Henry Hamilton drawings of North American scenes and Native Americans
Overview
Henry Hamilton's drawings of Native Americans and North American scenes, sketched during his military service in North America.
Dates
- Creation: circa 1769-1784
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.
Conditions Governing Use
Images linked to this finding aid are intended for public access and educational use. This material is owned and/or held by the Houghton Library, and is provided solely for the purpose of teaching or individual research. Any other use, including commercial reuse, mounting on other systems, or other forms of redistribution requires the permission of the curator.
Extent
.5 linear feet (39 drawings in 2 boxes)The portrait drawings of Native Americans have been called the "earliest and largest collection of life portraits of Native Americans of the Upper Great Lakes."(Walsh) The drawings of Native Americans were probably "executed between late autumn of 1775 and the late summer of 1778, drawn at Hamilton's Detroit headquarters where he dealt extensively with the leadership of the various Great Lakes nations."
Through Hamilton's annotated drawings as well as his manuscript journals, "a positive evaluation of Native American character and culture emerges which contradicts the stereotype of the imperious British officer. He maintained a healthy curiosity and strove for an objective, scientific view of the alien culture. Nowhere is this better seen than in his unofficial recordings of Native American life and character and especially in this collection of portrait drawings. The portraits, however, are not mentioned in Hamilton's most detailed document, his Journal for 1778-79, the period of Clark's conquest of Illinois country." (Walsh)
Biographical / Historical
Hamilton's father was Henry Hamilton (1692-1743), MP for Donegal, County Cork, Ireland. Henry Hamilton was born in Dublin, Ireland circa 1734 as the fourth of seven children. He spent his youth in Cork and was commissioned into the 15th Regiment of Foot in the British Army. He earned distinction in the British victories at the battles of Louisburg and Quebec in the French and Indian War.
Hamilton was the British Lieutenant-Governor at Detroit from 1775-1778 and was the man responsible for implementing British Indian policy in the Old Northwest during the American Revolution. He was called the "Hair-Buyer General" by his adversary George Rogers Clark, referring to Hamilton's alleged practice of offering bounties for American scalps, but many historians have since dispelled much of this legend. In August of 1778, Hamilton learned that the Virginians under Colonel George Rogers Clark were descending the Ohio River to invade Illinois country to occupy posts there, including Vincennes on the Wabash River. Hamilton mounted an expedition to counterattack and drive the Virginians from Vincennes. He set out in September and October via the Maumee and Wabash Rivers but by February 1779 Clark retook Vincennes and took Hamilton prisoner. Hamilton was taken by the Americans to Williamsburg, Virginia and held in jail until parole was arranged in October of 1780. He was then taken to New York where he was exchanged for an American prisoner in March of 1781 and he arrived in London in June.
Hamilton was sent back to Quebec from 1782 to 1785 as Lieutenant-Governor and later Deputy-Governor. He was Lieutenant-Governor, then Governor of Bermuda from 1785-1794, and Governor of the Dominica from 1794-1796. In March of 1795, at the age of 61, Hamilton married Elizabeth Lee (25 years old), daughter of Colonel Lee of Banbury, Oxfordshire. They had only one child, Mary Anne Pierpoint Hamilton, who died unmarried on 1871 Dec. 12. Hamilton died in 1796 at Antigua while still holding office.
Arrangement
Arranged into the following series:
- I. Drawings of North American Native Americans
- II. Drawings of North American scenes
Physical Location
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Custodial History
Hamilton's older brother was Sackville Hamilton, a Privy Councillor and Chief Secretary for Ireland. It was this brother's great-granddaughter, Caroline Isabella Hamilton Rice, who donated the Hamilton material to Harvard.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
2001M-11. Caroline Isabella Hamilton Rice, of Grange Erin, County Cork, Ireland; received: 1902 March 28.
Bibliography
- Martin W. Walsh. "The Native American Sketches of Henry Hamilton." Michigan History Magazine, May-June 1997, pp21-27; and
- Brian Leigh Dunnigan. Frontier Metropolis: Picturing Early Detroit, 1701-1838. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2001.
Processing Information
Processed by: Bonnie B. Salt with the assistance of Tom Ford
- Title
- Hamilton, Henry, -1796. Henry Hamilton drawings of North American scenes and Native Americans, circa 1769-1784 (MS Eng 509.2): Guide.
- Status
- completed
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou00125
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
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