading the article on William S. Hamilton, I was surprised to see that Barney Norris was described as his body servant. The Jo Daviess 1878 County History on page 483 has a description of Barney Norris
"And what Galenian can ever forget Barney Norris? Genial, courteous Barney! who came to Galena as servant for Captain Thomas C. Legate, superintendent of lead mines, in August, 1834. He was footman for John Quincy Adams, President of the United States, from 1826 to 1828..."
This is followed by a half-page sketch of Barney by Captain G. W. Girdon who refers to him as sexton of the Presbyterian Church. That for the last 30 years he has rung "that old church bell". Which means he started his job as sexton around 1848 or earlier.
I was unaware of his association with William S. Hamilton, or that he had gone to the gold fields.
Do you have any other information on this.
Marge Smith
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Post by Robert Braun on Jul 16, 2003 9:32:10 GMT -5
Hello, Marge.
What you have read is all I have on Barney, except to note a newspaper account that stated when Billy pulled up stakes to head to Californy, he packed up two wagons. Billy drove the first, behind a team of impressive black horses; Barney drove the second wagon. We are left with the impression that the trek to California was overland, a reasonable assumption.
These references in the newspapers may be quotes from Muldoon's 1930s biography on Hamilton-- a volume I have come to regard with increasing suspicion of late.
Now... my question for you is:
Who was this Cyrus Woodman fellow, who went to all the trouble to seek out Barney? Any thoughts?
The fact that Barney was still around in Galena in the late 1870s for ol' Cyrus to seek out is apparently correct, based upon your information. If Barney returned to Galena in 1850, he could have been associated with the church for some 28 years by the time of the publication of the county history. I would think this is close enough to "30 years" to so list it in the volume.
Bob.
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Post by Robert Braun on Jul 16, 2003 10:29:07 GMT -5
Re-reading the source for the trek to Californy, found in a newspaper article entitled “The ‘Some-Time-Back Series” by L. B. Neighbour.
The work is ascribed to a Dixon, IL newspaper, however, all I can confirm at present is that the author was from Dixon or the Dixon area. No date, but clearly from the article, the author contacted, then collaborated directly with Hamilton biographer Sylvan J. Muldoon, then of Darlington, WI. The period of this collaboration post-dated the publication of Mudoon's biography Alexander Hamilton's Pioneer Son: The Life and Times of Colonel William Stephen Hamilton which dates the article shortly after 1930.
Regarding Barney Norris:
Early in the spring of ’49 he [Hamilton] started out with his two prairie schooners, soon to join one of the many long caravans heading across the plains and mountains. Hamilton himself, always a lover of good horses, drove to the front wagon a span of beautiful blacks. One of the early settlers, a Mr. Engebretson long told of the brave appearance of the Colonel’s team, with all its equipment new. The driver of the second wagon was a fine colored fellow named Barney Norris. It is likely that he drove mules. It would have been hard for oxen to keep pace with the Colonel’s spirited blacks. Later, Norris returned to Galena, where he spent his days, far into old age, as sexton of the Presbyterian church. He was highly respected, and thought of, to the last, as Col. Hamilton’s body servant.
The Colonel and Barney got through in early summer. They lost little time in prospecting, soon staking out their calim at a point about 100 miles north of Sacremento. The claim yielded fairly from the start...
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Cliff Krainik
Member
MY HEROES HAVE ALWAYS LIFTED THE TOPKNOTS OF THE LONG KNIVES
Posts: 233
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Post by Cliff Krainik on Jul 16, 2003 10:34:49 GMT -5
Preliminary response to DISCOVERY-- Billy Hamilton, NOT?
BOB BRAUN wrote "We are all familiar with this image of William "Billy" Stephen Hamilton.
There's just one problem...
Based on work done by Ms. Jenifer Cloutier of Minnesota this is probably not Billy!
It most likely is, instead, Billy's oldest brother Phillip, at about age 19.
Read all about the image."
I read all about the image and pose the question, What "work" was done by Ms. Cloutier?
The last time I checked simply referring to "an exceedingly rare volume today" written by a family member does NOT provide evidence that the heretofore attributed likeness of William Hamilton is of anyone else. Has Ms. Cloutier established the provenance for the portrait in question - has she examined it? Could she at least cite the full reference, the page number, and the inscription identifying the portrait?
I say, place your lamentations on hold and require students who make assertions to provide evidence , before other board members exclaim, "Discovery!" instead of "Discovery?"
Wondering Why in Warrenton,
Cliff
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Post by Robert Braun on Jul 16, 2003 11:59:42 GMT -5
The book:Alexander Hamilton. Based Chiefly Upon Original Family Letters and Other Documents, Many of Which Have Never Been Published. By Allan McLane Hamilton "With Illustrations and Fac-similes." New York, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1911. (Note: Allan McLane Hamilton was the son of Alexander's youngest son Phillip [named for the eldest son Phillip killed in the duel.] I think this makes AMH Billy Hamilton's nephew. Furthur, there is evidence to suggest AMH was a physician interested in the treatment of mental illness.) The image, p. 210  The other image:The source:Well, Frank Stevens lists his source at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, in his book The Black Hawk War. He is one of the few authors that credits a source. I do not argue that this identification is definative. That is why the question mark-- rather than an exclaimation point-- after "NOT?" in the thread header... and the use of "may" etc. in the web article. I do note, however, that numerous authors (including me) have simply run on the presumption that the image in question was Billy. This book, written by a descendant, suggests that the portrait is not Billy. I have fully credited Jen with bringing this discovery to light for those interested in Billy Hamilton and the Hamilton family.
