Henry P. Hamilton of Two Rivers Was The Leading American Collector of Native Copper Implements in North America

Henry P. Hamilton, Two Rivers Historical Society

Copper spear points in the Henry P. Hamilton Collection on display at the Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison. Photo by Bob Fay

Henry Pierpont Hamilton of Two Rivers was vice-president of the Hamilton Manufacturing Company wood type business, founded by his brother James E. Hamilton in 1880.

Mr. Hamilton is best known in the state and nation for his collection of Native copper and stone implements, said to be one of the finest and largest in the United States and Canada. Much of Hamilton’s collection of precontact materials was acquired from sites along the Lake Michigan beach and sand dunes between Two Rivers and Two Creeks.

H. P. Hamilton began collecting stone and copper artifacts in 1884 after meeting Frederick S. Perkins of Burlington, Wisconsin, a collector of copper artifacts and student of Wisconsin Indian implements. The hobby of “keeping a cabinet” of archaeological finds was a fashionable and popular pastime during the nineteenth century.

H. P. Hamilton placed ads in Wisconsin, Midwest and Pacific Northwest newspapers asking readers and farmers to “Write and tell me what you have.”

Hamilton amassed his collection by purchasing specimens from area farmers and placing “Indian Relics Wanted” advertisements in Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Washington, Oregon and Idaho newspapers. Readers were asked to “Write and tell me what you have.” Copper relics of all kinds were collected - spear points, knives, crescents, axes, adzes, celts, spuds, chisels, fish hooks, spatulas, bracelets, beads and needles. Also, flint arrows and spears, stone axes, clay pipes and pottery vessels.

As Hamilton’s collection of precontact stone, bone and shell tools and copper implements steadily increased in size and importance, so did his active support of fellow collectors and involvement in the professional archaeological community. Although he had no formal training in archaeology, he became a charter member of the Wisconsin Archeological Society, organized in 1901, served on various Society committees and was one of its vice-presidents at the time of his death. He was also a member of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.

In August of 1912, during the Wisconsin Archeological Society’s state assembly at Manitowoc and Two Rivers, Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton welcomed members to their home to view Henry’s extensive collection of Wisconsin copper and stone implements.

Part of Hamilton’s collection was displayed at the Manitowoc County Fair in 1893 and Wisconsin State Fair in 1905. Specimens were often described and illustrated in archaeological books and journals including The Wisconsin Archeologist, first published in 1901.

Henry was born on April 21, 1862 in Waucousta near Fond du Lac, son of Henry Carter Hamilton and Diantha Jane Smith. Henry married Jessie Lincoln Luse in 1887. They had four children: Walter, Ruth, Edward and Henry.

Active in civic and social affairs, Henry P. Hamilton was a charter member of the Joseph Mann Library Association in 1891 and a member of the Two Rivers board of education for nearly 30 years, serving as president for almost 25 years. He helped organize the Manitowoc County Historical Society in 1906 and was an associate editor of Dr. Louis Falge’s History of Manitowoc County Wisconsin published in 1912.

Henry P. Hamilton, age 57, died on June 15, 1919. The funeral was held from Grace Congregation Church, of which he was a member and president of the Board of Trustees for many years. He was buried in the Hamilton family plot at Pioneers Rest Cemetery, Two Rivers.

Prior to his death, Hamilton made arrangements for his extensive collection and records to be donated to the State Historical Museum in Madison. The collection of more than 1,700 copper items, made by Indigenous Peoples 6,000 to 3,000 years ago, was considered one of the most important gifts of its kind received since the Society’s founding in 1846.

Today, the Henry P. Hamilton Collection is on exhibit in the lower-level lobby of the Wisconsin Historical Society’s headquarters on the UW-Madison campus. An informative exhibit about the collection was recently installed at the Washington House Museum in Hamilton’s hometown of Two Rivers.