Meet Alexander Hamilton

My search began with one name: Alexander Hamilton. As I searched my mind for every scrap of knowledge about the man, I realized that if I wanted to consider this project a success, I'd have to do a lot more digging around than initially thought.

My basic knowledge was narrowed down to a few stray facts: Alex was my grandmother's father on my dad's side; he lived in Beaver, Utah; he opened the first bank in Beaver; and his first wife, Mittie, was a Christian Scientist and died in a diabetic coma because of her firm beliefs. Other than these few facts, I was completely lost as to who this man was. So, I began my sporadic search for information with a phone call to my grandmother, Barbara Gempeler.

I was able to gain a few more facts during this brief interview. Alexander Hamilton's full name was actually Alexander Ramley Reed Hamilton, and he was born in Wales. According to my grandmother, Alex became an orphan at a very young age and was brought to America (via Ellis Island) by his aunt. He then lived with his aunt in Beaver, Utah. Due to Alex's parents' deaths at a very young age, my grandmother didn't know much about them. However, these basic facts were a great help in giving me a better idea of how to go about continuing my research.