John Francis Hamtramck was an American soldier, judge and statesman. He was mayor of Shepherdstown from 1850 to 1854.
Background
John Hamtramck was born on April 19, 1798, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States. His father, Colonel John Francis Hamtramck, although of Canadian birth, had served as captain of a New York company in the American Revolution and later, as a lieutenant-colonel commanding the left wing of Wayne’s army, he had taken a conspicuous part in the battle of Fallen Timbers (1794); his mother was Rebecca Mackenzie, a sister of Sir Alexander Mackenzie. Upon the death of his father at Detroit in 1803, young John Francis was left under the guardianship of William Henry Harrison, at that time governor of Indiana Territory.
Education
John was graduated from West Point in 1819.
Career
Youthful as he was, John Hamtramck took part in the War of 1812, serving as sergeant in the 16t Infantry on the expedition led by Zachary Taylor up the Mississippi River. At the close of the war, he was appointed to West Point, through the influence of Harrison and of his step-father, J. B. Thomas, later senator from Illinois.
In 1819, Hamtramck received his commission as second lieutenant of artillery and was stationed at Fort McHenry. He resigned his commission in 1822, apparently as a result of being transferred to a different artillery corps. In 1826 President John Quincy Adams appointed him agent for the Osage Indians. Removing to St. Louis, he continued in his duties as Indian agent until 1831, when he resigned and settled down as a planter near Shepherdstown, Virginia, the home of his wife. For the next fifteen years he pursued the career of a planter, the quietness of his life being accentuated rather than interrupted by the captaincy of the county militia.
The even tenor of this existence was brought to an end by the war with Mexico. In recognition both of Hamtramck’s past military record and his present civilian importance, on the last day of 1846 Governor Smith appointed him colonel of the 16t Virginia Regiment of Volunteers. He joined Taylor’s army in Mexico. In June 1848 he was mustered out of service and returned to his home in Shepherdstown. He was mayor of the town from 1850 to 1854 and for the last four years previous to his death, was a justice of the Jefferson County Court.
Achievements
Connections
Hamtramck was married three times. His first wife was a Miss Williamson of Maryland. After her death he married Ellen Selby of Shepherdstown, and upon her death married her sister Sarah. There were children by each of these marriages. Selby Mackenzie Hamtramck, a son of the third marriage, served in the Confederate army and died in prison at Fort Delaware.