In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Steinbeck Studies 15.2 (2004) 169-174


[Access article in PDF]

California Connections

Carol Robles

The Hamilton Family

Interest in Steinbeck's mother's family, the Hamiltons, was renewed when Oprah Winfrey selected East of Eden as her first classic book club selection. In East of Eden Sam Hamilton is described with great admiration and fondness. Steinbeck's interest in his grandfather Hamilton is noteworthy because John Steinbeck was only two when Sam Hamilton died. Steinbeck continued his interest in Sam and his family after completion of East of Eden. In 1952 John and Elaine traveled to Ireland in hopes of locating the Hamilton farm in Mulkeraugh, near Ballykelly, in northern Ireland, a trip described in a short piece for Colliers, "I Go Back to Ireland" (31 January 1953: 48-50)

When Was Sam Hamilton Born in Ireland?

Sam Hamilton's headstone indicates that he was born in 1831. However, Irish historian Brian Mitchell states that Sam Hamilton was born 7 October 1830 ("John Steinbeck's Irish Roots"). In another article published in Irish Roots magazine in 2001, Mitchell indicates that Sam Hamilton was born 10 July 1829. Although 10/7 and 7/10 are day and month reversals, there is still the issue of the year. Was Sam Hamilton born in 1829, 1830, or 1831?

A day spent in the Family Resource Center in Menlo Park, California, provided a wealth of information, including yet another article by Brian Mitchell, "The Ulster-Scot e-newsletter" (December 2003), which lists Sam Hamilton's birth date as 7 October 1830. Perhaps the difference between Brian Mitchell's research in the Ballykelly Presbyterian Church records and the [End Page 169] headstone date can be explained when we take into consideration that Mr. Hamilton died 4 March 1904, six months before his 1904 birthday. (The headstone of Olive Hamilton Steinbeck, John's mother, is similarly inaccurate, citing 1867 as her birth date when she was actually born 11 December 1866. She died 19 February 1934, ten months before she would have celebrated her 1934 birthday. It seems that someone simply asked how old the person was and subtracted that from the current date, failing to take into consideration that the person had not yet had a birthday in that particular year.)


Click for larger view		 Figure 1
Elizabeth and Samuel Hamilton, John's maternal grandparents.

Elizabeth Hamilton

Elizabeth Fagan (Fagen), Sam's wife and John Steinbeck's grandmother, was born in New York in 1831 according to her headstone. Researchers have assumed that her parents were from Ireland, but on the 1880 Census record her father's birthplace is listed as Scotland and her mother's as Ireland. Elizabeth and Sam Hamilton were married in 1849 in New York and moved to California a couple of years later.

Hamilton Children

Sam and Elizabeth had ten children; their first child, a son, died in New York before they moved west.

Their first daughter, Lizzie, was also born in New York and moved to San Jose, California, with her parents. Lizzie was reportedly a teacher in the first private girl's school in Salinas in 1872. She later married J.P. Farrell and lived in Los Angeles.

Thomas Scott was born in San Jose, California in 1855, and he remained on the King City ranch as an adult to help the [End Page 170] family. He never married. Five years after his sister Dessie's death, Tom committed suicide. The 22 August 1912 King City newspaper, The Rustler, reported that T.S. Hamilton's body had been found on San Lucas Road with a gunshot wound behind the lobe of his right ear. Tom's obituary describes him as "a typical country gentleman; thoroughly well informed on all subjects, liberal in his views, a fine conversationalist, of a most social disposition, and greatly liked by a large circle of acquaintances. It appears he had suffered spells of depression recently, and his rash act was probably due to temporary aberration induced by one of these spells."

Following Tom's death the King City ranch was sold. The deed, dated 26 November 1912, is signed by Elizabeth Hamilton and by...

pdf

Share