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Cliff Krainik
Member
MY HEROES HAVE ALWAYS LIFTED THE TOPKNOTS OF THE LONG KNIVES
Posts: 233
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Post by Cliff Krainik on Jul 16, 2003 13:14:07 GMT -5
Thank you for posting the citation and the portrait marked "Philip Hamilton (THE FIRST): age 20"
[Note one 'l" in Philip - ck]
In 1903 Frank E. Stevens in his work, THE BLACK HAWK WAR (facing page 182) published the portrait in question identified as "Col William S. Hamilton."
In 1911 Allan McLane Hamilton in THE INTIMATE LIFE OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON used the same portrait but identified the subject as Philip Hamilton.
Who was correct - Stevens or A.M. Hamilton? Now the research should begin.
Cliff Krainik
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Post by Mike Thorson on Jul 16, 2003 14:20:36 GMT -5
Preliminary response to DISCOVERY-- Billy Hamilton, NOT? BOB BRAUN wrote "We are all familiar with this image of William "Billy" Stephen Hamilton. There's just one problem... Based on work done by Ms. Jenifer Cloutier of Minnesota this is probably not Billy! It most likely is, instead, Billy's oldest brother Phillip, at about age 19. Read all about the image." I read all about the image and pose the question, What "work" was done by Ms. Cloutier? The last time I checked simply referring to "an exceedingly rare volume today" written by a family member does NOT provide evidence that the heretofore attributed likeness of William Hamilton is of anyone else. Has Ms. Cloutier established the provenance for the portrait in question - has she examined it? Could she at least cite the full reference, the page number, and the inscription identifying the portrait? I say, place your lamentations on hold and require students who make assertions to provide evidence , before other board members exclaim, "Discovery!" instead of "Discovery?" Wondering Why in Warrenton, Cliff My response would be that this is a discussion forum and that it seems a valid discovery or item to bring up, - or has the last word on the Black Hawk War been written by those with proper qualifications? |
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Cliff Krainik
Member
MY HEROES HAVE ALWAYS LIFTED THE TOPKNOTS OF THE LONG KNIVES
Posts: 233
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Post by Cliff Krainik on Jul 16, 2003 14:27:30 GMT -5
I agree. Qualifications aside.
Cliff
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Post by Robert Braun on Jul 16, 2003 15:04:08 GMT -5
As a starting point, we have on one hand, Dr. Hamilton.
Not only was he trained in medicine, his specialty was nervous disorders. In addition, he was called as an alienist during the trial of the murderer of President Garfield.
In his "Preface" to his Hamilton biography, Dr. Hamilton wrote:
The purpose of the writer is to utilize a large number of original letters and documents, written by Alexander Hamilton and various members of his family as well as his contemporaries, and which in some measure throw light upon his private life and career as a soldier, lawyer, and statesman. Most of these have never been published, and were left to me by my father, the late Philip Hamilton, who was his youngest son. I have no more ambitious purpose than to produce a simple narrative, for there are several important works that fully and formally describe his public services. The latest of these is Oliver's excellent book, which is a noble monument to the memory of Hamilton. If I have gone into detail very minutely it is because of the belief that the familiar side of his life will be of interest to a great many people who have hitherto been furnished only with unauthentic generalities.
Reportedly, Dr. Hamilton is working with original, largely unpublished family manuscripts and materials passed down from his father, the namesake of Philip the eldest. His topic is to focus on the "familiar" side of Alexander Hamilton's life, in which the sudden death of the eldest son Philip played a pivotal role.
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On the other hand, we have Frank Stevens, an historian, who, while supremely interested in the BHW, of necessity covered topics spanning many years, and involve literally hundreds of names (of which Billy Hamilton is but one) and dozens of images. In his 1903 The Black Hawk War he mentions William Hamilton by name about 21 times, some of these as part of official correspondence. And... to be fair, by his own account Stevens spent 32 years researching his subject.
Steven's entire citation on the Hamilton image:
From the original, owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, at Madison.
What does "original" mean?
=================
At the expense of sounding predisposed, I would opine that Dr. Hamilton would/should be much closer to the source material than Mr. Stevens, or persons at the WHS at the turn of the century, for that matter.
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Post by Marge Smith on Jul 17, 2003 8:20:30 GMT -5
Regarding Cyrus Woodman, see "Westernized Yankee, The Story of Cyrus Woodman" by Larry Gara, The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison, 1956.
Woodman and Cadwallader C. Washburn had a law practice in Mineral Point dealing in buying and selling land. Washburn became a Congressman and later Governor of Wisconsin. Cadwallader's brother Elihu lived in Galena and was a powerful Congressman. They all were born in Maine.
Woodman went to San Francisco to establish a branch to help the Wisconsin miners transfer money from California back to Wisconsin.
William S. Hamilton (per the book) had Woodman appointed to a committee to collect statistics on western Wisconsin. Hamilton believed Woodman "happily adapted" for this work.
"He (Woodman) often gave money to keep alive the memory of dead friends and was especially concerned that the graves of his relatives be kept in good order. He was shocked to learn that his old friend William S. Hamilton was buried in an unmarked grave in a California potter's field. He gave money and made plans to have the body moved and the burial site marked."
Marge Smith
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Post by Mike Thorson on Jul 17, 2003 8:46:30 GMT -5
Steven's entire citation on the Hamilton image: From the original, owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, at Madison. If it is found to be misidentified I'm sure the WHS will change it accordingly Bob, especially if you bring it to their attention......sarcasm mode off.  |
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Post by Robert Braun on Jul 23, 2003 11:14:06 GMT -5
I received a most cordial call from Cliff in Madison, WI this morning July 23.
He indicated that he has personally viewed the Billy Hamilton image... a photo of the original painting... in the WHS Inconographic collection.
While it is tempting to outline some of his thoughts, I instead think it best that Cliff himself offer his findings and conclusions upon his return to Virginia.
r.
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