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James Hamilton (Pennsylvania)


James Hamilton (c.1710 in Accomac County(?), Virginia – 14 August 1783, New York City), son of the well-known Philadelphia lawyer Andrew Hamilton, was a prominent lawyer and governmental figure in colonial Philadelphia and Pennsylvania.

Hamilton was educated in Philadelphia and England before becoming a practicing lawyer in 1731. When on 28 December 1733 his father resigned as prothonotary of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Hamilton was appointed to the office.

In May 1734 James's father Andrew Hamilton sold him the town site of Lancaster, Pennsylvania for 5 shillings. Later that month, on 21 May, the younger Hamilton secured a patent from the Penn family for his grant on the Lancaster land.

After the death of his father on 4 August 1741, James Hamilton inherited his 150-acre estate known as Bush Hill north of the city. He assisted his brother-in-law William Allen in the administration of lands purchased by his father to be used for the state house and surrounding public space.

Elected to the provincial assembly in 1745, Hamilton was re-elected five times. He served as mayor of Philadelphia for one year from October 1745. During his tenure as Mayor, Hamilton kept a record of servants and apprentices bound before him, which historians have used to gauge the nature and extent of indentured servitude in Philadelphia -- and Pennsylvania more generally because Philadelphia was the entry-point for indentured servants coming into the colony from Europe.

Hamilton became a member of the provincial council in 1746. He was commissioned by the sons of William Penn as lieutenant-governor, as which he served until 1754, then again from 1759 to 1763, then briefly also in 1771 and 1773.


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