Hamilton, Alabama, was established on November 17, 1882, and named in honor of Capt. Albert James Hamilton. The community was first known as Toll Gate, after a toll gate on the Jackson Military Road. Marion County's original county seat was Pikeville, but Capt. Hamilton sought to move the county seat to Toll Gate and offered to donate 40 acres of his land to the community. After a referendum in 1882, his land donation was accepted and the community's name was officially changed to Hamilton. Albert James Hamilton, born in Marion County, Alabama, on December 7, 1838, enlisted in the 16th Alabama Infantry in 1861. Four months later he helped organize Company F, 5th Mississippi Cavalry, later raised Company F, 7th Alabama Regiment from Marion County, and became the company captain. In 1865 he was elected sheriff and served one term, and from 1869 to 1875 he served in the Alabama State Legislature. He was also a successful planter, a member of the Methodist South Church and Masonic Lodge, and the husband of Mary Louise Terrell, daughter of Judge John Dabney Terrell, Jr. of Pikeville. The Hamilton family home and grave site at Hamilton City Cemetery is still preserved today. Hamilton's roots reach back to the early history of Alabama through its location on the Jackson Military Road, which General Andrew Jackson commissioned during the War of 1812 as a shortcut between New Orleans and Nashville. Jackson and his army camped at Military Ford, three miles south of Hamilton, while returning home after the Battle of New Orleans. The town is also rich in Cherokee Tribal history and was connected with major figures in early Alabama politics. Hamilton received a state charter in 1896, and on January 1, 1897, William R. White was elected its first mayor.