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The son of a Scottish immigrant, Hamilton was born 1832 in Le Roy and grew up on a farm. After a brief time spent as a teacher in the upper midwest, Hamilton returned to Caledonia, married Jane Vallance, and had five children. Hamilton was a leading…

Headline from the weekly Caledonia "Advertiser" describes a major fire that destroyed much of the village's commercial district and the Moss House hotel in 1891. The story goes on to enumerate some of what was lost: "The fire cleaned out two…