The Dictionary of Virginia Biography is published online through a partnership with Encyclopedia Virginia. Biographies that do not also appear in the three print volumes (surnames Aaroe�Daniels) link to lists of sources consulted.
Sources consulted for the biography of:Ross Hamilton (ca. 1843–1901)
Primary Sources
- United States Census Schedules, Mecklenburg Co., 1870 (age thirty-one), 1880 (age thirty-nine; wife identified as Martha), District of Columbia, 1900 (born Jan. 1843), Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.
- Poll Book, 3d District, Mecklenburg County, Military Rule Election Records, Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1867, 1869, Record Group 13, Library of Virginia.
- Identified as "Poss White alias Hamilton" in Charlotte Co. Order Book, 37:141, as "Posse White alias Hamilton" in Richmond Daily Dispatch, June 23, 1869, and as "Ross Hamilton" in Alexandria Gazette, June 24, 1869.
- Second marriage in Marriage License, District of Columbia Record Book 20, 228, Washington, D.C. Records Office.
- Family data, two letters, and estate records in Bettie Hamilton Smith et al. v. Administrator of Ross Hamilton, Mecklenburg Co. Chancery Causes, 1906-009, Library of Virginia.
- Property transactions documented in Mecklenburg County Deed Books 38–64, esp. 38:256–257, 40: 221–223, 434–435, 48:149, 151, 281, 51:173–175, 259–260, 53:62–63, 63:285–286, and 64:83–84, 561–564.
- Property ownership documented in Ross Hamilton, Trustee of Mary Beard Farrar v. Administrator of James Beard et al., Mecklenburg Co. Chancery Cause 1876-025, and in Ross Hamilton v. Administrator of Lewis Thompson, Mecklenburg Co. Chancery Cause., 1887-013, both Library of Virginia.
- Death at age fifty-eight on May 2, 1901, in District of Columbia Death Certificate, Washington, D.C. Health Department.
Secondary Sources
- Luther Porter Jackson, Negro Office-Holders in Virginia, 1865–1895 (1945), vi (portrait), 19.
- Harold S. Forsythe, "'But My Friends Are Poor': Ross Hamilton and Freedpeople's Politics in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, 1869–1901," Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 105 (1997): 409–438 (family portrait on 410).
Political Career
- Secretary of the Commonwealth, Election Records, 1776–1941, Nos. 3 (1870), 4 (1871), 6 (1873), 10 (1875), 13 (1877), 17 (1881), 31 (1889), State Government Records Collection, Record Group 13, Library of Virginia.
- Journals of the House of Delegates of the State of Virginia (1869–1870 sess.), 502, 1871–1872 sess., 33, 1874 sess., 41, 1875–1876 sess., 50, 1876 sess., 29, 1877–1878 sess., 34, 1879–1880 sess., 30, 1881–1882 sess., 30, 31, 168, 310 (quotation), 1882 extra sess., 110, 1889–1890 sess., 41, 42, 115–119 (election challenge).
- Correspondence in William Mahone Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University, Durham, N.C.
- Washington Post, Oct. 5, 1892.
- Richmond Dispatch, July 18, 1894; Nov. 8, 1898.
- Norfolk Virginian, Oct. 24, 1895.
- Washington, D.C., Evening Star, Oct. 14, 1898.
Obituaries
- Washington, D.C., Evening Star, May 3, 1901.
- Alexandria Gazette, May 4, 1901 (with erroneous report "died yesterday").
- Richmond Times, May 5, 1901 (with erroneous death date of May 3, 1901).
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