Hamilton College

H.O. Academy

Hamilton, NY

The Hamilton Oneida (or H.O.) Academy, founded in 1793 by the missionary Samuel Kirkland, was the original incarnation of present-day Hamilton College, chartered in 1812 and the third oldest college established in New York State. It is located in the village of Clinton, near Utica in central New York, and was named for Alexander Hamilton, first secretary of the US Treasury and a member of the first Board of Trustees of the Hamilton-Oneida Academy. It is a private liberal arts college that offers a Bachelor of Arts degree. Kirkland was Wheelock's most famous Anglo-American student, who served as missionary to the Oneida Indians for 40 years. He planned the academy as a school for the children of Oneidas and the numerous white settlers coming into the area, and in 1793 travelled to Philadelphia to present his proposal to President George Washington, who approved, and to Hamilton, who agreed to be a trustee and lend his name to the school. Its first 20 years were difficult, and it never served Kirkland's original purpose, which was to provide education for the Oneidas, very few of whom attended.

"History of the College." Hamilton. www.hamilton.edu/history/full.