Hamilton, Henry D., 1863-1942.

Henry DeWitt Hamilton was born in White Hall, Illinois on February 26, 1863. He was the fifth of six children of B.B. (Benjamin Brown) Hamilton (1822-1894), a Baptist clergyman, and May Ann Chandler Hamilton.

Hamilton attended Shurtleff College in Alton, Illinois before receiving an appointment to the United Stated Military Academy at West Point, New York. According to the West Point Archives, after reporting for duty on June 14, 1881, cadet candidate Hamilton was found to be deficient in arithmetic by the Academic Board and was therefore not duly qualified for admission. Hamilton then attended Columbia University for two years and worked as a law clerk before being admitted to the New York State Bar in 1884. While in New York he worked in the law office of Eldridge Gerry, father of Peter G. Gerry, who became the United States Senator from Rhode Island (1917-1929 and 1935-1947).

...