BIO: James HAMILTON, Centre County, Pennsylvania Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Wayne Barner Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/centre/ _______________________________________________ Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania: Including the Counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion: Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens, Etc. Chicago: J. H. Beers, 1898. _______________________________________________ COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD, pages 92-93 JAMES HAMILTON [portrait]. This venerable Christian gentleman, and esteemed citizen of Bellefonte, who has lived a score or more of years beyond man's allotted time on earth, and who is probably the oldest native citizen of Centre County now living-at the age of ninety-three years is residing in a comfortable home made happy by the presence of the good wife-an octogenarian-the two passing the evening of their lives amid plenty and in the enjoyment of good health. At this writing (January 4, 1898), Mr. Hamilton is in reasonable health for a man of his age, and, as has been his usual habit, he has just completed making presents to his wife, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Mr. Hamilton's parents were Joseph and Rachel (Carr) Hamilton, the parents of both of whom came from Ireland and settled in Centre County some time in the latter part of the eighteenth century. Joseph Hamilton was a son of a sea captain, and was only a boy when brought to America by his mother, and by trade became a shoemaker. The grandfather of our subject on his mother's side was James Carr, a farmer in the vicinity of Pine Grove. Our subject was the only child of Joseph Hamilton; the mother was twice married, her second husband being John Morris, whom she married when young Hamilton was small, so that Mr. Morris is the only father that he remembers. By the second marriage were born: Wharton, Jonathan, Reuben, Elizabeth, Margaret and Jane. When James was a mere lad Mr. Morris met with an accident by which he was crippled, so. From necessity he early began to labor and assist in :he support of the family, receiving his schooling at intervals in the subscription schools of his neighborhood as best he could. At the, time of his birth (April 4, 1804) his parents were living about a mile west of Pine Grove, on what is now the Ross farm. Subsequently they removed down to Dunlop's, and at the age of six or eight fears the lad, James, entered the employ of Boggs & Boyer, then operating Logan Forge and Furnace, as successors of John Dunlop. He began by sifting iron with a hand riddle, which occupation he followed four years at 30 cents a lay, commencing his work before sunrise and continuing until sundown. From the age, of thirteen until he was nineteen he worked at Stop's Gap, driving team, or working at whatever he could do, and during this time he had the advantage of three months' schooling, at night only. In 1815 the iron works were leased by the Valentine Brothers, who subsequently, in connection with William A. Thomas, purchased them and enlarged them, and with these gentlemen young Hamilton remained employed at the works, rising step by step until he became their manager at the Furnace. While with both these men he was regular in his business habits - not losing a day's time in upward of sixteen years; earned habits of industry and economy, was courteous, kind and affable to all, which made him a popular and useful citizen, and led the way to the success in life he has attained. He received $300 a year, and boarded with, George and Abram Valentine. From his savings early n the "forties" he purchased two hundred acres of land of George Meese, the father of John Meese, a merchant of Bellefonte; some twenty or more acres were cleared and under fence, and on it was the stone house built by George Meese in 1824. Here Mr. Hamilton retired and led a farmer's life for upward of forty years, when he moved to Bellefonte. He was one of the active men of Pleasant Gap neighborhood in religious matters, and in 1850, when the Methodist Church Society was formed, he and M. P. Weaver were appointed a building committee for erecting a house of worship. Subsequently, in 1875, a new church edifice was built costing some $3,000, which later became the property of the two gentlemen above named. In January 1841, Mr. Hamilton was united in marriage with Hannah Waddle, a native of Centre County, born at Rock Forge April 26, 1817, a daughter of Thomas and Hannah (Benner) Waddle, and to the union were born: Abram V. married Catherine Marton; Sarah married E. D. Satterfield, now deceased; Laura is COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD - 93 the wife of Capt. Samuel H. Williams, prominent in business circles of Bellefonte; Merrilla married William Dawson;, and Mary is the wife of John Noll; all are residents of Bellefonte. Mr. Morris, stepfather of our subject, died about 1824, and the formers wife, whose declining years were made pleasant and comfortable by the son James, died near the end of the year 1865. Mrs. Hannah (Waddle) Hamilton descended from one of the many prominent families of Centre County. Her maternal grandfather, Gen. Philip Benner, and his father before him, were both patriots of the Revolution, the latter being captured and imprisoned. After the Revolution, the General was engaged in the iron business in Chester County, this State, the place of his nativity. He married Ruth Roberts, and in 1792 purchased the Rock Forge lands on Spring creek, Centre County, to engage in the iron business, and from that forward until his death was prominently identified with that business and the business interests and property of Centre County. He brought workmen with him from Chester County and commenced his improvements in May, 1793, at Rock, erecting a house and sawmill; and in 1794 he erected his first forge, and the first in what is now Centre County, the forge making iron that year. He then erected a gristmill, and in 1799 a slitting mill. In 1800 he built another forge; and afterward added a nail mill, furnace, etc. He was an earnest Democrat, and was twice a Presidential elector. Thomas Waddle, the father of Mrs. Hamiltotn, came from Chester county with Gen. Benner; was his bookkeeper and general utility man, married one of his daughters, and passed an active business life, dying in Centre February 25, 1825, aged forty-eight years. His wife Hannah died April 11, 1854, aged sixty- seven years. Referring to some early surveys of what is now Centre County, a writer says: "The old Waddle place is on the survey in the name of Edward Crawford, Warrantee of July 1, 1784. The Waddle farm, owned by Joseph Allender at his death, and sold to Gen. Benner in 1805, was probably one of the oldest settled places on Logan's Branch. Allender bought of Col. Thomas Hartley in 1793." The children of Thomas Waddle were nine in number: Ruth B., married to William Wilson, of Cedar Springs; Eliza; Philip Benner, late of Patton Township; Mordecai, late of Spring Township; who served as sheriff of Centre county from 1854 to 1857; Mary, the wife of Samuel Griffith, of Bellefonte; Hannah, the wife of our subject; Thomas; a resident of Jersey Shore; James; and Sarah, who married Mark Williams; all are now deceased excepting Sarah, Mary, Thomas and Hannah; seven were living in 1882. The family was remarkable for longevity of life. Philip Benner Waddle was one of the consistent members of the M. E. Church of Fillmore, organized in 1843, at which time he was appointed a class leader, and served as such uninterruptedly fifty-two years. Returning to our subject and wife, we will add that they are a remarkable couple - their lives spanning almost a century of an eventful period of the country's history, and a wedded life of fifty-seven years: Hale and hearty for one of his years, father Hamilton retains a face almost free from wrinkles, one that wears a kindly smile for every one. He retains his mental faculties, and both the senses of seeing and hearing are good. He has been almost free from sickness throughout his long life, hardly experiencing an ache or pain. His first Presidential vote was cast for Gen. Jackson. Later he became a Whig and then a Republican. He has been a member of the M. E. Church since 1840. The wife, too, is well preserved, and is as active and sprightly as most women of fifty. She, too, has been identified with the M. E. Church from her early years.