OBITUARY ADDRESSES ON THE OCCASION OF THE DEATH OF GENERAL JAMES HAMILTON, OF SOUTH CAROLINA, DELIVERED IN THE SUPREME COURT, SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF TEXAS

Austin: Printed by John Marshall & Co., State Printers, 1857. 32pp, disbound. Persistent spot to bottom blank margin of pages 13-32. Good+.

This scarce pamphlet reviews Hamilton's extremely interesting and unusual career. He became Governor of South Carolina during the Nullification Crisis. As a staunch, indeed "almost fanatical" [DAB] anti-tariff man, he had sought to put into practice Calhoun's Doctrine of Interposition ever since passage of the hated Tariff of 1828. Earlier, as "intendant" of Charleston, he had put down the Denmark Vesey Rebellion. Hamilton became an enthusiast for Texan independence, was offered command of its army in 1835, and secured its recognition by France and the Netherlands. He moved to Texas in 1855, having received a large land grant.
In 1857, Hamilton was a passenger on the steamship Opelousas, traveling from New Orleans to Galveston. There was a collision in the Gulf of Mexico. "Hamilton gave his life preserver to a woman for her child. His right arm was injured and he clung for a little while to a hatch cover with his left hand, then slipped off into the water and disappeared from view" [DAB].
Louis Wigfall's eulogy, printed here: "Scrupulously careful of the manner of his life, he was daringly indifferent as to the moment of his death. Daringly and generously indifferent-- 'Save yourself and the child,' he exclaimed, and submitted himself to the care of Him in whose hands are the winds and the waves."
FIRST EDITION. Winkler 924. Not in Eberstadt, Decker, Soliday. OCLC 228703190 [1- Huntington], 15798713 [5- Yale, Harvard, Baylor, SMU, UT] as of July 2021.