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Colonial Mobile. An Historical Study, Largely From Original Sources, of the Alabama-Tombigbee Basin From the Discovery of Mobile bay in 1519 Until the Demolition of Fort Charlotte in 1821
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
502 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1976
About the author
Peter Joseph Hamilton
67 books2 followersPeter Joseph Hamilton (1859–1927) was an Alabama lawyer and historian who also served as Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico from 1913 to 1921.
Hamilton studied at Princeton University and the University of Leipzig before obtaining advanced law degrees at the University of Alabama. Hamilton's books during his Alabama years included Colonial Mobile: An Historical Study (1897), Early Southern Institutions (1898), The Colonization of the South (1904), The Reconstruction Period (1910), and Mobile of the Five Flags (1913). He also practiced law and was involved in codifying the city ordinances of Mobile.
There is no full-length biography of Hamilton, but he is the subject of published articles by his daughter, Rachel Duke Hamilton, and by Puerto Rican historian Carmelo Delgado Cintron. There is also no archival collection of Hamilton's papers, but some of his correspondence can be found in the manuscript collections of contemporary Alabama and Puerto Rico political figures.
Hamilton studied at Princeton University and the University of Leipzig before obtaining advanced law degrees at the University of Alabama. Hamilton's books during his Alabama years included Colonial Mobile: An Historical Study (1897), Early Southern Institutions (1898), The Colonization of the South (1904), The Reconstruction Period (1910), and Mobile of the Five Flags (1913). He also practiced law and was involved in codifying the city ordinances of Mobile.
There is no full-length biography of Hamilton, but he is the subject of published articles by his daughter, Rachel Duke Hamilton, and by Puerto Rican historian Carmelo Delgado Cintron. There is also no archival collection of Hamilton's papers, but some of his correspondence can be found in the manuscript collections of contemporary Alabama and Puerto Rico political figures.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 5, 2011
I read online scans of the book, and not this reprint, but I'm assuming it is similar. There are two editions, the original from Houghton Mifflin in 1898, and then a revision in 1910. I largely read from the 1898 version, although I also did read from the 1910 version.
My interest in "Colonial Mobile" was not Mobile, per se, but the early history of Alabama and the Southeast that it touched upon, so I did get a little careless in my reading (I admit it, I skipped entire paragraphs) toward the end. I wasn't interested in street-by-street descriptions of the first land owners in Mobile, or about much of anything, actually, past about 1730 having to do solely with Mobile.
What I did get was a history of the Southeast that was decidedly *not* skewed toward the English view; just as reading early histories of the U.S. *not* written in New England gives you something very different and quite refreshing.
Since my French sucks, Hamilton's interpretation of French sources is a bonus. And the fact that he was a scholar and used footnotes (which is not always the case) helps. I just wish he had used *more* footnotes.
It was also useful to get his opinion, as part of the context of his book, of some of the other historical writings that he used as sources. For example, Pickett's "History of Alabama" is problematic (where are those blasted footnotes!), and Hamilton does offer some commentary in places where Pickett is in error. However, when he has no information available, he uses Pickett as his only source. Bad form!
Getting insight into French tactics (from a "French" source) early on was also interesting. The use of the Native tribes as pawns in the struggle (that included Spain, which was a sometime ally of France, sometime enemy) was particularly intriguing. I wish that we could find a "hidden" text from the Indian point of view somewhere, just to make the picture complete, but all we have from them is filtered through the European viewpoint. Iberville (and Hamilton tells us the French in general in North America) had plans to relocate tribes where they were needed to "block" the English from reaching the Mississippi River. In North Alabama, which is what I am researching, this would have included moving tribes along the Tennessee River. Envoys were sent out for this purpose, but we aren't told if any movement actually took place because Iberville died before his plan could be carried out.
There are wonderful little tidbits, too, about the brides that were brought in for the first settlers (some virtuosly accompanied by nuns, some the result of emptying a prison full of prostitutes). Also, those romantic figures the "couriers de bois" or "voyageurs" that we think of as boating off into the sunset were shipped to the inhospitable climate of Mobile, mostly because they were an irritant in New France and everywhere else that became civilized.
As a history text, I found "Colonial Mobile" an interesting read, if not necessarily an easy one.
My interest in "Colonial Mobile" was not Mobile, per se, but the early history of Alabama and the Southeast that it touched upon, so I did get a little careless in my reading (I admit it, I skipped entire paragraphs) toward the end. I wasn't interested in street-by-street descriptions of the first land owners in Mobile, or about much of anything, actually, past about 1730 having to do solely with Mobile.
What I did get was a history of the Southeast that was decidedly *not* skewed toward the English view; just as reading early histories of the U.S. *not* written in New England gives you something very different and quite refreshing.
Since my French sucks, Hamilton's interpretation of French sources is a bonus. And the fact that he was a scholar and used footnotes (which is not always the case) helps. I just wish he had used *more* footnotes.
It was also useful to get his opinion, as part of the context of his book, of some of the other historical writings that he used as sources. For example, Pickett's "History of Alabama" is problematic (where are those blasted footnotes!), and Hamilton does offer some commentary in places where Pickett is in error. However, when he has no information available, he uses Pickett as his only source. Bad form!
Getting insight into French tactics (from a "French" source) early on was also interesting. The use of the Native tribes as pawns in the struggle (that included Spain, which was a sometime ally of France, sometime enemy) was particularly intriguing. I wish that we could find a "hidden" text from the Indian point of view somewhere, just to make the picture complete, but all we have from them is filtered through the European viewpoint. Iberville (and Hamilton tells us the French in general in North America) had plans to relocate tribes where they were needed to "block" the English from reaching the Mississippi River. In North Alabama, which is what I am researching, this would have included moving tribes along the Tennessee River. Envoys were sent out for this purpose, but we aren't told if any movement actually took place because Iberville died before his plan could be carried out.
There are wonderful little tidbits, too, about the brides that were brought in for the first settlers (some virtuosly accompanied by nuns, some the result of emptying a prison full of prostitutes). Also, those romantic figures the "couriers de bois" or "voyageurs" that we think of as boating off into the sunset were shipped to the inhospitable climate of Mobile, mostly because they were an irritant in New France and everywhere else that became civilized.
As a history text, I found "Colonial Mobile" an interesting read, if not necessarily an easy one.
October 3, 2016
Clear, concise, early more informed history - recommended
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews