We hopped the train today to the city of Hamilton, home city named for Joan’s Hamilton Clan.

We did not think we would find much other than a mausoleum where her ancestors are interned. But instead in addition to the mausoleum, we found a city museum that captured the rich history of the Hamilton’s and informed us that Joan’s ancestors had to be moved from the mausoleum to a nearby cemetery. The mausoleum is on ground that was flooding and unstable, so in 1820 they were all moved to a cemetery.

We walked the beautiful Hamilton park where the mausoleum still stands on the grounds that also had included the Hamilton Palace, which was later demolished due to disrepair and to the family’s loss of status & fortune in later years.

We went then to the nearby Hamilton city museum and found a wonderful museum filled with the rich history of the area and the Hamilton’s.

After learning Joan’s ancestors were buried elsewhere, we went on a search mission to locate them. We went to a nearby cemetery where we believed they were buried and found a huge cemetery filled with old and new gravesites. No one was there to help us locate the ancient Hamilton’s, so we used the few clues we had and walked the ground’s until we finally came across the hidden separated site of their burial!

Joan’s 11th, 10th and 9th great grandfathers are buried there, along with numerous other relatives. It was a fitting end to a rewarding day of discovery of her family history!