Hamilton, James, 1763-1829

Merchant and plantation owner of Charleston, S.C., later of Philadelphia, Pa.

From the description of James Hamilton papers, 1785-1892. (Duke University Library). WorldCat record id: 41546369

James Hamilton was born in Scotland in 1763 and became a merchant in Charleston, South Carolina, owning shares in several ships and conducting business with other merchants in the United States, the Caribbean, and Europe. Around 1793, Hamilton moved to St. Simons Island, Georgia, with his friend John Couper (or Cowper), where he became a successful cotton farmer. He retired to Philadelphia around the early 1820s and died in April 1829. He and his wife, Nancy Isabella Steedman (b. 1780), had one surviving daughter, Agnes Rebecca, whose husband, Francis P. Corbin (1798-1876), inherited Hamilton's Georgia plantation and later relocated to France.

From the guide to the James Hamilton papers, Hamilton, James papers, 1784-1866, 1784-1816, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)

James Hamilton was born in 1763 in Scotland, and came to the colonies as a young adult. He established a business in Charleston, S.C., prior to the Revolutionary War. After the war, he purchased a plantation on St. Simons Island, and later jointly owned (with John Couper) a second plantation property on the Altamaha River, near Darien, Georgia. Hamilton had three children. He died in 1829.

From the guide to the James Hamilton Papers, 1784-1892, (David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University)