Alexander Hamilton Descendants Visit Nevis

Charlestown, Nevis (April 12, 2007)

Deputy Premier of Nevis the Hon Hensley Daniel, believes that great things could mushroom from a relationship between the American descendants of Nevisian born Mr. Alexander Hamilton and the people of Nevis.
 
Mr. Daniel made the comment while he welcomed two descendants of Mr. Hamilton during a brief visit to Nevis on April 06, 2007 at the Montpelier Plantation Inn. Mr. Phillip Skyler Hamilton and his son Mr. Douglas Hamilton (fourth and fifth generation respectively) and their wives, who were on vacation in St. Kitts, also met with Premier the Hon. Joseph Parry. They were hosted  on Nevis by Mr. John Guilbert Executive Director of the Nevis Historical and Conservation Society.
 
“We (Nevis Island Administration) have recently restarted the Alexander Hamilton Scholarship Fund and hope to work with them to strengthen the partnership and to be able to help many of our young people to access education at the high school level and also beyond that, to attend Hamilton College in New York, so that we might keep the connection between Nevis and Hamilton.
 
“We look forward to their continued collaboration and engagement with us and so, I offer them an invitation to join us on January 2008 for the next Alexandra Hamilton Scholarship Fund Tea Party”¦ We hope by their coming it will help to cement the relationship between the fund and the Hamilton descendants. We look forward to a long and productive relationship with the Hamilton Descendants and Hamilton College.  Working together with the Nevis Historical and Conservation Society, we think that we can achieve great things for the people of Nevis,” he said.Mr. Daniel told the visitors, that the Tea Party which was established by Ms. Marion Trott in 1996, had helped several Nevisians who, over the years, had left an indelible mark on Nevis. He explained that the beneficiaries of the Fund, had lead the way in economic and social development and therefore it had contributed to the advancement of the society over the years.
 
In response, Mr. Desmond Hamilton said that his visit fulfilled a lifetime dream to visit the place where Mr.Alexander Hamilton was born and had spent his first nine years. He said he had enjoyed the brief stay in Nevis, having had the opportunity to meet the people and to visit some sites on the island.
 
“It has been a wonderful trip, wonderful people and we look forward to support the memory of Alexander Hamilton here. As we are being told, the most important thing is [the] education of the people here to help out and so, we will spread that news to the family and see how we can help out,” he said.
 
According to Mr. Hamilton, an organisation called Friends of Alexander and the Hamilton Descendants began to build a relationship since 2004 and had kept in contact. They were at present exploring the possibility of getting an ongoing travelling exhibit of Alexander Hamilton to be permanently mounted at the Alexander Hamilton Museum in Nevis.
 
Meantime, Mr. Guilbert disclosed that he had been in contact with Mr. Hamilton via the Internet who had offered to give assistance to Nevis in any way possible. He explained that suggestions had been made with regard to contributions to the Alexander Hamilton Scholarship Fund and the possibilities that would exist if the travelling exhibit of Alexander Hamilton was housed in a museum on Nevis.
 
He said that Alexander Hamilton was high on American tourists list and while on Nevis, many visited the Museum of Nevis History in Charlestown, the birth place of Mr. Hamilton. He said with the exhibit housed there, the admissions would double.
 
“So we have to find a way to bring it here and the family and the family and descendants of Alexander Hamilton are here to help us [to] do that. So we appreciate meeting them and it’s nice to make friends like this. I think we are going to have a very long lasting relationship,” he said.
 
The Hamilton’s left the Federation for the United States on Monday April 9, 2007.