The early years

William Hamlin was born in Moreau, New York on Sept. 20, 1828, the fifth of 10 children. Moreau had just been founded as a town in February 1828, expanding out of Northumberland.

Hamlin’s grandfather had originally settled in Massachusetts in 1758 and had worked as a lumberman. William’s entire family worked around the logging and water transportation business, moving from one location to another.  In 1843, the family moved to Michigan. Sadly, his parents both died of the “fever.” Most of the children moved back to New York to live with relatives, but William at age 15 traveled to Pennsylvania.

The beginnings of a maritime career

Records showed that he worked in a grocery store for a short time, but by age 18 he was operating a boat on the east end of the Erie Canal. The 308-mile canal was built between Cleveland and Portsmouth. The canal opened up the East Coast markets to farmers and merchants throughout Ohio. At age 19, he purchased a second boat and was hauling pig iron, coal and lime rock along the waterway. Navigating the Erie Canal in steamboats during the late 1840s was considered dangerous due to several factors. Primary concerns were the possibility of collisions, canal bank erosion from the wake of the boats, potential boiler explosions (a common danger with early steamboats), and the narrow, confined nature of the canal itself, which limited maneuverability. Harsh conditions during the snowy, cold winter months added further to the hazardous conditions.

Despite the challenges, Hamlin’s business was successful. Within two years, he bought out his partner’s interest and shortly thereafter sold the boats and moved to Meadeville, Pennsylvania, where he purchased half interest in a passenger boat.

For the next seven years (1850-1856) he captained the boat, carrying passengers from Erie to the Ohio River. He later built a second boat at Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania and operated it along the Illinois Canal to the Ohio River until 1861. While maintaining an interest in his boats, he moved first to Davenport, Iowa, and then to Mason County, Illinois, where he became engaged in the purchasing and transporting of grain throughout the Midwest.

Westward bound

He lived and worked in Mason County until the autumn of 1876, when he sold his business interests and moved to Washington state, settling in Seattle. In spring 1877, he purchased a small shallow steamboat called the Minnie Rae and ran several routes out of Lake Washington, doing various jobs.

Hamlin ran his steamboat along the shores of Lake Washington, picking up and delivering people and supplies to various destinations. He also ran a weekly route from Lake Washington up to Squak Valley through the Squak slough and back. The Minnie Rae at the time would have traveled back and forth from the headwaters of Lake Sammamish northward along the Squak Slough, flowing west through Redmond, entering Woodinville and then turning northwest and then west through Bothell and entering Lake Washington west of Kenmore.

The following March 22, 1878 article in the Seattle Post Intelligencer outlines Captain Hamlin’s enterprises at the time.

Hamlin operated on Lake Washington until 1880. He then moved his operations to Puget Sound. Here the records are conflicting. Some records indicate that he remodeled and enlarged his boat in a Ballard shipyard. Other records appear to indicate that he acquired a second boat and christened it Agusta. Agusta was 44 feet long, 11 feet wide and had a depth of 4 feet, 5 inches. In autumn 1880, Captain Hamlin began transporting people and cargo from Seattle to Port Madison (Bainbridge Island) twice a day, weather permitting. Interestingly, he was licensed as both the captain and engineer on the boat, indicating that he did all the repairs on the Agusta himself.

Land acquisition

At about the same time, Hamlin became interested in the Edmonds area and filed a preemptive claim for 55 1/2 acres of waterfront property south of Edmonds. The public notice of the filing read:

Notice for Publication.

Land office at Olympic Washington Territory

September 16, 1880

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT THE following named settler has filed notice of his intention to make final proof in support of his claim, and secure final entry thereof, and that said proof will be made before the Register and Receiver of the Land Office at Olympia, W.T. on Wednesday, the 27th day of October, A.D. 1880.

William H. Hamlin, Pre-emption D.S. No. 4702 for lot 3 of section 23, Township 27 North, Range 3 East and names of the following witnesses to prove of his continuous residence on and cultivation of said tract, viz. William Wickson, J.C. Lund, George Brackett, and William Bracket all of Seattle, King County. W.T.     J.T. BROWN, Register

 Author’s note: Preemption was a term used in the 19th century to refer to a settler’s right to purchase public land at a federally set minimum price; it was a right of first refusal. Usually this was conferred to male heads of households, who developed the property into a farm. 

