Washington District of Columbia
Biographies

Paul Hamilton
1762 - 1816
Furnished by : John Sharp

Photo from : Naval Historical Center, Department of Navy Portrait of Paul Hamilton Secretary of the Navy

Paul Hamilton was born in Saint Paul's Parish, South Carolina, on 16 October 1762. During the American War of Independence he served actively in military roles in the southern states. Following the war, he was a planter and public figure; being elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1787, to the state Senate in 1794 and to the office of state Governor in 1804. The 1790 census for South Carolina reflects that Paul Hamilton owned 47 slaves although as state governor he opposed the legalization of the African slave trade. In 1809, President James Madison selected Governor Hamilton to become the Nation's third Secretary of the Navy. His term in office included the first months of the War of 1812, during which time the small United States Navy achieved several remarkable victories over British warships. Hamilton quickly gained the reputation as a hard and demanding boss in private correspondence he expressed his reservations regarding Washington Navy Yard and referred to the Yard as ’the Sink”. Secretary Hamilton resigned at the end of 1812 and returned to South Carolina, where he died on 30 June 1816.

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