The Hamilton-Oneida Academy, where the college started in 1793
Samuel Kirkland's academy admitted Oneida and white boys. It took until 1812 to win a college charter, and Clinton wasn't a village until 1843.
By Tom Brezinski
Hamilton College dates its beginning to 1793, when Samuel Kirkland founded the Hamilton-Oneida Academy, a three-story school near the Oneida Nation’s home.
The academy took both white and Oneida boys. It was named for Alexander Hamilton, who worked with Kirkland to start it and sat on its first board of trustees. None of the Oneida students stayed more than a year. The reasons given are a lack of money, the boys’ limited English and their lack of interest in the curriculum.
The school asked the state Board of Regents for a college charter in 1805. It got one in 1812, on the condition that it raise a $50,000 endowment.
The geography has shifted around it. From 1793 to 1827, College Hill was in the town of Paris. After that it was in the town of Kirkland. The village of Clinton was not incorporated until 1843.