I am an amateur genealogist working on the Hamilton family tree. This family tree grew from roots starting in Adair Co. Kentucky through McDonough Co. Illinois all the way to LeRoy, Saskatchewan. From LeRoy we have spread through the Saskatchewan prairies to B.C. and Ontario with one branch even returning to the U.S. As we all know, trees also have many branches. You can visit the many branches of the Hamilton family through my home page on the family tree maker site http://familytreemaker.com/users/h/a/m/Debbie-Hamilton/ . But don't forget to come back to this site.
Joseph Franklin Hamilton was born December 3, 1852 near Good Hope,
McDonough Co. Illinois. His parents Rachel (Ballance) & Harrison
Hamilton had been residents of McDonough Co. since their childhood.
Joseph was known as Frank, Anna Lucinda wrote him many letters before they
were married always referring to Friend Frank, also in Anna's mothers journals,
Lucinda (Brown) Allison, she refers to Anna & Frank. Frank attended
school in Good Hope, Bushnell and normal school in Macomb. Frank farmed alongside
his brother Wm. Levi Hamilton who was referred to as Uncle Bird by my fathers
generation. Besides growing corn they also raised pure bred cattle.
This farm was taken over by his son Ray, the only one of their children
to stay in Illinois. Andrew, our family, immigrated to Saskatchewan, Canada.
Edith married and moved to the Panama Canal. Arthur also immigrated to
Saskatchewan, Canada but must have found the winters too severe and moved
to California.
Rachel Ballance was the eldest child of Ann ( Welborn) & Joseph Ballance. Rachel was born on January 14, 1828 in Stow Park, Lincolnshire, England. She was baptized in Stow Parish on August 3, 1828. She immigrated with her family about 1831 first to Chester, Pennsylvania then to Wilmington, Delaware finally settling in McDonough Co. Illinois by 1837. Rachel was a member of the Hamilton household for seven years before marrying Harrison. Which by my figuring means she must have went to work for the Hamilton's when she was only 13 years old. Rachel & Harrison had seven children, one died in infancy, Malinda Ann married and had 3 boys and died at the age of 40, Albert died at the age of 13, Mary Josephine only lived a year, Ellis lived to be 34 which left William Levi (Uncle Bird) and Joseph (Frank) to help Rachel with the farm. Rachel lived to be 81 years old. She is buried in the Good Hope cemetery in McDonough Co. Illinois
Harrison Hamilton was the eldest son of Malinda (Creel) & Levi Hamilton. Harrison was born August 5, 1826 in Adair Co. Kentucky. He immigrated from Kentucky to McDonough Co. Illinois with his family about 1831. Harrison was a very religious man, being deacon of their church, Walnut Grove Presbyterian for 17 years. Harrison was not a very healthy man and died at the age of 41 leaving Rachel to raise their family alone. Harrison was buried in the old Hamilton graveyard (Walnut Grove) and later moved to Good Hope cemetery with the rest of his family.
Malinda Creel was born Dec. 9, 1809 in Columbia, Kentucky. Malinda's parents were Mary Polly Smith (daughter of Margaret Truax & James Smith) and Durham Creel (son of Sarah Sally Stapp and Charles Creel). Sarah or Sallie Stapp family ancestry is Sarah or Sallie Stapp daughter of Hannah Durham & Joshua Stapp > Martha or Patsey Coffee & Joshua Stapp > Dorothy Moss & Abraham Stapp.
Malinda married Levi Hamilton in Adair Co. Kentucky in 1825 and they had two sons Harrison and Uriah before moving to McDonough Co. Illinois. In Illinois they had one more son Silas Hamilton, who according to family tales was supposed to have been an inventor. If he did or did not invent the Weed Sewing Machine, he did sell them. He was also involved in the production of straw lumber from which sewing machine cabinets were manufactured.
Levi Hamilton was born March 22, 1802 in Adair Co. Kentucky. His father Thomas Hamilton owned land on Butlers Fork of Russell Creek. Thomas's wife, according to court documents, was Barbary, although we have not found a marriage record as yet to confirm if she was the mother of Levi. Levi & Malinda immigrated to McDonough Co. Illinois along with most of Malinda's family, the Durham Creel family about 1833. Levi and Malinda were very active in the church with the early services being held in their home until a church was built on property donated by Levi. They farmed in Walnut Grove until their later years when they moved with their son Uriah Hamilton, first to Galesburg, Illinois and then to Shenandoah, Iowa where they both died and are buried.
Thomas was an Irish immigrant to the U.S. who was indentured to pay his passage. On the 1840 census of Adair Co. Kentucky Thomas was between 80 & 90 years old so we can estimate his birth date as between 1760-1770. He died in Jan. of 1850 making him between 90 & 100 years old. We do not know where Thomas was married but after his marriage he moved to Kentucky settling in what became Adair Co. His property was surveyed Sept. 19, 1796, 159A on Butlers Fork of Russell Creek and on November. 7, 1803 Thomas requests to build a water grist mill on this property. Thomas lived the rest of his life on this property. He was listed alone on the 1840 census so we can assume Barbary had died before then. The court documents for the division of his property give Merrit credit for having looked after him and his late wife Barbary.
Hamilton & related Family sites to visit on the
internet highway
| Allison | Andrews | Ballance | Bianga | Baranowski | Biddlecombe | Borton | Bown | Bradford |
| Brown | Burnham | Burns | Cleveland | Coffee | Creel | Doane | Doyle | Durham |
| Ellis | Giddings | Haines | Hamilton | Hicks | Hopkins | Husband | Johnson | Kendall |
| Kidner | Lochyer | Moss | Paine | Price | Roraff | Rossiter | Smith | Snow |
| Stapp | Stevens | Truax | Walker | Welborn | Williams | Winn |
Debbie Hamilton
123 825 Heritage Green
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
S7H 5S7
