Sacramento County
Biographies
COL. EDWARD RANDOLPH HAMILTON
COL. EDWARD RANDOLPH HAMILTON. From the time
of his arrival in Sacramento until his death, more than a half century later. Colonel
Hamilton maintained a deep and unceasing interest in the commercial development
and upbuilding of the capital city. Whatever of
success fell to his lot; whatever of prosperity rewarded his efforts; whatever
of honor brightened his days; these he attributed to his good fortune in
selecting Sacramento as his place of residence, but his friends asserted they
were due in equal measure to his kindliness of heart, sagacity of judgment,
ripeness of intellect and versatility of mental endowments. In early life
many hardships befell him. No "flowery beds of ease" gilded the
path of his childhood and youth, but rough and dark was the road over which he
traveled in his efforts to attain independence. Yet this was not
altogether a misfortune, for thereby he developed
traits of self-reliance and perseverance of inestimable value to him in subsequent
connections.
The
earliest recollections of Colonel Hamilton are associated with Pennsylvania,
where he was born in Meadville,
March 8, 1832, and where as a boy he attended the common schools. At the
age of sixteen years he became self-supporting and from that time onward made
his own way in the world. Going to Pittsburg,
he apprenticed himself to the trade of steamboat coppersmith and served a term
of four years, during which time he was paid fifty cents a week. His board
was given him, but out of his pitifully small salary he was expected to provide
himself with all necessary clothing. On the expiration of the four years
he at once determined to join the tide of emigration that was drifting toward
the Pacific coast. In April of 1853 he started across the plains, walking
almost the entire distance. It was a tired and footsore youth who landed
in Sacramento on the 23rd
of September, 1853, with only two bits of money in his possession and without
friends to aid him in getting a start. Youth, fortunately, is ever
optimistic, and he was no exception to the rule. With a hopeful heart and
a bright faith in the future, he allowed no obstacles to discourage
him. On the first day he secured work at shoveling dirt for a contractor
who was grading K street. Having
no money with which to buy blankets or pay for lodging in a house, he slept in
a pile of straw for two weeks. Soon, however, his willingness to work
secured for him a better position, that of porter in a store owned by E.
Ayres.
Leaving
that store in January, 1854, Colonel Hamilton went to San Francisco and resumed
his trade of coppersmith, at which he was fortunate in receiving $6 per day for
some time. In the fall of 1855, with the earnings of this period, he
established himself in business at Placerville,
conducting a stove and ironware trade. In 1857 he sold out there and
returned to Sacramento, where he
and Mr. Purdin embarked in the stove
business. At the commencement of the Civil war he organized a company of
sharpshooters and afterward he was chosen colonel of the Fourth Regiment of
Infantry, California National Guard, thus earning the title by which he
afterward was best known. A stanch supporter of the Republican party, in 1866 he was elected city assessor on that ticket,
and the following year accepted the position of cashier of the Sacramento
Savings Bank, which responsible position he filled with the greatest efficiency
until his death.
Twice
married, Colonel Hamilton had a son, E. G. and a daughter, Jeannette. His
widow, who survives him and who shared with him the esteem of the people of
their home town, was formerly Miss Lizzie F. Mellen,
being a daughter of Joseph and Maria Mellen. Born
in Dresden, Ohio, she has been a
resident of California from an early age and since the
death of the Colonel she has continued to make her home in Sacramento,
although spending a portion of each year in travel and sojourn in other
portions of the country.
Transcribed 11-8-07 Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: “History of
the State of California and Biographical Record of the Sacramento Valley,
California” by J. M. Guinn. Pages
1608-1611. Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago 1906.
© 2007 Marilyn R. Pankey.
Sacramento County Biographies