Documenting Earliest Known Hamilton

Date: 24 Jun 2023 [unknown]
Location: [unknown]
Surname/tag: Hamilton Hill Martin

NOTE: I made a copy of this information and linked to it from a Google Doc. I put that Google Doc in a research folder focused on HAMILTON and made a Research Notes document for my direct Hamilton line from my older son through me to Isaac. I will create a Research Document for spouses in a folder for their surnames. This is to assist me in tracking all my efforts and being as efficient as possible for my current big question about my earliest Hamilton ancestor.

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My earliest known ancestor in the male line is [Hamilton-34043 Isaac Hamilton].

We believe his spouse to have been [Martin-86441 Abigail Martin].

We found a marriage record in the same location as their son [Hamilton-34042 Franklin Pierce Hamilton] and [Hill-57359 Mary P. Hill] were married.

• Isaac on 1860 census for Union, Madison, Indiana with wife Martha and children Franklin, Mary, and Sarah. Occupation: Shoemaker
  Lists whole family's birthplaces as Indiana.
• There is an Isaac in the 1850 census for District 97, Rush County, Indiana living with a Jon S. Green and family. Mr. Green and this Isaac are both listed as shoemakers. Since the Isaac in 1850 and 1860 are both shoemakers, it is logical to conclude they are the same person.
  Madison County, Indiana is North of Rush County on the other side of Hancock and Henry counties depending on the route taken.
• Vermillion County, Indiana is spelled with two L's and is on the border with Vermilion County, Illinois. Isaac & Abigail and their son Franklin and his wife, Mary were both married in Vermilion County, Illinois.
• My parents were unable to find these families in 1850 or 1860 IL census for Vermillion, Champaign, Edgar, Ford, McLean, Peoria Counties, IL, nor Parke or Vermillion Counties, IN.
• 1870 Census my parents could not find Isaac and his family. My father surmised that perhaps Isaac died in the Civil War and that Abigail and the daughters may have died, perhaps of illness. (They might also have married or moved away to live with family.) Franklin may have been at an agricultural school in Peoria, Illinois. Dad said he thought he found him in one. I also stumbled on a record for an agricultural school in Peoria about 15 years ago, but don't seem to have a note about it.
• 1880 Census Franklin, Mary and family in Fairmount, Vermilion Co., Illinois.
• 1900 Census Franklin, Mary and family in Lawrence Ward 3, Douglas Co., Kansas
• 1910 Census - Not sure where Mary and Franklin were. Franklin died in 1912 in Sarcoxie, Jasper Co., MO. They and their children moved frequently and large distances between censuses, making it more challenging to find them. It is possible they were missed, but all options have not been exhausted.
• 1912 Death Certificate for Franklin Pierce Hamilton lists his place of birth as Franklin, IN, which is in Johnson County, IN. His place of Death is Sarcoxie Township, Jasper Co., MO with burial place listed as Sarcoxie, MO. I thought my Dad had found which cemetery, but I don't seem to have any notes on it in my genealogy database. I found a newspaper article from the time that indicated the number of surviving children and that the funeral was conducted at the home.
• 1920 Census - Mary should be on that census and is said to have died c. 1924 in Oklahoma and is buried there.
• My father suggested that one of the two Hamilton's in the 1840 Vermilion Co., Illinois Census may have been the father of Isaac.
• One is Asa who was between 60 & 69 along with his supposed spouse in the same age category. This would put them on the older end of the scale as parents being between 49 and 59 when Isaac was born.
• The other is Oliver Hamilton who he & supposed spouse were between 20 & 29 making them between 9 & 18 when Isaac was born. This fits for Asa to have been the father of Oliver and possible grandfather of Isaac.
• I don't believe either Asa nor Oliver are in Vermilion Co., Illinois in the 1850 census. Would they perhaps be in Rush Co., IN or perhaps Madison Co., IN? Is there a family connection there?
• There are lots of questions above that require more digging to match up names, dates, places and my ancestors to tie it all together.
• Some online trees on Ancestry.com try to equate an Isaac N. Hamilton with my Isaac. There is no source information to correlate this Isaac N. with my Isaac.
• Some online trees have parents for Isaac's wife Abigail, and at a quick glance, those appear to be strong possibilities to be her parents. I need to dig further into that and possibly open up more avenues of research.
• Searching cemeteries, newspapers, probate, and other records may be necessary to glean clues to move forward. Isaac and Hamilton is common enough that one must exercise caution in verifying sources.
• Similarly, there are more than one Franklin P. and Franklin Pierce Hamilton I have seen when searching the census. They are in different states, but being born about the time of President Franklin Pierce it makes sense that there would be more than one.
• Mary is also a very common name and is extremely easy to confuse different individuals. I thought I found Mary P. In an Oklahoma cemetery, but there are two Mary J. Hamilton's there, each with information on spouses at Find A Grave that are not Franklin. While that is not definitive, I am fairly certain that is not them unless there is an obituary or death certificate specifying it is them.