Alexander Hamilton papers

Alexander Hamilton, born in Mauchline, Ayrshire, Scotland to John and Jacobina Young Hamilton, worked as a tobacco merchant in Port Tobacco and Piscataway, Maryland for Glasgow, Scotland-based trading firms. He served several firms operated by the “Tobacco Lords” of Glasgow, including those of James Brown, John Brown, and John Glassford, for which he purchased tobacco from Maryland growers to be sold across Europe. Glasgow became a major trade hub with the Americas, because of its location on the River Clyde and the trade winds blowing off the Atlantic Ocean, which allowed ships to reach the city quicker than other ports in Europe.

The Revolutionary War disrupted tobacco trade for both growers and purchasers, but Hamilton was able to negotiate the rough waters for James Brown and Co. He had his employees enlist in the militia and pledge allegiance to the colonies. Hamilton, himself, however, did not, in case the British were victorious. After the war, he continued to work in Prince George’s County for James Brown and Co. He died in 1799.