With the required paperwork in place, Hamlin built a small wharf and in 1881-82 began running cargo and passengers up and down Puget Sound from his wharf. At that time, the land he owned became known as The Hamlin Flats. He also built a residence, a large barn and a few outbuildings near the waterfront, to meet the provisions of the preemptive claim.

Two to three years later, Hamlin became interested in the land south of his parcel and subsequently purchased what was known as the Purcell Claim. At that juncture, he owned waterfront property slightly north of Dayton Street to a point south of the present-day Edmonds Dog Park or where the Unocal Company’s operations were previously situated. His land also reached from the waterfront eastward to beyond present-day 6th Avenue. Captain Hamlin had amassed over 134 acres of prime real estate, and the property became known by the name Hamlin’s Point.

Maritime retirement

In 1890, with the growing number of people living along Puget Sound and the need for bigger and faster steamboats, Captain Hamlin retired, selling Agusta to Captain Thomas Foley for $5,000.

With his retirement, Hamlin moved his extended family into the initial house and he turned his business interests toward real estate and insurance. At home, he spent considerable time improving his shoreline property, building dikes to arrest tidewaters and ditches to improve drainage and water runoff.

He also became very interested with Edmonds’ early civic activities. When Edmonds was incorporated in 1890 he was an elected councilman, and he became Edmonds’ second mayor in 1891-93 following George Brackett.

Hamlin had a strong belief in Edmonds future based upon where it was situated, halfway between Seattle and Everett. He knew Edmonds had a deep harbor area and breathtaking views of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountain range, which he felt would attract the most discerning people from Seattle and Everett once reliable transportation was in place.

The Great Northern Comes Knocking

In 1891, the Great Northern Railway Co. was striving to lay railway tracks from Bellingham to Seattle. They approached Hamlin about purchasing a right-of-way through his shoreline property. Realizing the importance of an expedited means of passenger travel and cargo transport, Hamlin basically said, ‘take as much land as you need and pay me what you think is fair.” The purchase price was quickly agreed upon and Hamlin additionally donated the land for the first train depot.

At the turn of the century, the Seattle syndicate of Coon Kingston and Peabody purchased most of the holdings of George Brackett, Hamlin and others, taking over ownership of the town. Reportedly, Hamlin received $21,300 for 106 acres.

Captain Hamlin’s second residence 

After the sale, Hamlin built a second home further east on his remaining property, away from the noisy railway.  The larger grand residence was located at what is now the southeast corner of Third and Dayton. It was declared one of the finest houses in Edmonds and was surrounded by large rose gardens and orchards. Reportedly, Hamlin grew a wide variety of flowers, especially English roses that he personally attended.

In reflection 

A Dec. 22, 1907 article appearing in the Edmonds Tribune-Review read:

“Captain William H. Hamlin, a prominent citizen, pioneer and one of the founders of the town of Edmonds, died Saturday night, December 21st at his residence, age 79 years. Captain Hamlin had been a partial invalid since suffering a paralytic stroke nineteen years ago, and while he suffered severely at different times, he passed away quietly without pain. 

Funeral services will be held at the residence at 2 o’clock Tuesday afternoon, December 24th.  Internment at Odd Fellows Cemetery.”

Author’s note: In researching Captain Hamlin, I came to realize that he had suffered a catastrophic stroke two years before he sold his property to the Great Northern Railway and had been voted mayor of Edmonds. Despite the debilitating effects of the stroke, all historical accounts point to a man who continued to be extremely active, serving three consecutive one-year terms as mayor and multiple years as councilman.

From operating steamboats at 18 years old on the Erie Canal, to running small shallow steamboats on Lake Washington and its tributaries, to operating steamboats across the open and oftentimes rough waters of Puget Sound, he managed to captain and engineer their successful operations.

Then after 44 years on the waters, he pivoted and became a successful real estate and insurance business owner while providing invaluable civic guidance to a fledgling town in its earliest years.

Due to his contributions, Hamlin is considered one of the most important figures in Edmonds early history.

This article was researched and written by Byron Wilkes. Thanks go to the Edmonds Historical Museum, the University of Washington Research Department, the Edmonds Public Library Research Department, MOHAI and Sno-Isle Genealogical Society for their assistance.