Jeremiah Hamilton (1806/1807) became the only black millionaire in New York in the 1850s according to abolitionist and physician James McCune Smith.
Hamilton dealt in counterfeit coins in his early career. Laer he became a shrewd real estate investor capitalizing on the misfortune of people who lost everything in the Great Fire of New York.
Hamilton was a successful businessman who amassed incredible wealth but he was not well-regarded. His nicknames included “The Prince of Darkness” and “N***** Hamilton”.
His wife, Eliza was white and they had 10 children together during approximately 40 years of marriage.
Hamilton’s wealth did not protect him from racism and racist violence. In 1863, a group of white men broke into his home with the intention of lynching him. When he died in 1875, Hamilton was proclaimed the richest black man in the United States. Today he has largely been forgotten.-Heidi Durrow
Mixed Experience History Month is the annual blog post series created by The New York Times best-selling author Heidi Durrow celebrating the history of the Mixed experience. Established in 2007, Mixed Experience History Month is an effort to highlight the long history of folks and events involved in the Mixed experience. Please look for archived profiles of people, places and events of the Mixed experience every weekday of May! Thanks for reading. And check out some of the previous year’s profiles: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015.
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