James McClellan Hamilton (October 1, 1861 – September 23, 1940) was an American historian and economist who was the third president of Montana State University. He served from 1904 to 1919. A group of historians named Hamilton one of Montana State's four most important presidents in 2011.
Early life and career
James M. Hamilton was born on a farm on October 1, 1861, in Crawford County, Illinois, to James and Mary (Burner) Hamilton. He was the ninth of 10 children. His Presbyterian paternal grandparents emigrated to the United States from Belfast, Ireland, shortly after the American Revolutionary War. His Lutheran maternal grandparents came from what is now Germany at about the same time. Although his paternal grandparents settled in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania and his maternal grandparents in northern Virginia, they both settled in Licking County, Ohio, in the 1820s. James' parents met there, and married in 1838.
About 1850, a large migration of Licking County residents began into the Wabash Valley of Illinois, and his parents were among them. James grew up near Licking Township and attended local public school. His father died when he was 14 years old, and James began working during the spring, summer, and fall in order to support his family. He attended school only in the winter, which prevented him from graduating from school until he was 18 years old. (Most children graduated from high school at about age 16 at the time.)
After graduation, James worked as a public school teacher in rural Illinois public schools from 1879 to 1882.
Hamilton enrolled at Union Christian College in Merom, Indiana. The date of his entry is not clear. He worked at a number of jobs to pay for his education, and he graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1887. He then entered the graduate program at Union Christian, receiving either a Master of Arts or a Master of Science degree in 1890. While in the graduate program, he married Emma Shideler of Merom on June 6, 1888.
Role in Montana's educational system
Hamilton obtained a position as superintendent of the public school system in Sumner, Illinois, in 1887. He worked there until 1889, when he moved to take a similar position in Missoula, Montana. Montana became a state on November 8, 1889. In 1893, the state legislature began considering legislation to establish a state college system. The Montana State Teacher's Association (now MEA-MFT) advocated that a single college be created rather than several. Hamilton was elected president of the teachers' association in December 1892. Hamilton traveled to the new state capital, Helena, to lobby for a single college. But listening to the debates there convinced him that multiple campuses would be more likely to win legislative approval in Montana's bitter political climate (in which towns and cities lobbied hard to undercut one another in an attempt to reap state largesse).
The legislature subsequently passed legislation establishing two colleges. It also established a State Board of Education in 1893, and Hamilton was appointed a member. While serving on the board, Hamilton chose the sites (Missoula and Bozeman) for the two state colleges, their first presidents, and their first faculty members.
After eight years of service, Hamilton resigned from the State Board of education and took an appointment as a professor of history and economics at Montana State University (Missoula) (now known as the University of Montana). He was promoted to vice-president of the school a short time later. In 1901, the same year that he began teaching at the University of Montana, he began a five-year term as a member of the Montana State Textbook Commission, which chose textbooks for public schools in the state.
