century association biographical archive

Earliest Members of the Century Association

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William Gaston Hamilton

Transportation Engineer

Centurion, 1863–1913

Born 15 September 1832 in New York (Manhattan), New York

Died 23 January 1913 in New York (Manhattan), New York

Buried Gates of Praise Cemetery, Ramapo, New York

Proposed by Henry L. Pierson and Gilbert M. Speir

Elected 2 May 1863 at age thirty

Archivist’s Note: Grandson of (nonmember) Alexander Hamilton

Proposer of:

Seconder of:

Century Memorial

William Gaston Hamilton, a grandson of Alexander Hamilton, was prominent for half a century in the social, business, and philanthropic world of New York. On his mother’s side, he came of distinguished Dutch stock. He was an eminent engineer and a sagacious man of business. He early distinguished himself as the designer of the steamship Henry Clay, and he ended his active career as president of Breese, Kneeland & Co., of the Jersey City Locomotive Works, and as the general manager and engineer of the Atlantic & Great Western Railway. After his retirement in 1886, he devoted his abilities to the poor and the unfortunate. He was vice-president and manager of the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, a manager of the House of Refuge on Randall’s Island, of the New York Blind Asylum, and of a number of hospitals.

Henry Osborn Taylor
1914 Century Association Yearbook