The "BEHIND the NAME" The Story of Hamilton Watch Co." Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading an old Sunday News and...the headline told it all;  BEHIND THE NAME!.  The two part story was about one of Lancaster's most famous businesses...Hamilton Watch Company.  I have written several stories about Hamilton Watch where my mother worked before meeting my father and getting married.  Hamilton Watch was named in 1892 in honor of James Hamilton, the son of one of Lancaster's founders, Andrew Hamilton.  The new company initially chose the name Columbian Watch Company, but learned that "Columbian" was a trademark held by another watchmaker, so they opted for the Hamilton name.  Today it is said that it was an unfortunate decision.  Like his father, James Hamilton owned enslaved Blacks.  There is no evidence that the company meant to honor this aspect of his character or was even aware of it.  Still, our city's founders were not as noble as popular history might indicate.  Andrew Hamilton was a famed Philadelphia lawyer and was the hero of the 1735 trial of printer and journalist John Peter Zenger  in which he helped establish truth as a defense to a libel claim.  His son James head a career as a lawyer, businessman and politician, serving as Philadelphia mayor and deputy governor.  In 1741 James inherited several Black people from his father.  And, there is no evidence that he ever freed them or their offspring.  James did have the opportunity to support independence for his slaves, but didn't.  Slave owner, supporter of royalty and we honored him.  Why?  I guess we will never know!  But, it was decided, for some strange reason, that the new company should be named after him.  If the watch company owners would have named the factory after the original owners of the land, Indiana Jones would have been sporting a "stylish" Conestoga Watch, rather than a Hamilton.  James Hamilton was actually quite far down the line of title from the original grant to William Penn.  Actually, the land should have belonged to the Native Americans who had owned and lived on the land until the arrival of the English!  

At that time in history, the number of enslaved blacks in Lancaster was relatively small, but the indelible stain of the "peculiar institution" has never seemed to have disappeared, even today, believe it or not!  Today, the Hamilton Watch Company no longer fills the many buildings along Columbia Pike.  It is now known as Hamilton Park and supplies housing for many families in the city of Lancaster.