Hamilton, L. (Laurentine), 1827-1882

Laurentine Hamilton was born in Dix, New York in 1826. He graduated from Hamilton College in 1850 and then from Auburn Theological Seminary in 1853. He was ordained by the New School Presbytery of Geneva the following year and served in western New York. He was commissioned as a home missionary of the New School Assembly in Columbia, California and served there from 1855 to 1859. He moved to San Jose in 1859 to preach at the First Presbyterian Church of San Jose and was also a school superintendent there. In 1861, he accompanied William H. Brewer and Charles F. Hoffman as part of the California Geological Survey. His service was commemorated through the christening of one of the tallest peaks as Mount Hamilton. He moved to Oakland in 1864 to become pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Oakland. It was here that Hamilton's career came in jeopardy when he was accused of heresy in 1869. He preached that there was a second chance of salvation after death, contrary to Presbyterian doctrine. Faced with a trial, Hamilton refused to renounce his belief in posthumous salvation which prompted the leaders of the Presbyterian Church to strip him of his ordination and force him to resign. Hamilton's career was not destroyed by these events. Instead, he and his parishioners set up another church, the First Independent Presbyterian Church of Oakland. They joined the Unitarians in 1879 and the church was renamed the First Unitarian Church of Oakland. Hamilton served his congregation until he died in the pulpit on April 14, 1882.

Rev. Laurentine Hamilton, accepted a commission as a home missionary of the New School Assembly and went to the mining town of Columbia, CA, in 1855. In 1860 he was called to the First Presbyterian Church of San Jose, where he served until 1864. In 1861, with William H. Brewer and Josiah D. Whitney, he was the first to climb Mt. Hamilton, which was subsequently named after him. Hamilton went to the First Presbyterian Church of Oakland in 1865 but in 1869 was charged with heresy for his liberal views and resigned. He then established the Independent Presbyterian Church of Oakland, which he headed until his death in 1882.