Memories of an Oklahoma Farm Boy

by Virgle Chappell

Our Hamilton Family

Factual information which can be documented on the first of our Hamilton family to enter America has been very elusive. One of the biggest problems was the number of different Hamilton families found in Colonial America. A second problem was finding so many with the same given name. We are fortunate to have quite a lot of family tradition and lore which has been used to construct our suggested lineage. Using the family traditions and linking them with historical persons and historical records, we have a lineage to present. Perhaps at some future date, additional records will be found which will provide us with a more complete record of our Hamilton lineage.

William Robert Hamilton was born about 1699, probably in Scotland. He was a medical doctor and there is some evidence that this family was associated with Dr. William Harvey, who pioneered in the study of the circulatory system of the human body. One reason this suggestion has been made is that for many years the Hamilton’s have named a son, “Harvey”. 

The Hamiltons of Scotland were of the Yeomen class which means they were landed people. They were very much involved in the politics of Great Britain and often came under the grace or displeasure of the reigning monarch. The King’s court today and prison tomorrow was not uncommon for the Hamiltons of this period. Though Scotland was ruled on the most part by England, they were never really conquered. 

England not only had difficulty subduing and controlling Scotland, but the problem was greater where Ireland was concerned. The English used the age old method of removing many of the Scots from their homes to other lands, and filling these vacancies with English loyalists. The Irish were not so cooperative and strife continues even today over English rule of their country.
During one of the better times, Dr. William “Robert” Hamilton was moved to Ireland in hopes he would be a calming influence upon the stubborn Irish. Instead of this happening, family tradition states he became sympathetic with the plight of the Irish and soon fell into disfavor with the English Crown.

Dr. William Robert Hamilton was soon arrested and later sentenced to seven years of bond servant hood in the British Navy. Convicts and political prisoners, in order to free up local jails, were often sentenced to seven years of sea duty aboard British ships. This must have been a very difficult time for one who had lived in luxury in prior years. In 1724 or 1729 Robert became a permanent resident of the Virginia Colony. 

Nearly all Scots in the New World had a distaste for English rule so we find few of them staying in the more settled areas of eastern Virginia. Instead they removed and settled in the Shenandoah Valley area, separated from the English rule by a range of mountains. This area was also more suited for their farms and livestock.

"The Scot-Irish, as our clan is called, were clannish, aggressive, violent and devoted to their livestock (especially their horses), and they influenced the (American) South more than any other group. The wealth to be gained through beaver skins brought the more adventurous to the Rockies; Jim Coulter, Kit Carson, Bill Craig and Jim Bridger (and Harvey Hamilton).

"It was in Nashville that the Scot-Irish political power was laid in 1829, Andrew Jackson, an Ulster man, was the first 'peoples' president. Other Scot-Irish presidents to follow include: James Polk, James Buchanan, Andrew Jackson, U. S. Grant. Add to the list of Scot-Irish: Stonewall Jackson and our schoolmaster, Will McGuffie." Ref: Ulster Historical Foundation 

An interesting historical fact is that our Dr. Robert Hamilton was charged with murder in 1754. He was sent to Williamsburg to the Highest Court of the land, and there was tried and acquitted. (Virginia Gazette 4 Apr 1755) My personal opinion is that Robert killed a man in a duel. Dueling was illegal at the time, but any duelist who was fortunate enough to win over his opponent, was seldom or never punished by their peers in a court of law. 

William Robert Hamilton II
William Robert, son of William Robert I, was named for his father. Somewhere the German custom for naming their sons entered into the family. "It was the German custom to give each son the first name of his father (Baptismal name) and the second name Christian name) was the name by which he was known”. 

Present Hamilton home after many remodels.

About the time of his father’s acquittal, Robert moved South to the far eastern part of what is now Tennessee and settled on the Holston River. He had learned about doctoring from his father and continued the practice throughout his life. There were few or no whites that had settled in the area at this time, so Robert’s neighbors were the Cherokee Indians. He became friendly with them, probably using the advantage of his knowledge as a doctor, and soon dealt with the Cherokees for a very large portion of land, “as far as the eye could see”. However with the politics leading up to the Revolutionary War, his land was confiscated by order of the king of England and never returned to him. Robert married Margaret Bell about 1759 and they continued to live and prosper on the Holston River Plantation in eastern Tennessee. 

A WELCOME VISITOR; “Daniel Boone, on one of his expeditions about 1760 crossed the Holston River at Curry's Ford and saw smoke rising from the Hamilton cabin where he stopped and spent the night. Boone's adventurous tales so captivated young Harvey that he went to Kentucky and practiced medicine.” (family tradition)

William Robert (Robin) Hamilton III
William Robert III, was nicknamed “Robin” and was born about 1760 on their Holston Plantation. Robin also followed in his father’s footsteps and became a planter/doctor. Some family members still have his Doctor’s bag which he used in his practice and three of his doctor books had been passed down through three generations to Harvey Hamilton, his great grandson, 100 years later. The whereabouts of these books are unknown at the present time. Robin married Sarah Bell Brandon about 1790 and the Brandon name was added to the naming of descending sons.

