Madison County Genealogical Society

Minutes of the Meeting – August 8, 2019

The August 2019 meeting of the Madison County Genealogical Society was held at the Edwardsville Public Library on Thursday, August 8, at 7:00 pm.

President, Robert Ridenour, called the meeting to order.

The following is the Treasurer's report for the month of June:

• Total Assets as of June 1, 2019 - $16,395.14

·       General Fund - Beg. Balance $3,420.62 - Income $0.45 - Expenses $188.00 - End Balance $3,233.07

• Publications Fund - Beg. Balance $12,974.52 - Income $0.00 - Expenses $0.00 - End Balance $12,974.52
• Total Assets as of June 30, 2019 - $16,207.59

GIFT MEMBERSHIPS AVAILABLE

Do you have a family member that is interested in (or even obsessed with) genealogy? A membership in the Madison County Genealogical Society would be a very thoughtful gift. A gift card will be sent to the recipient of any gift membership.

The following memberships are available:
Individual/Family Annual Membership $25.00
Patron Annual Membership $35.00
Life Membership $300.00

Contact our Secretary, Petie Hunter, at [email protected], about a gift membership.

August Meeting

 

On August 8, 2019, Beth McGlasson presented a program titled Dr. Silas Hamilton, His Freed Slave, George Washington and the First Free School in Illinois

 

Beth McGlasson is a local historian and Vice President of the Jersey County Historical Society. She and her husband, Dennis, have spent nearly a decade researching and documenting local cemeteries. She also co-wrote Lunch Pails & Pigtails: Jersey County’s One-room Schools and the Students Who Attended Them.

 

Most friendships are based on some common denominator, but the only thing that Silas Hamilton and George Washington seemingly had in common was the fact that they were both male.

·     Silas was nearly 50 years older than George.

·     Silas was well educated. George was prohibited by law to learn to read and write.

·     Silas was born into a wealthy white family. Legally, George was not even a person. Instead, he was a piece of property to be bought, sold, and treated according to the whims of his owner.

And yet despite these differences, Silas and George forged a bond that was extraordinary by any measure.

 

Silas Hamilton was born in Massachusetts in 1773, just three years before America gained her freedom from Britain. To borrow a line from the musical Hamilton, Silas came of age with our young nation. Silas had two ancestors – William White and Resolved White – who came across on the Mayflower, and his father and brother fought in the Revolutionary War. It is no stretch to say that his family played an active role in founding our country.

 

When he was still a small child, about 6 years old, Silas’ family moved to Tinmouth, Vermont, located slightly north of the beautiful Green Mountains of southwestern Vermont. At that time, Tinmouth was a small town with a population of around 1,000 people. A lovely little stream, Otter Creek, ran the length of Main Street. Silas grew up in Tinmouth. Little is known about his childhood, but we do know that about age 12, he developed a sore on a hip that would not go away. It left Silas slightly crippled but otherwise healthy. He enjoyed the benefits of a good education. At the age of 15, he qualified to teach school and taught primary school in Tinmouth for one term. But he soon turned his attention from the field of education and instead became an apprentice and studied medicine under his older brother, Zee-a-bah. Silas became a physician, married a woman named Hannah Ives in 1801, and they had one child, Silas Jr., the following year.

 

Silas did not enjoy New England’s brutal winters, so he moved his family to Nashville, Tennessee, about 1813. There, the Hamilton family spent the winter with Andrew and Rachel Jackson. Yes, the Andrew Jackson, the future president of the United States. In fact, according to family legend, Rachel Jackson was a patient of Silas Hamilton. Silas and his family remained in Nashville seven years. The family then moved south to Natchez in Adams County, Mississippi. In l820, when Silas arrived in Adams County with his family, steamboats were in their infancy, but Natchez was well on its way to becoming one of the world’s leading cotton ports. Thousands of slaves were brought into Adams County to work in the fields and on the docks. Plantation owners amassed great fortunes, built magnificent mansions, and enjoyed lavish lifestyles – all on the backs of slaves. And Silas Hamilton was one of those plantation owners. You did not see that coming, did you?

