HON. JOHN ROBERT HAMILTON, one of the most valuable members of theIlli nois State Senate, having represented the Thirty-fourthSenatorial Dist rict for twenty years, is a resident of Mattoon. Hehas long been promi nent in the political and commercial life of ColesCounty. His business i s that of a whole sale and retail coalmerchant.
Senator Hamilton was born in Coles County, son of James and Margaret(H oskins) Hamilton. The Hamilton family is of Scotch ancestry andcame to A merica in Colonial times. His grandfather, John Hamilton,came to Illin ois from Ohio, but later returned to Ohio, where helived out his life. J ames Hamilton was born in Adams County, Ohio,grew up there, and as a y oung man settled in Coles County, Illinois.He was a school teacher and f armer, was a sergeant in the One Hundredand Thirtieth Illinois Regimen t in the Civil war, and in later yearsa prominent member of the Grand A rmy of the Republic. He was one ofthe leading figures in the Republica n party organization and for twoterms was sheriff of Coles County. He w as a member of the IndependentOrder of Odd Fellows and the Baptist Chu rch. The mother of SenatorHamilton was born in Morgan County, Illinois , Her father LowryHoskins, was a native of Virginia, moved west to Ken tucky and then toIllinois.
John R. Hamilton was educated in common schools and business college,f or a short time was associated with his father on the farm, and thento ok up farming as an independent occupation. He was on the farmuntil 18 88. For over forty years he has been active in countypolitics and has h eld the offices of supervisor, collector andcircuit clerk. He was chos en clerk of the Circuit Court in 1888. Hedeclined nomination for a sec ond term in order to enter business as awholesale and retail coal merc hant. He established yards at bothCharleston and Mattoon. For eight ye ars he was engaged in other linesof business, but then returned to the c ommercial field, in which hehas been most successful through a long pe riod of years.
Senator Hamilton is a man of genial traits, arid both as a businessman a nd public leader has won a high place in the affairs of ColesCounty. H e has been a member of the Illinois State Senate for fiveterms, first e lected from the Thirty-fourth District in 1912. He wasreelected in 191 6, in 1920, 1924 and 1928. During these five terms hehas been a member o f such important committees as agriculture,apportionment, appropriatio ns, chairman of the committee on banks andbuilding and loan associatio ns, member of the civil service,corporations and municipalities, drain age, education, elections,executives, forestry, fish and game, industr ial affairs, insurance,judiciary, license and miscellaneous, arid Linc oln Memorialcommittees. In the present Legislature he has been a membe r of thecommittees on military affairs, parks and playgrounds, public h ealth,railways, highways and transportation, revenue, waterways and Wo rld'sFair. His outstanding work in the Legislature has been in behalf o froad building and education.
Senator Hamilton is a past treasurer of the Knight Templar Commandery,a t hirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner, a past grandof th e Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a past treasurer of the B.P. 0. El ks, member of the Knights of Pythias, Loyal Order of Moose,Improved Or der of Red Men, Rotary Club, Country Club and Chamber ofCommerce.
Senator Hamilton's first wife was Miss Kate Van Deren, of Charleston.S he died January 17, 1917. Later he married Miss Ethel Bussinger, ofMat toon, daughter of William and Auracy (Welicuts) Bussinger. Herfather, a n ative of Wood County, Ohio, came to Illinois in 1893. Forover a quarte r of a century he was a passenger conductor with theIllinois Central R ailway. He died in 1913. He was a member of theOrder of Railway Conduc tors, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,and was a Presbyterian. Her m other was born at Marion, Indiana, andpassed away in 1905.
Mrs. Hamilton is a graduate of the Mattoon High School and of theEaste rn Illinois Teachers College at Charleston, and at the time ofher marr iage she was a teacher in high school. She is active in thesocial and c lub life of her home city, a member of the Woman'sReading Club, the Pr esbyterian Church, and has worked and spoken forthe woman's organizati ons of the Republican party. ("ILLINOIS, TheHeart of the Nation" by Ho n. Edward F. Dunne, Volume IV, 1933,Transcribed by Kim Torp)