Site of the old Meshack Trading Post on the Cumberland 
River, Monroe CO, KY 

Harvey Hamilton
Harvey Hamilton was born about 1802 and was the beginning of our migrating Hamilton line. Harvey inherited the heart of his father and grandfather for the frontier and pioneer life. It soon became too crowded in the new state of Tennessee and Harvey led several relatives to southern Kentucky and Monroe County. There, in 1825, Harvey, with his wife, Lydia Smith, and three children settled on Skeggs Creek near the settlement of Meshack on the Cumberland River. After about 10 years, Harvey began looking toward the area of Colorado for possible resettlement, and with his brother James, and brother-in-law, William Birge, made an expedition to the area just west of where Denver is now located. From this point on, we see an unrest in Harvey’s life in Kentucky. He purchased a general store is 1836 located on the East waters of the Big Barron River and became a merchant for a short period of time. Finally, about 1843, Harvey and other families began their move to northeastern Colorado. They were there only a short two years before Harvey lost his life, reason unknown, and Lydia moved her family back to Monroe CO. Kentucky.

Jarrett Brandon Hamilton
Jarrett Brandon was born the second son and forth child to Harvey and Lydia Hamilton. He was born 26 May 1830 in Monroe County, KY. About 1847, Jarrett still a teenager, Lydia left Kentucky and moved her family toward Northern Missouri. Her two older daughters, Sarah and Anna, had already made their homes in Sullivan Co. Jarrett remained a bachelor and cared for his widowed mother until she died. He married Margaret “Peggy” McNeece, daughter of  Archibald and “Katie” McNeece on 5 Jan 1860. The McNeece family were friends in Kentucky and had also migrated to Missouri. 


Jarrett purchased land southeast of Boynton, Sullivan CO, MO and made his home there for the remainder of his life. There were eleven children born to Jarrett and Peggy including my grandfather, Harvey Hamilton. Jarrett’s younger brother, Joseph also raised his family in the area around Boynton, MO and many of his descendants remain there today.
Jarrett Brandon Hamilton died 23 December 1902.

Jarrett Brandon and Margaret (McNeese) Hamilton with “B” their son.

Harvey Hamilton 
Harvey was born 21 December 1869 and grew to manhood in Sullivan County Missouri. He was the fifth child and third son born in the family. Harvey married Mary Ann Wyant on the 15 May 1890 and twelve children were born into the family while living in Sullivan Co. 

Back Row: Dicie, Emory
Center: Harve, Mary Ann
Front: Amelia, Edith, Frances, Samuel

An article written by Edith Hamilton Black, the oldest living daughter of Harvey and Mary Ann was submitted to a local historical book prepared for Ellis County, OK follows: HARVEY HAMILTON FAMILY "Harvey and Mary Ann Hamilton lived in northern Missouri in Sullivan Co. In 1911 they moved to the southern part of the state and purchased a farm near Mountain View. 
"In March, 1912, they came with their family to Ellis County and settled on the Clyde Cox place, which is now the home of Mr. & Mrs. Raymond Kearns. Their home was a one-room house and a dugout. They made a living farming. Theirs was a long hard struggle, as there were nine children in the family. 

"The Hamilton family moved three miles south of Follett, TX, in 1916. The children went to the Broyles School. After several moves, the family bought the Wingert place (in 1926). Mr. Hamilton passed away on Oct 18, 1938. Mary Hamilton lived on the farm for several years after her husbands death, and in 1943 bought a home in Follett, TX, and lived there until her death on May 31, 1958."  Submitted by Edith Black (daughter)

Merl Hamilton 

Merl Hamilton Chappell, my mother, was born near Boynton, Sullivan Co, MO on August 17, 1904. As a young girl she participated in the long migration to southern Missouri and then to Oklahoma. She married Leon E. Chappell when she was still a “child” at the age of fifteen. There were six children born into the family, but two sons, the first and last, died as infants. 

Though she was a woman who controlled the display of her emotions, the loss of a child was totally devastating for her. For all who witnessed the grief she bore at the loss of her sons, they could never question her deep love and commitment to her family. Though at times she may have been misunderstood by others, her husband knew her heart and he kept a deep love for her throughout his life. Merl Hamilton Chappell died in San Antonio, Texas 26 November 1989. She is buried in the Poplar Grove Cemetery in Beaver County, OK beside her husband and in the company of her parents, most of her brothers and sisters as well as her two infant sons. 

Virgle L. Chappell 

Merl and Leon Wedding Dec. 1919 2004