Biography of  Gavin Hamilton, pages 988 / 989 / 990.  History of De Kalb 
County, Indiana.  Inter-State Publishing Company, Chicago, 1885.

Gavin Hamilton, (deceased) was born in the city of New York on the 4th day 
of November, 1792.  His father, William Hamilton, was a native of 
Lanarkshire, Scotland, born in Auldtown in the year 1867, and was married to 
Catharine Campbell, of Glasgow, Scotland, and with his new bride crossed the 
billowy Atlantic in the early part of the year 1792 to commence his new life 
in America.  He engaged in mercantile pursuits in the city of New York, and 
continued in business until 1795 when he died at the early age of twenty-
eight years. Leaving his widow and his two sons, Gavin and John Hamilton, 
surviving him.  His grandfather, Gavin Hamilton, was born in Scotland in the 
year 1723. He married Janet Greenshields, and died at the ripe age of seventy-
six year. In the year 1799 his great-grandfather, Gavin Hamilton, also a 
native of Scotland, purchased the lands known as Auldtowns from the Weirs of 
Stonebyres in or about the year 1832.  His wife was a daughter of  Thomas 
Weirs, of Waterside, who was identified in Scotland with the persecuted 
Covenants known as the Scotch Presbyterian, who, under the reign of 
Charles Second of England, had become exasperated by oppression and taken 
up arms against their oppressors, and when in the battle of Drunnilag, in 
the year 1679, he came to his death in a singular manner; the bridle rein 
having broken, his horse carried him into the enemy’s ranks and he was 
mortally wounded.  Gavin Hamilton, the subject of this sketch, was only 
three years old when his father died, and at the early age of eighteen 
years, in the year 1810, made his way westward as far as Troy, Ohio.  In 
two years from that time he joined a Government surveying party an 
assisted in the survey of Northwestern Ohio and Northwestern Indiana as 
far West as the Missouri border.  In 1821 he was married to Anna Platter, 
of Miami County, Ohio, and four years afterward removed to Defiance County 
where he resided until the year 1839, when he, with his family, took up 
their residence in the County of De Kalb, Ind., on the St. Joe River, then 
the frontier of civilization.  In his new home his fortunes were as varied 
as the seasons. In the years 1839-’40 he build a saw and grist mill, and 
in 1841 a flood of water, filling the banks of the St. Joe River to 
overflowing (called by the pioneers a freshet), swept away the work of 
those two years.  With indomitable energy and perseverance he again went 
to work, and in a few years had replaced his mills, only to be consumed by 
fire in the year 1847.  Afterward the grist-mill was again rebuilt, and 
known as the “Orangeville Mills.”    Mr. Hamilton in politics, was a 
Republican.  He cast his first vote for James Madison, fourth President of 
the United States, and adhered to the party through its varied changes, 
supporting Harrison and Taylor as Whigs, and following his party to the 
succession of he Republican party in 1860, voting for Abraham Lincoln for 
President, and casting his last vote for General U.S. Grant for President 
in 1872.  He neither sought nor held office, but was true to his friends 
and party.  In 1823 he united with the Methodist church, and lived a 
consistent member until the day of his death, which occurred on the 10th 
day of February, 1874.  He had attained to the ripe old age of eighty-two 
years, his wife having previously died in the year 1865 at the age of sixty-
five years.  Their family consisted of nine children, four only of whom 
survive him---three sons and one daughter.  Mr. Hamilton was a man known 
far and wide throughout Northeastern Indiana and Northwestern Ohio.  He 
was distinguished for his kindness and generosity.  His house was always 
open to hospitality.  He leaves behind many pleasant memories.  His body 
now rests beside that of his wife in the cemetery at Newville, Ind., where 
a marble shaft marks his last resting place.  

Submitted by:
Arlene Goodwin
Auburn, Indiana
Agoodwin@ctlnet.com