Alexander Hamilton Memorial Free Library

Walking with a handkerchief.

It is said that when Alexander Hamilton arrived in Waynesboro, he came with nothing but a few belongings in a handkerchief and he walked here from Chester County, where he had been a wagon-maker and blacksmith until his home burned in 1817.

One of the first things that young Hamilton did was build a brick house and shop on Mechanic Street (now Church Street). His work went so well that Hamilton married his neighbor’s daughter, Jane Besore. 

The Hamiltons bought the colonial home in 1841, which is now our library. The Hamiltons had a total of 12 children, of whom nine survived. Of interesting fact abut their son John – who was a farmer – also painted portraits. The ones he painted of his parents still hang in our library. The Hamilton’s eighth child, Jemima married George Stover in 1857 and had three children; William, Jane and Mary. Jane married I.E. Yost and she is the person who willed the house to the town to be used as a library.