Morgan Calvin Hamilton (February 25, 1809 – November 21, 1893) was an American merchant, politician from

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

and Texas, and brother of

Andrew Jackson Hamilton Andrew Jackson Hamilton (January 28, 1815 – April 11, 1875) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 11th governor of Texas from 1865 to 1866 during Reconstruction., retrieved 2008-12-20 Early life Hamilton was born in Huntsvil ...

. Both men were unusual as Unionists in Texas during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

Early life and career

Morgan Calvin Hamilton was born in

Madison County, Alabama Madison County is a County (United States), county located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census, the population was 388,153, and according to a 2023 population estimate the ...

near

Huntsville Huntsville is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the 100th-most populous city in the U.S. The Huntsville metropolitan area had an estimated 525,465 ...

. His siblings included

. He moved to Texas when it was still part of Mexico and worked there as a merchant. For six years, from 1839 to 1845, he served in the war department of the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas (), or simply Texas, was a country in North America that existed for close to 10 years, from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. Texas shared borders with Centralist Republic of Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, an ...

, first as clerk and from 1844 to 1845 as

Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

. He settled in Austin. One of the few Texan

abolitionists Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies. T ...

, Hamilton fought for Union forces during the American Civil War. During

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

, he was elected by the

Texas Legislature The Texas State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a p ...

to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

as a

Radical Republican The Radical Republicans were a political faction within the Republican Party originating from the party's founding in 1854—some six years before the Civil War—until the Compromise of 1877, which effectively ended Reconstruction. They ca ...

. While in Congress, Hamilton voted for the

Ku Klux Klan Act The Enforcement Act of 1871 (), also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, Third Enforcement Act, Third Ku Klux Klan Act, Civil Rights Act of 1871, or Force Act of 1871, is an Act of the United States Congress that was intended to combat the paramilit ...

, but against the

Civil Rights Act of 1875 The Civil Rights Act of 1875, sometimes called the Enforcement Act or the Force Act, was a United States federal law enacted during the Reconstruction era in response to civil rights violations against African Americans. The bill was passed by the ...

. He is buried in the Oakwood Cemetery in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

References

External links

Biographic sketch at U.S. Congress website
* 1809 births 1893 deaths People from Madison County, Alabama Republican Party United States senators from Texas Liberal Republican Party United States senators from Texas Texas Liberal Republicans American abolitionists People of Texas in the American Civil War Southern Unionists in the American Civil War Burials at Oakwood Cemetery (Austin, Texas) 19th-century United States senators {{Texas-politician-stub