Southwestern Sacramento in Sacramento County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)
Colonel William Stephen Hamilton
In Memory of the Rough Diamond
Erected 1992 by Sacramento Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and Children of the American Revolution.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Wars, US Indian. In addition, it is included in the Daughters of the American Revolution series list. A significant historical month for this entry is October 1812.
Location. Marker is missing. It was located near 38° 33.679′ N, 121° 30.108′ W. Marker was in Sacramento, California, in Sacramento County. It was in Southwestern Sacramento. Marker is located on a bench at the William Stephan Hamilton Burial Site in the Hamilton Square Perennial Garden of the Sacramento City Cemetery. Touch for map. Marker was at or near this postal address: 1000 Broadway, Sacramento CA 95818, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this location. Anna Madah Fletcher (within shouting distance of this marker); James Logan Butler (within shouting distance of this marker); Pioneer Cemetery Grove (within shouting distance of this marker); New Helvetia Cemetery (within shouting distance of this marker); General Albert Maver Winn (within shouting distance of this marker); The Bennett Brothers (within shouting distance of this marker); California Pioneers (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Alfred A. Hart (about 300 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Sacramento.
Regarding Colonel William Stephen Hamilton. William was born in New York on August 4, 1797. He was the third son of Alexander Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton. Like his father he had political aspirations, and did serve in the Illinois House of Representatives in 1824. He did attempt to run for State Senator to the U.S. Congress, but was not elected.
He attended the United States Military Academy, but resigned and he also was a member of a volunteer militia and fought in both the Winnebago and Black Hawk Indian Wars.
He was also known as a miner and he established Hamilton’s Diggins, a lead-ore mine in what is now known as Wiota, Wisconsin. He headed west to California when he heard of the gold discovery. He died a year later, in what many believe, as a victim of the Cholera Epidemic of 1850.
Also see . . . Sacramento Chapter, NSDAR Colonel William Stephen Hamilton.
Sacramento Chapter, NSDAR - Maintains the gravesite of Alexander Hamilton's son, William Stephen Hamilton, at the Old City Cemetery.(Submitted on May 16, 2023, by Carolyn Sanders of Plano, Texas.)
Additional commentary.
1. From the Diary of Dr. Israel Lord A Doctor's Gold Rush Journey to California
[Nevada]: “August 25, 1849: This morning Col. Wm. Hamilton, son of Alexander Hamilton of Revolutionary memory passed our camp. He is a small, active, smart looking man, apparently fifty, and was once undoubtedly a very handsome man. His exterior is now not of the smoothest, though a decent hat would much improve it. He was wearing, or rather is capped with, an old, rusty, torn, shockingly dilapidated, part of a straw hat – the major part it is true, but a very considerable minority has seceded.”
[Sacramento, California]: “Monday, Oct. 7, 1850. Died today at a quarter to 12 M. of heart disease – Col. Wm. S. Hamilton, youngest son of Alexander Hamilton who years by gone was swept from political arena by the fiendlike malice of Aaron Burr."
— Submitted November 20, 2008, by Syd Whittle of Mesa, Arizona.
Credits. This page was last revised on May 17, 2023. It was originally submitted on October 12, 2008, by Syd Whittle of Mesa, Arizona. This page has been viewed 3,657 times since then and 29 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on October 12, 2008, by Syd Whittle of Mesa, Arizona. 3, 4. submitted on July 7, 2019, by J. Makali Bruton of Accra, Ghana. 5. submitted on October 12, 2008, by Syd Whittle of Mesa, Arizona.