The Hamilton Coincidence

Funny thing happened out at Port Tobacco today. I went into the restored courthouse during lunch and when I came back out I was approached by a woman. She asked if the courthouse was open today. It wasn't. She seemed disappointed so I offered to let her in and show her around. She signaled over to husband to park the car.

If I recall this correctly, the visitor had traced two members of her family to Port Tobacco. Her Greene ancestors arrived by boat in the 1600s and later some Hamiltons lived in the town. Neither name rang a bell with me but I gave them an overview of the town layout in the late 1800s, showed them the displays constucted by the Society for the Restoration of Port Tobacco, and sent a business card with the website address home with them.

No less than 15 minutes later, Jim and I were talking with a longtime resident of Port Tobacco. I asked him about the property adjacent to his. "That is the old Hamilton property," he said. I checked the parking lot but our visitors had already gone.

-April