Hamilton took the oath to serve the court in August 1991 by placing his right hand on the Bible given to him by the college at Commencement in 1956. He worked his way through Wofford, and his obituary lists his favorite campus job as “bell ringer,” which involved ringing the college’s 700-pound bell to signal the beginning and ending of classes.
Hamilton, who graduated with a chemistry degree, was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve. He started a job as a research chemist with DuPont at the Savannah River Plant before being called to active duty. He graduated from the U.S. Army Security Agency School at Fort Devens, Mass., and had security inspections at cryptography centers at the White House, Camp David and President Dwight Eisenhower’s farm in Gettysburg, Pa. He attained the rank of captain before being honorably discharged from the Reserve in 1962.
He was enrolled in the evening division at The George Washington University Law School and graduated with honors in 1961. After graduation, he returned to his hometown of Edgefield, S.C., to practice law. He moved back to Spartanburg in 1963 and practiced for almost 20 years before being appointed as a U.S. district judge for the District of South Carolina by President Ronald Reagan. President George H.W. Bush nominated him for the Fourth Circuit, and he accepted senior status on the bench in 1999.
In 1991, Hamilton received the Alumni Distinguished Service Award from Wofford.
Other Wofford alumni to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit are Charles Albert Woods (Class of 1872), Henry Floyd ’70 and Dennis Shedd ’75.