Andrew J. Hamilton

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This page is about a former politician; see Andrew Hamilton (disambiguation) for other meanings.

Andrew Jackson Hamilton (January 28, 1815 – April 11, 1875) was a U.S. politician during the third quarter of the 19th century.

A native of Huntsville, Alabama, Hamilton moved to La Grange, Texas, in 1846 to practice law. Four years later, he became the state attorney general, and was elected to the Texas House of Representatives for a single term the following year.

In 1858, Hamilton was elected to the United States House of Representatives as an Independent Democrat. He chose not to run for re-election in 1860.

During the American Civil War, Hamilton sided with the Union, and was named Military Governor of Texas by Abraham Lincoln in 1862.

At the end of the war, President Andrew Johnson named Hamilton as the provisional civilian governor of the state, an office Hamilton held for 14 months during the early stages of Reconstruction. He resigned in 1867 to accept a position as a justice on the Texas Supreme Court. Hamilton tried to regain the governorship in the election of 1869, but he was defeated.

Hamilton died in Austin, Texas, and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery.