Charles Memorial Hamilton

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Charles Memorial Hamilton
Charles Memorial Hamilton

Charles Memorial Hamilton (November 1, 1840October 22, 1875) was a US Representative from Florida.

Born in Pine Creek Township, Clinton County, Pennsylvania; attended the public schools and was graduated from the Columbia Law School, Columbia, Pennsylvania.

During the American Civil War, Hamilton entered the Union Army as a private in 1861 and served in Company A, Fifth Regiment, Pennsylvania Reserves; appointed judge advocate of the general court-martial and general pass officer for the Army of the Potomac; served on the staff of the Military Governor of Washington, D.C., until transferred to Marianna, Florida in 1865.

He was admitted to the bar in 1867 and commenced practice in Marianna, Fla.; upon the readmission of the State of Florida to representation was elected as a Republican to the Fortieth and Forty-first Congresses and served from July 1, 1868, to March 3, 1871; unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1870; appointed senior major general of the Florida Militia in February 1871; postmaster of Jacksonville, Florida from July 27, 1871, to March 1, 1872; appointed collector of customs at Key West, Florida, in February 1873; resigned on account of ill health; died in Pine Creek Township, Clinton County, Pa.; interment in Jersey Shore Cemetery. For more detailed information, see "More Courage than Discretion': Charles M. Hamilton in Reconstruction-Era Florida," Florida Historical Quarterly 84 (Spring 2006).

Preceded by
George S. Hawkins
United States Representative (at large) from Florida
1868–1871
Succeeded by
Josiah T. Walls