L. A. Hamilton, of Fairmount township, is a Marion county pioneer who, after residing there for ten years, moved to Wilson county, where he resided for thirty-one years, thence to Butler county in February, 1912. L. A. Hamilton was born in Indiana county, Pennsylvania, November 11, 1847, and is a son of James H. and Lydia (Rowe) Hamilton, natives of Pennsylvania, the former of French and the latter of German descent. L. A. Hamilton was reared and educated in Pennsylvania, and in 1871, left his Pennsylvania home and came to Kansas and homesteaded a claim in Marion county, not far from the Butler county line. He reached here in May and got off the train at Florence at midnight during what was one of the heaviest rain storms that he ever experienced. The following morning he started out in search of a claim in Butler county, with a view of locating in Fairmount township. After walking all day through the rain he succeeded in finding shelter that night in the cabin of a claimer, which seemed to be the only one completed in that neighborhood. He kept up his search and in a few days found a suitable claim in Marion county, which he homesteaded, as above mentioned. Here he engaged in farming and stock raising, and while he generally raised good crops, it was impossible to make much money on account of poor markets and low prices. He has hauled corn to Peabody, which he sold for fourteen cents per bushel, and was cheated on the weight at that. Hogs were worth two and a half cents per pounds, and the fall following the visitation of the grasshoppers, hogs only brought one cent a pound.

Mr. Hamilton was unmarried when he came to Kansas, and for the first two years he "batched" most of the time, and on June 12, 1873, he was married to Miss Arrena Harris. She was born in Iowa, a daughter of John and Nancy (Grove) Harris, natives of Ohio, and early settlers of Iowa. Prior to her marriage, Mrs. Hamilton came to Kansas and

was living with a sister when she met Mr. Hamilton. To Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton have been born four children: Burton D., who resides at home with his parents; Maggie, deceased; and Pearl and Earl, twins, also living at home with their parents.

After spending about ten years in Marion county, Mr. Hamilton removed with his family to Wilson county, where he was successfully engaged in farming and the dairy business for twenty-four years and in 1912 came to Butler county. In 1912 he bought the northwest quarter of section 16, Fairmount township, where he has since made his home and followed general farming and stock raising. While living in Wilson county he owned property in this county, and now he still owns property in Wilson county.

When Mr. Hamilton came here he found a country almost in its primitive state. The great, broad, limitless plains stretched in every direction as far as the vision could reach, and the deer, the antelope and other wild game were in abundance; and the buffalo could be found in great numbers just a little farther west. Mr. Hamilton went on a buffalo hunt in 1873 in the vicinity of Medicine Lodge and killed two buffalo, and at that time great herds of buffalo roamed the plains in western Kansas and Mr. Hamilton says that he saw one herd there that contained thousands of buffalo.

Mr. Hamilton is a Republican and takes a deep interest in the well being of the community and the affairs of his county and State.

Previous | Main Page | Biography Index | Next

Pages 663-664,