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

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

and Texas, and brother of

Andrew Jackson Hamilton Andrew Jackson Hamilton (January 28, 1815 – April 11, 1875) was an American politician during the third quarter of the 19th century. He was a lawyer, state representative, military governor of Texas, as well as the 11th Governor of Texas during ...

. Both men were unusual as Unionists in Texas during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

Early life and education

Morgan Calvin Hamilton was born in

Madison County, Alabama Madison County is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 388,153, making it the third-most populous county in Alabama. Its county seat is Huntsville. Since the mid-20th cen ...

near Huntsville. His siblings included

. He moved to Texas when it was still part of Mexico and worked there as a merchant. For six years, 1839–45, he served in the war department of the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from M ...

, first as clerk and in 1844–45 as secretary of war. He settled in Austin. One of the few Texan

abolitionists Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

, Hamilton fought for Union forces in the 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 Unio ...

, he was elected by the Texas state legislature to the US Senate as a

Radical Republican The Radical Republicans (later also known as "Stalwarts") were a faction within the Republican Party, originating from the party's founding in 1854, some 6 years before the Civil War, until the Compromise of 1877, which effectively ended Reco ...

. He is buried in the Oakwood Cemetery in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

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 Republicans Texas Liberal Republicans 19th-century American politicians American abolitionists People of Texas in the American Civil War Southern Unionists in the American Civil War Burials at Oakwood Cemetery (Austin, Texas) {{Texas-politician-stub