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LEVI J. HAMILTON Well known Lawyer and One Time Mayor of Butte is Dead Levi J. Hamilton, aged 71, well-known Butte politician and one time mayor of this city, was found dead shortly after 3 o’clock yesterday morning by his wife, at their home, 235 North Washington street. Death had come to the old-time lawyer about an hour before his body was discovered in bed, due, it was believed, to heart trouble. Recent heart attacks, combined with disorders of the stomach, had done much to undermine Mr. Hamilton’s health. His sudden passing yesterday was received by friends all over the state as a distinct loss. Prominent at the time when Montana adopted statehood, Mr. Hamilton, the republican candidate for judge of the first district, waged an interesting campaign for the district judgeship. During the administration of Mayor Thompson, he served as city attorney, and in 1888 and 1889, at which time the majority term was limited to one year, he filled that chair. Interested in all civic matters, he was active in school affairs and was one of the organizers of the Liberal Culture club.Publishes Novel Besides being prominent in politics and an astute member of the bar, Judge Hamilton became an author when he published a novel. “Oswald Langdon, or Pierre and Paul Lanier, A romance of 1894-1898.” His ancestry tracing back to the days of the Revolution, Judge Hamilton came of a pioneer Ohio stock, which also numbered among its members, soldiers in the Mexican and Civil wars. Born in Attica, Ohio, Dec. 5, 1853, he finished his early education at that point, and after teaching at Attica, entered the University of Michigan to complete his law studies. After practicing for a short time in Michigan he was married there to Eliza Lahring, and later they left for South Dakota, where he continued his law practice. He came to Butte in 1889, becoming immediately interested in politics. Delegate to Convention In 1895 Mr. Hamilton’s first wife died, and in 1900 he married Belle Calkins, a schoolteacher here at that time. It was shortly after the death of his first wife that he commenced work on his novel and made an extended trip to Chicago to engage in matters pertaining to its publication, under the pen name of “Carson Jay Lee.” He was a delegate to the republican convention at Chicago which nominated Roosevelt to the presidency. Although in late years his law practice had not been entirely abandoned, his activities and had been greatly restricted because of ill health. He is survived by his wife; a daughter by his first wife, Mrs. H. A. Easton, of Pontiac, Mich.; two other children by his second wife, Edith Belle Hamilton, now teaching in Columbia Falls, and Robert C. Hamilton of Butte. He also leaves two brothers and a sister in Ohio. The time and place of the funeral will be arranged at a later date.
The
Montana Standard |