David's father, John Hamilton, moved from Oxford, Mississippi, to Rusk County, Texas in 1846. In 1852 he moved to Trinity County and located at a spring near the center of Nogalus Prairie. He sold this place to Byrd Kerr and settled two and a half miles north of there on a small prairie which went by the family name. In 1854 John Hamilton was elected County Surveyor and moved near Sumpter opening a farm, one and a half miles east of town, on Homer or Clark's Ferry road. A large hewn log school house was erected in Sumpter, one block west and two blocks south of the plaza. David attended this school for a short time. John was accidentally crippled and when he recovered, his frequent absence to attend to official business required David to remain at home and to take charge of part of the surveying. After the Civil War, David Hamilton served as the Trinity County Sheriff from 1865 to 1867. David and his family moved to Centralia, Texas when the county seat was moved from Sumpter to Centralia - where he operated a gristmill, saw mill, and farm. He was in the mercantile business for over 10 years. He served in the Texas House of Representatives in the Twenty-third Texas Legislature from Jan 10, 1893 - Jan 8, 1895. He was a member of the Democratic Party. His district covered the counties of Montgomery, Trinity, and Walker. In 1895, they sold their Trinity Country possessions and moved to Haskell County where he tried farming, and then was elected as County Judge. They moved to the city ofHaskell, Texas. Later his wife Mary broke her hip and they decided to move back to Trinity County, where children John Gibson, Mary Annice and Octavia were living. While living in Groveton, Texas, David wrote of his Civil War experiences. These writings are still used by East Texas history buffs. They had eight children: John Gibson Hamilton, Mary Annice Hamilton, Maranda Alzera Hamilton, Vera Alice Hamilton, Alzara Gertrude Hamilton, Dudley Warner Hamilton, Octavia Edmonia Hamilton, Allene Hamilton. Hamilton was the great-great-grandfather of Texas Governor Rick Perry. He is buried in Bennett Cemetery in Trinity County, Texas.
