Peter Hamilton (1868 - aft. 1937)

Born 1868 in Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States

Husband of Clara (Williams) Hamilton — married 14 Oct 1906 in Bolivar, Mississippi, United States

Died after 1937 after age 69 in Arkansas, United States

Biography

Peter Hamilton is a part of US Black heritage.

Peter Hamilton was interviewed in Pine Bluff, Arkansas in about 1937 about his life and his time as an enslaved person.

"My mother made three crops after she wuz freed, and I wuz born when she made her third crop, so I thinks I wuz born 'round 1868. I was born in Bolivar County, Mississippi. My mother and father were slaves and belonged to the Harris family. Only on I 'members is my sister, she died. My brothers went off and worked on ships, and I never saw them no mo'. After freedom, my mother kept working for her marster and misstis, and they paid them for their work. They stayed on the same plantation till I wuz almost grown."

"Traveled all over, worked on canal in South America. Name of the boat I was on was the "Clamshell, No. 4", with Captain Nelson, fum New York."

Interview: Peter Hamilton was interviewed in Pine Bluff, Arkansas by Martin - Pettigrew as part of the Federal Writer's Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The results are made available by the Library of Congress. ^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ [1] Library of Congress - WPA - Slave Narrative - Peter Hamilton - Vol. 2, Arkansas, part 3; pages 137-138, images 138-139 of 394.

• "Mississippi, County Marriages, 1858-1979," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:H7RH-BDN2 : 19 January 2020), Peter Hamilton, 14 Oct 1906; citing Marriage, Bolivar, Mississippi, United States, 00175, citing multiple county clerks; Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Jackson.