Here is a stereographic image, taken by A.C. Platt around 1880, of William Hamilton and his bookstore in downtown
According to the historical records of Kurt Boker, housed at the Sandusky Library Archives research
Center, William Hamilton was born in Ireland to Samuel and Eliza
Hamilton. The family emigrated from Ireland
to the U.S. in 1851, and
resided at Kelleys
Island in 1870. In 1878,
he married Julia E. Pool, the daughter of former collector of
customs, John G. Pool. They had a
family of three daughters. By 1900 William Hamilton no longer ran the bookstore
in Sandusky ,
and he was working as an insurance agent. On April 7, 1907, he died at his Decatur Street
in Sandusky , following
a lengthy illness. His obituary, which appeared in the April 8, 1907 issue of
the Sandusky Register, reported that
during the Civil War, William Hamilton had served as the clerk of the steamer Island Queen,
during the unsuccessful attempt to free prisoners at Johnson’s Island . He had worked on other Great
Lakes vessels as well.
To read more about the plot to free prisoners at Johnson’s Island during the Civil War, see Rebels on Lake Erie, by
Charles E. Frohman, housed with the local history books at the Sandusky
Library.
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