Early Career.

Andrew Hamilton, although well known in his own day, left little information about his early life. He was born in Scotland around 1676 and for some reason changed his last name from Trent to Hamilton. He came to America in 1697, opening a classical school in Accomac County, Virginia, and acting as a plantation steward. In 1706 he married the estate owner's widow, and two years later he bought six thousand acres in Maryland. He opened a law practice in Chestertown and was elected a member of the colonial assembly.

Philadelphia.

In 1715 Hamilton arrived in Philadelphia after having spent some time in England, where he was admitted to Gray's Inn, one of the Inns of Court. In 1717 he was appointed attorney general of Pennsylvania. A close friend of the Penn family, the proprietors of the colony, he acted as their agent from 1724 to 1726. His...