Governor William T. Hamilton, 1820-1888

William T. Hamilton was born in Boonsboro. He attended the Hagerstown Academy and Jefferson College in Pennsylvania. Hamilton passed the bar in 1845 and opened a law practice in Hagerstown. After serving one year in the Maryland Legislature, he was elected to three terms in the United States House of Representatives (1849-1855). He served in no public office during the Civil War, however he was one of the party of Hagerstown leaders who arranged for the payment of the Confederate ransom to General McCausland in 1864.

After the War, Hamilton served one term as a United States Senator from 1868 to 1874. He was elected the 38th Governor of Maryland and served as the state's chief executive from 1880 until 1884. Full of the entrepreneurial spirit, he also engaged in many business enterprises, including the construction of the Hamilton and Baldwin House hotels, one block east of here. When Governor Hamilton died in 1888, he was interred at Rose Hill Cemetery.

His widow developed the Oak Hill subdivision on the grounds of their summer home in the late 1800,s.

This was the site of Governor Hamilton's "town" home. He purchased the former Valley Bank building in the 1850's and converted it for use as a residence. The residence was demolished in 1959.

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Show me all markers in:  Hagerstown, MD  |  Washington County  |  21740  |  Maryland  |  United States of America

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Bench Mark "A"

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