Alexander Hamilton and Bequia Fort

Editor: In your edition of Friday, September 23, 2016, you published an article under the caption Bequia fort named in honour of Alexander Hamilton by Michael Gibson. In this piece, the writer asserts: “The name Fort Hamilton was given to the area in honour of Alexander Hamilton, the son of James Hamilton, who had acquired lands in the eastern side of the island, today known as Friendship Bay.”{{more}} I would like the writer to indicate the source of this assertion. I would like the writer to tell us what primary evidence exists to confirm “The name Fort Hamilton was given to the area in honour of Alexander Hamilton,” or is this simply an oral tradition?

The writer also asserted: “James and his family lived on the island of Nevis, where Alexander was born, but the family migrated to St Croix and lived there for a while. After Alexander’s mother died, James moved to St Vincent and sometime after, Alexander migrated to New York to study law.” This statement is consistent with what I have found. In fact, in a forthcoming publication, I have argued in part as follows: “While there is no evidence to show that Alexander visited Bequia, it is well established that his father James, a merchant, resided there between 1774 and 1799. James, who wrote a letter from St Vincent to Alexander in 1793 referring to the dangers created by the Napoleonic war, was most definitely on Bequia in 1774 and died on mainland St Vincent in June 1799 (See Cissel 2004:5; Allan McLane Hamilton 1910:5; Ramsing 1939:238).”

Cleve McD Scott, PhD

Historian