John Hamilton of Bracken County, Kentucky
He was my 6th great-grandfather, born about 1741, supposedly in Ireland. I haven't found any documentation supporting this, but there are several people
at Ancestry.com researching this John Hamilton and his descendants, and they all have his place of origin as Ireland. I don't
know what the original source is at this point.
My line back to John Hamilton goes like this. From my grandfather, Lionel Howard Hamilton, to Noah Frederick Hamilton and Maud Mae McElfresh, to William Hamilton and Susan Frances Maines, to Ishmael Maines and Elizabeth Katherine Hamilton, to Oliver Laban Maines and Hester Ann Hamilton, to Edward Hamilton and Mary Elizabeth Hutchinson, to John Hamilton and Elizabeth Foster.
John Hamilton, according to other researchers, came to America around 1763 and married Elizabeth Foster around the same year either aboard the ship or in Maryland. I have not found the records supporting this yet. I did, however, find his Will and his military records from the Revolutionary War.
John Hamilton enlisted for service from Chester Co., Pennsylvania with the 5th Pennsylvania Regiment March 18, 1777. This regiment was originally known as Captain Thomas Church's regiment, but in May of 1777, Captain Thomas Church was promoted to Major, and Captain Samuel Smith took over. This regiment was under the command of Colonel Francis Johnson. John was appointed Sergeant May 8, 1777.
Between February 1778 and June 17, 1778, John was at Valley Forge where George Washington and his Continental Army was stationed. The muster roll cards from his military record show this. Between July 1778 and September 1778, John was at Camp White Plains in New York. From sources on the internet, during the summer of 1778, George Washington had taken his Continental Army to New York after hearing a rumor that the British were going to invade New York. He had already beaten back the British from White Plains in 1775, forcing them to pull back further north. John was at Camp White Plains until around September 1778, and from there he ended up at Camp Fredericksburg in Virginia in October and November of 1778. By March 1779, he was at Camp Millstone in New Jersey, and between April and May 1779, JOhn was at Camp Smith's Clove in New York.
I am not exactly certain when John settled in Bracken County, Kentucky, but he was there by 1802 as his Last Will and Testament shows. The date of his Will was for August 2, 1802, but John died around June of 1810 when an inventory of all his property had been performed. In 1790, I believe John Hamilton was living in Honeybrook Township, Chester Co., Pennsylvania. I found a John Hamilton living in the same town through the 1790 census with one son under the age of 16, two daughters, and his wife. The son, I believe, was possibly David Hamilton who would have been about 14 years old at the time.
John had a total of six children. They were John, Edward, David, Samuel, Elizabeth, and Sarah. I descend from his second oldest son, Edward Hamilton.