 

Hamilton, like many New Englanders, hated slavery, but he also believed that the outright abolition of slavery would cause serious problems. Where would freed slaves live, how would they support themselves, what would happen to the young slaves who had been separated from their parents? Slavery was an ugly, barbaric practice. In 1820, slaves accounted for 1.5 million of the 9.6 million U.S. residents. Silas was well aware of the challenges presented by freeing such a large number of people. So instead, he favored the gradual emancipation of slaves and the eventual relocation of freed slaves to Liberia in Africa.

 

But still the burning question is Why in the world would a New England abolitionist move to the heart of the cotton belt and buy a plantation? Well there were two reasons. First, Silas believed that managing a plantation would be an excellent experience for his 17-year-old son. Second, he had a noble but incredibly naive idea. He had purchased a number of slaves in Maryland and Mississippi to work his plantation, and he set to work showing his neighbors that you could run a profitable plantation while treating slaves with kindness and dignity. Of course, that was a wretched failure! Most local plantation owners resented his efforts, fearing it would give their slaves ideas. Even fellow abolitionists were critical of Silas’ efforts, noting that owning another human was immoral regardless of how they were treated. Despite that, Silas’ time in Mississippi was not meaningless. In fact, it set the stage for a chance meeting that would plant the seed of a legacy that lives yet today.

 

Silas was close to his mother, who remained in Tinmouth after Silas’ father passed away. During his years in Mississippi, Silas regularly traveled to Vermont to visit her. While riding through Virginia on one of these trips, Silas encountered a man who owned a very young slave who was distraught because his mother had recently been sold. The boy’s master feared the boy would grieve himself to death. Silas was so moved that he purchased the young slave, George Washington, for $100. According to some accounts, George’s surname was that of his owner, a common practice. According to others, the boy told Silas he did not know his last name, but could remember his mother telling him stories of the great and kind man who served as the first president of the United States, and thus the young boy was named George Washington. The latter account certainly tugs at the heartstrings, but it is unlikely since George was quite young – roughly two years old – when Silas purchased him. Regardless, Silas took the boy back to Mississippi, where he was raised as a member of the household

 

Unfortunately, tragedy struck the Hamilton family while living in Mississippi. In l823, Silas Jr. died at the age of 21. His death was the beginning of the end of his father’s Mississippi dream. Silas was overwhelmed with the demands of juggling a large medical practice and running a plantation. By 1828, he lost all faith in his Mississippi experiment and set about selling his land. He, his wife, and their 28 slaves traveled to Cincinnati, Ohio, where Silas granted the slaves their freedom. Granting a slave freedom was not as simple as saying “You’re free.” It required going to court and posting a bond to guarantee the former slave would not become a burden to society. The bond was $1,000 per slave. Silas paid $28,000 to free his slaves. That is a substantial chunk of change today, let alone 190 years ago. Three former slaves – George, who was about 8 at the time, and an older couple named Henry and Vennie Walker who had served as a butler and housekeeper for the Hamiltons for years – stayed with Silas and Hannah. Nearly all the other freed slaves settled in Yellow Springs, Ohio.

 

After freeing his slaves, Silas, Hannah, the Walkers, and George traveled west to New Design, in St. Clair County, Illinois, where Silas’ brother Nathaniel and his family had settled years earlier. While in New Design, George attended a school taught by Silas’ nephew Thomas. The Hamiltons continued to visit relatives in Vermont and they often stopped in Yellow Springs. On one of those visits, they learned that Caleb Patsy, who had served as Silas’ overseer in Mississippi, had been thrown from his horse and killed. His wife wanted to return to Mississippi to live with relatives – so Silas delayed their return to Illinois to drive Mrs. Patsy and her four children to Mississippi. I think that says a lot for what kind of man Silas was. He did not arrange for someone else to take the family to Mississippi. He took them himself.

