From the Archives: Biographies:
Pierre Simon Vincent Hamot
1784-1846

From the moment he stepped onto Lake Erie’s shore, French adventurer Pierre S. V. Hamot became one of Erie’s most enterprising citizens.  To some, Erie was a remote settlement in the wilderness, but to Hamot, it was an outpost of opportunity.

Born in France, young Hamot sailed to Philadelphia with his father in 1802.  Upon his father’s death he set out for Canada, where he made a small fortune in the mercantile business.  The salt trade and other mercantile activities brought him to Erie in 1805.

As Hamot grew to become one of the area’s most successful merchants, he became a partner with Rufus Reed in the Bank of Erie, the community’s first banking institution.  He was one of the founders and principal stockholders in the Erie Observer. He was a leader in the community, holding the offices of Canal Commissioner of Pennsylvania and Superintendent of the United States Public Works of Erie.  By 1820, tax records show P.S.V. Hamot to be the third largest property owner in the Borough of Erie.  

But like many of Erie’s founding fathers, Hamot’s holdings included at least one slave --  a nineteen-year-old black boy bound to serve until the age of 28.  

The first step toward abolishing slavery in Pennsylvania came with the passage of the Gradual Abolition Act of 1780.  Slaves born before March 1 of that year remained slaves for life; those born after March 1 would be freed at the age of 28.  Slaves freed under gradual abolition became indentured servants until their terms expired.  Though the citizenry commonly referred to these individuals as “indentured servants,” they were in fact considered the property of those who held them.

When he first came to Erie, Hamot lived in a two-story brick home on German Street.  His store was located on French Street, two doors away from Robert Vosburgh’s barber shop.  Black barbers like Vosburgh played an important role on the Underground Railroad.  It is likely that Vosburgh had a hand in the escape of Hamot’s “Negro BOY servant.”

In 1827, Hamot’s German Street home was destroyed by fire and he hired Peter Grawotz, the city’s first recorded brick mason, to construct a new residence on the southwest corner of French and Third Streets.  Hamot died in 1846, leaving the house and property to his daughter Mary, who later married George W. Starr, a founder of Hamot Hospital.  The Starrs moved to East Sixth Street, maintaining the French Street resident as rental property. 

Hamot House, located at 302 French Street, has been restored and now houses the offices of the Hamot Second Century Foundation.

Sources: 

Hamot Health System publications, Erie County tax records

John Miller, History of Erie County Pennsylvania, Chicago:  The Lewis Publishing Company, 1909.

Nelson’s Biographical Dictionary and Historical Reference Book of Erie County, Erie, PA:  S.B. Nelson Publisher, 1896.

Sarah S. Thompson, with additional research and essay by Karen James, Journey from Jerusalem.  Erie, PA:  Erie County Historical Society Publications, 1996.