Charles Henry Hamilton was born 22 June 1872 in Ellabell, Bryan County, Georgia. He is the son of Henry Leland Hamilton, of Middlefield, Massachusetts, and Cynthia Kennedy Hamilton of Pembroke, Bryan County, Georgia. Charles Henry is the third child of ten children. He has six brothers and three sisters.
Bryan County Georgia
Ellabell is an unincorporated community in Byan County, Georgia. It’s history dates back to before General Sherman. After the Civil War, they tried to make Ellabell an Incorporated City but the state said that there were too many big land owners. It remains one of the few unincorporated communities in Georgia.
Bryan County is just north and west of Savannah. The area was considered one of the most prolific rice-growing areas on the south Atlantic coast. Three million pounds of rice were shipped from the Bryan County plantations a year. The Savannah-Ogeechee Canal was the direct market link to Savannah.
The railroad was completed through the lower end of Bryan County in 1856 and became a target of General Sherman during Civil war.
Henry Ford bought a home in Bryan County, Richmond Hill Plantation, in the 1920s. He provided health care and educational opportunities for many county residents.
Marriage One
Charles and Dellie Lee Parrish (of Dayton Ohio) were married 23 June 1898 in Statesboro, Bullock County, Georgia. They were later divorced.
Marriage Two
Charles married Ella Hodges on 14 July 1918 in Effingham County, Georgia. He was 46 years old and she was 16. Charles was a traveling sales person and had befriended Alma and her husband, who was Ella’s oldest sister. Ella was living with Alma and her husband and at that time. The living arrangements were difficult because times were hard and they could not afford to have Ella live at their home. Alma encouraged the relationship because Charles was handsome, a gentleman, and was established. He could provide a good home for Ella. When Charles was 74 and Ella was about 44, they agreed to divorce. Later, she mentioned she regretted making that decision.
Marriage Three
In his old age, Pearl Bowen became Charles’ third wife and they resided in Savannah until his death in 1964. They had no children.
Children
Charles and Della Lee had two sons: Harry L Hamilton (1899 – 1984) and Irby Charles Hamilton (1909 – 1967)
Charles and Ella had three children: Evelyn Louise (1920 – 2010), Earl Hodges (1924- 2005) and Myron Leon (1927 – 1995).
Occupation
For most of Charles’ life, he was a salesman. He sold, door to door, everything from medicines to insurance. After he married Ella, he move from job to job until his brother, Clarence found him a job, as an agent at US Customs office, in Savannah, where he remained employed until his retirement in 1940. He had a small pension that sustained them after he left the customs office.
Interests
Church
Death
Charles Henry Hamilton passed away in the hospital on 18 May 1964 in Savannah, Chatham, Georgia. He was 92 years of age. (He was 88 years old when this photo was taken.)
Click on Charles Hamilton for PDF for information on his passing and funeral arrangements that were sent by fax to his daughter, Evelyn from her cousin Evelyn.
The following is a letter sent to his daughter Evelyn from Pearl just prior to his death.
Death Certificate and Burial
Charles is buried at the Lower Back Creek Cemetery in Ellabell, Bryan County Georgia, next to his father and mother, several brothers and one sister.
Stories
My Earliest Memory of Grandpa Charles Henry Hamilton – Kathy Griffiths – Click Here.