1873 Hamilton School with the freedman George Washington's monument to his former master, Silas Hamilton, in foreground
The Hamilton Primary School was built with the bequest of Silas Hamilton. Originally from Vermont, Hamilton bought a Mississippi plantation and its 28 slaves with the quixotic intention to make it a philanthropic model. When nearby slaveowners protested, he took himself and his slaves to Ohio, where he freed them. Among them was a boy who took the name George Washington. Washington accompanied Hamilton when he moved to Otterville. Hamilton bequested $3,000 to Washington and $4,000 for the school, first constructed in 1835. Washington attended the school, became a farmer, and constructed the memorial to Hamilton in 1864. Washington's freedom was not secure; he was assaulted in Grafton, and in Gilead was arrested as a fugitive slave. Both men, buried beside each other near the school, were likely active in the underground railroad.