 

Hannah Hamilton did not live long after moving to Illinois. She passed away in the winter of 1828 in New Design. Silas remained in the area for another year before he and his nephew Thomas scouted land in western Illinois in the spring of 1830. The pair traveled north to Springfield, west to Quincy, and then back south. On a prairie near a small community named Gullum in what was then Greene County, Silas and Thomas came upon a creek that reminded him of the one that ran through his boyhood home in Vermont. He dubbed it Otter Creek, and the surrounding area came to be known by that name. Nine years later, Otter Creek was part of the portion of Greene County that became Jersey County.

 

Silas purchased land in present-day Jersey County near Busch Lane, in June 1830. He was surrounded by his siblings. His sisters Polly Hamilton Hurd and Elizabeth Hamilton Gilbert were his neighbors, as were his brothers William and Aaron and two nephews, the sons of his brother Nathaniel. Other neighbors included William and James Dougherty and Henry Noble and their families. The three men had been neighbors and friends of Silas in Mississippi and followed their friend to the Midwest. Shortly after arriving, Silas had two cabins built, one for him and George, the other for Henry and Vennie Walker. He later had a large home built. Silas had hoped to retire as a physician after settling in Illinois and limit his medical practice to friends and neighbors. Unfortunately, there were no other doctors in the area, and Silas found himself treating people throughout several surrounding townships. In the summer of 1834, a fever raged through the area. The endless hours took a toll on Silas’ health. Knowing that his health was failing, Silas drafted his last will and testament in late October. He passed away on November 19, four years after settling in Otter Creek.

 

Silas had a very clear vision of the future for George when he moved to Illinois. He planned to see that George received a good education and then send him to Liberia in Africa to serve as a missionary. Silas’ death brought that to an end. At the age of roughly 10, George lost the only father figure he had ever known. But Silas had the foresight to prepare for George’s future. In his will, Silas stated his belief in the importance of a good education – not only for George but also for the children of his friends and neighbors. He left $2,000 to be used to build a free, integrated school and another $2,000 to be used to hire and support a teacher.

 

The Hamilton School, or the Stone Schoolhouse as it was known, was completed in the fall of the following year. It was two stories high and built using stone quarried from the White Quarry, which we believe, was located near Beatty Mound. A hall, containing a stairway leading to the second floor, divided the main floor. There were two schoolrooms on the first floor. The school hired a series of well-educated professors who helped establish the school as a leading educational institution. When the school was built, there were no buildings used exclusively as churches. Knowing that, Silas stipulated in his will that the school be used as a place of worship for any denomination. The second floor of the building was used as a Sunday School, church, and other public gatherings. Not surprisingly, the school also served as a stop on the Underground Railroad.

 

Take a moment to really think about the Hamilton School. First, it was free at a time when most schools were by subscription. In other words, parents paid for their children’s schooling, and it was a luxury many people simply could not afford. As a result, when word of the Stone Schoolhouse spread, people from throughout the Midwest moved to the Otterville area to ensure their children were educated. Second, consider how absolutely incredible it was that an integrated school was opened 29 years before Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation!

 

Before his death, Silas arranged for George to live with his sister, Elizabeth, and her husband, Gilbert Douglas. When he turned 21, George was to receive $100, a horse, and a set of clothing. George graduated from primary school in his early 20s, which was not unusual in those days, because students attended school for only six mouths each year. After graduating, George worked as a farm hand. He was known as a hard-working, well-educated, religious man, who was respected and liked by the close-knit community in Otter Creek. He taught Sunday School and served as assistant superintendent of the local church. If a member of a local family became ill, George made sure the family had plenty of firewood and food. Whenever there was a death in the community, no matter the weather, George dug the grave and never accepted money for the task. According to those who knew him, George was sociable with those he knew but reserved among strangers. When living with Silas and later the Douglases, he took his meals with them, unless strangers were present. Then, he would find himself too busy to join them.

