"William Hamilton was one of the early pioneers of Claibourne Township and for a period of almost thirty years one of the foremost men of Union County. He was born near Morgantown, Va., in 1789. In 1807, he emigrated with his father, William Hamilton, Sr., to Muskingum County, Ohio, arriving at their pioneer home on his eighteenth birthday. Here his energies were developed by his assistance in clearing the densely timbered land and reducing to a well-improved farm. He acquired extensive possessions, and in 1837 sold his large farm with the expectation to locate farther in the west. For one season he tarried in Licking. He then purchased from Cadwallader Wallace his survey of 1,000 acres, northwest of Richwood, paying $3,600 for it, and reached Claibourne Township, April 30, 1838. The survey was afterwards, found to contain nearly 1,400 acres. Mr. Hamilton remained at Richmond until he could build a log house, when he at once moved into it and remained its occupant till his decease. This large tract was as yet untouched by the, woodman's ax, and the arduous labor of again developing a farm devolved upon him. He was a man possessed of energies greatly superior to those of average mankind, and carried an enthusiasm and determination into whatever enterprise he undertook which insured its success. In physique he was large and powerful. Though not cultured, he was thoroughly honest and public spirited, and was perhaps more influential in creating a healthy moral atmosphere in his community, by his example and teachings, of his withering denunciation of whatever was mean and contemptible, than any other individual. His spirit was chivalrous, and to the weak or oppressed he was unusually kind He was a member of the Methodist Protestant Church and for nearly forty years a local minister of this faith. In politics, he was strongly Whig, and later in life a Republican. He had served in Muskingum County as Commissioner and filled the same office in Union County. It was to his exertions and labors, largely, that the Infirmary farm was purchased and building erected. His death occurred August 12, 1867. Mr. Hamilton had been twice married. By his first wife, Miss Ewing, he had four children--Elizabeth, Samuel, William and Benjamin. Elizabeth, married Jacob C. Sidle, a prominent farmer of Claibourne; Samuel, is a farmer in Marshall County, Ill.; William, a farmer at Wenona, same county; Benjamin, died in Claibourne Township. The second wife was Lydia Springer. By this marriage there were eight children-Cornelius S. (deceased), an attorney of Marysville; John W., Professor of Surgery at the Columbus Medical College; Joseph H., a Methodist Protestant Minister, now at Mount Vernon, Ohio; Isaac N., a physician, at Marysville; Horatio C., of Richwood, George B., a farmer of Claibourne; Susan R. (deceased); and Thomas B., a physician, who enlisted as Surgeon in the One Hundred and Fourteenth Illinois Regiment, and died at Memphis, Tenn., in 1865."

History of Union County, Ohio Volume II, W. H. Beers & Co., 1883.