Robert Hamilton – Died on Thursday, September 12, 1856, at his residence in Hanging Rock, of dysentery; Robert Hamilton, long known as the proprietor of Pine Grove Furnace and one of the most known iron men of Lawrence county, in the 61st year of his age. Mr. Hamilton was born Nov. 28, 1795, in Fayette Co., Pa.
In early life, he was removed to Adams Co., Ohio, and was a clerk at Brush Creek Furnace for several years. In the Fall of 1827, he made explorations in Lawrence county to build a Furnace.
During the year 1828, in company with Andrew Ellison, Sr., and Andrew Ellison, Jr., built Pine Grove Furnace under the firm of “Ellison and Hamilton, ” according to the Journal: “Fired Pine Grove Furnace, January 1, 1829, and Blowed Jan. 13, 1829.”
Union Furnace and Franklin were built a year or two previous, Pine Grove being the third built in the Iron Region of Ohio.
Presbyterian banner & advocate., October 11, 1856, Image 2
Exemplary Beneficence and Christian Conduct
The late Robert Hamilton, a native of Fayette County, Pa., but long a resident of Lawrence County, Ohio, and one of its most prominent ironmen, who died at Hanging Rock, Ohio, on the 11th of September, made the following bequests: to the Presbyterian church of Hanging Rock, five thousand dollars, together with a house and lot for Parsonage; to the town of Hanging Rock, a schoolhouse; to the American Home Missionary Society, five thousand dollars; to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, five thousand dollars; to the American Bible Society, five thousand dollars; to Lane Theological Seminary, six thousand dollars; to Jefferson College, Pa. five thousand dollars.
Mr. Hamilton was the son of pious parents and eminently a religious man. But there is one feature of his character to which we wish to call special attention in these days of Sabbath desecration and when so many attempts are made to apologize for the misuse of sacred time. Is not the conduct of Mr. Hamilton worthy of imitation on the part of many engaged in similar pursuits among our readers? It is a fearful thing for anyone to appropriate to the use that God claims for himself.
The following notice, which we clip from the “Ironton Register,” fully sets forth the Christian integrity of Mr. Hamilton in this matter, and the beneficial effects resulting from it. When he left home in early life, the parting counsel of his father was—” My son, beware of the tempter; remember the Sabbath; honor God.” This advice seems to have never been forgotten.
“About 1828, he came to Lawrence County and became a partner in building and. running Pine Grove Furnace. It is now probably fifteen years since he became convinced that if iron is an article given by the Creator for the use of man and necessary for his convenience and comfort, it could be made without trampling on one of the clear and express commands of God.
“As far as is known, the experiment of stopping a furnace regularly on the Sabbath had never been tried on this continent; or if it had been tried, it had failed. The subject had occupied his mind for years and weighed on his heart. When he obtained the entire control of Pine Grove Furnace, strong in his convictions that iron could be made and keep the Sabbath, he determined to put his convictions and plans, which had been years in ripening, into practice. If he succeeded, it would settle an important subject. If he failed so that his furnace became entirely chilled, it might cost him many thousand dollars.
“Apart from the difficulties inseparable from the experiment, which were to be overcome, and his want of experience in stopping, there were great prejudices among his men and the furnace owners around him against stopping on the Sabbath. But cordially seconded and aided by the judicious and faithful manager, who never failed for two years to be present and superintend the weekly closing and opening of the furnace, difficulty after difficulty gave away. Obstacles were surmounted until the experiment was entirely successful. Pine Grove has never run on the Sabbath for about twelve years.
“Thus Mr. Hamilton succeeded in clearly, and forever demonstrating, for the first time to the furnace owners of the country, and by a successful experiment, that iron could be made and keep the Sabbath day. And while all around him were heard on the Sabbath, the roar of the powerful blast and the puff of the driving steam, Pine Grove stood there alone, year after year, silent on the Sabbath; its people regularly assembled on that day to worship God; order, sobriety, and religion: growing under the life-altering influence.
“His furnace stood alone for years, a silent and unanswerable argument and reproof to all its neighboring furnaces, that there was no necessity of breaking the Sabbath. In the course of five or six years, one and then another began to approve, fall in with his example, and stop their furnaces on the Sabbath. Now there are twenty-six Sabbath-keeping furnaces in this vicinity, and no man of Christian principle thinks of running his furnace on the Sabbath.”
The following was taken from the Ironton Register on Sept. 18, 1856:
Mr. Robert Hamilton was one of the founders and original members of the Church of Hanging Rock and Pine Grove and was elected a ______ elder in its first organization. he provided many qualities of an excellent elder. He filled the office with great acceptance of the Church.
To give a brief estimate of his character, I should say,
1. He was naturally father, diffident and caring, he loved retirement and home, and his domestic virtues were always apparent at his home;
2. He was modest and understanding. He had no fondness for parades or shows. If he were ever surrounded by it, it had caught him and _______ _____.
3. He was meek and humble. The childlike simplicity of his character was manifest everywhere. Large p________ did not open to lifting him. He was one of the few whom riches did not exalt nor injure.
4. He was prompt, diligent, and ever-reliable in business. None could impeach his integrity. Of the many thousands he has had in his employ, no one was ever heard to complain of him.
5. His judgment was bound. If he had not the gift of instant penetration, he had what was far better, the faculty of calmly weighing and discriminating the opinions of others. When their views and plans were proposed, none had better judgment about what to adopt and reject.
6. He was amiable, kind, and benevolent. Amiable in his social and business intercourse, kind to the sick, and benevolent to the poor. He loved every good cause, and no good cause ever appealed to him in vain; something was always bestowed.
7. He was a decided Christian. This is the true key to his whole character. Every virtue he possessed by nature was strengthened and polished by religion. His religion was the religion of principle, and from his principles, neither the opposition of neighbors, the ridicule of the wicked, nor the power of self-interest could ever swerve him. And most of his large property was accumulated after. In obedience to his Christian principles and convictions, he had ceased to run his Furnace on the Sabbath.
His death was as peaceful and triumphant as his Christian life had been sincere and consistent. He honored God in his life and in his death. For some weeks, he had not been as well as _____ but apprehended no serious sickness until the Sabbath before his death. From that time, he felt he should not recover and began to set his house for his departure. He said, “I can leave the event with God. My trust is in him. He knows what is best for me and will order everything right and well.”
At his request, all present bowed around his bed several times in prayer. He appeared to have his senses to the last, while the weakness of dissolving nature could manifest any consciousness. He seemed anxious to say many things that his feebleness could not utter. He gradually but rapidly sank away into the arms of death and, peaceful as a summer evening, fell asleep in Jesus and was conducted by waiting angels, through the skies, to that rest that remaineth for the people of God.
So he died. Good man! Thou hast fulfilled life’s great end. Thy work is done. But we shall miss thee. Thy children shall miss thee. This church will miss thee. Thy neighbors will miss thee. All of us will miss thee. But our love is thy everlasting gain. “Help Lord, for the Godly men ceaseth, for the faithful fall from among the children of men. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labors, and their works follow them.”
L. KELSEY. Hanging Rock, Sept. 15, 1856
NOTE: Differences in two Robert B. Hamilton’s
Description: The above article about Robert Hamilton (1795-1856) does not have a “B” in his name.
Another Robert B. (Berkeley) Hamilton is interred at Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio. (Sec. 75 Lot 14) and was married to Eliza Jane Donaldson, buried in Spring Grove Cemetery.
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