 

I wish I could tell you that George lived a life free of bigotry and racism, but that would be a lie. But thankfully, when George encountered such ignorance, a neighbor or friend always came to his defense. Once, a threshing crew at the Douglas farm sat down to eat. A man in the crew loudly announced that he would not eat with George. The host calmly replied, “Fine, then you can wait.” The rest of the crew, including George, continued with their meal. George was vice-president of the Otterville Debate Club. One time, when the Otterville club hosted a group from Jerseyville, the president of the Otterville club could not be present, so George led the debate. He did an admirable job, but the Jerseyville club was outraged at being required to address and – worse – to be presided over by a black man.

 

In the 1860 presidential election, the question as to whether slavery should be extended into territories was hotly contested. The Democrats, who favored the move, hosted a barbeque in Grafton to drum up support of the measure. Unfortunately, it was also the day that George took a load of wheat to market in Grafton. A group of men pelted him with gravel and rocks. Judge William Shepard, a prominent Democrat, who had known George for years, quickly put a stop to the assault by threatening to have the men arrested and fined.

 

Once when a horse was stolen from a nearby farm, several local men, including George, split up in search of the horse. Unfortunately, George ended up in Calhoun County, where he was promptly arrested as a runaway slave. Fortunately, Clarence Hamilton (a relative of Silas) was in Gilead (then the county seat, where George was jailed) and heard that a runaway had been captured and was being held until he could be shipped down south. Clarence went to see the runaway slave for himself, recognized George, and quickly secured his release. Thankfully, such incidents were infrequent. George spent most of his life farming, and in 1841 bought 80 acres in Quarry Township, making him the first black landowner in Jersey County. He raised cattle and pigs and was known for his extraordinary talent with horses. In 1852, he sold that farm and bought 80 acres slightly east of Otterville, close to where he lived with Silas. He remained there until his death on April 18, 1854. Per his instructions, George was buried beside Silas in the Hamilton Cemetery, located at the four-way stop in Otterville.

 

George’s life was relatively short. His exact age was unknown, but he was probably in his early 40s. He never married. As the only African American in the area, there were no prospects for a wife. But George, born a slave, died a free man, thanks to Silas Hamilton. It was a kindness that George ensured would be immortalized.

 

George’s estate was worth more than $11,500, the equivalent of more than $170,000 today, In his will, he directed $5,000 be used to erect a monument to honor Silas. The remainder was to be used to establish a trust fund for the education of “colored persons of African descent.” Unfortunately, it took 12 years and a lawsuit for the memorial to be erected. The tall white monument, which stands near the Hamilton Primary School, reads: Erected by George Washington. Born in Virginia a slave, Died at Otterville, Ill. April 18, 1864, a Christian Freeman. To the memory of Silas Hamilton, his former master. Born at Tinmouth, Vt. Died at Otterville, Ill. Nov. 19, 1834, having in his lifetime given freedom to 28 slaves and at his death bequeathed $4,000 for the erection and endowment of the Hamilton Primary School.

 

The George Washington Educational Fund has helped hundreds of students receive a college education. Initially, the money was earmarked for use by male residents of Jersey County. Today it is available for both males and females throughout the state, and each year, three students receive scholarships from the fund. The original school was torn down in l873 and a new school was built on the same location,

 

The Hamilton Primary School continued to educate children until 1971, when it was closed due to safety concerns. Its graduates include doctors, lawyers, judges, a Wall Street mogul, a state senator, U.S. Congressman Stephen White, and the Second Surgeon General of the United States, Dr. John B. Hamilton. Today the Otter Creek Historical Society maintains the school. As you can imagine, the costs to maintain it are substantial, and in 2014, the school was added to the state’s annual list of most endangered historic places. In mid-September, the Society holds their annual Hamilton School Festival. It is a great opportunity to tour and support this historic school and the legacy of the remarkable Silas Hamilton

 

This presentation was very well received and provoked many questions and comments.

 

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