Lieutenant Governor was also the President of the Illinois Senate. In 1882, Cullom was elected to the United States Senate and vacated his position as Governor of Illinois the following year. Hamilton became the 18th Governor of the state. His brief governorship is best known for the decision requiring compulsory education for Illinois children. Hamilton also signed the Harper High License Law that mandated a license for institutions serving liquor. In 1883, Hamilton sent the Illinois National Guard to quell protests at mines in Madison and St. Clair Counties. In 1884, Hamilton was selected as a candidate for reelection at the Republican State Convention in Peoria, Illinois. However, the delegation settled on Richard J. Oglesby, who was later elected to serve a third non-consecutive term. Despite this, Hamilton was unanimously elected by the convention as one of the four state delegates to the 1884 Republican National Convention. He first supported former U.S. Senator from Illinois John A. Logan as a presidential candidate, voting for him in the first three ballots. However, after Logan sent a telegram to the convention declining the nomination, Hamilton supported incumbent President Chester A. Arthur. After James G. Blaine was selected as the presidential candidate, Hamilton successfully rallied support for Logan as the vice presidential candidate. The ticket later lost to Grover Cleveland. Hamilton spent the rest of his life as a lawyer in Chicago. He died there on September 22, 1905 and was buried in Oak Woods Cemetery. His 1872 house in Bloomington, Illinois, was recognized with a listing on the National Register of Historic Places on September 6, 1978. Citations References 1847 births 1905 deaths Republican Party governors of Illinois Lieutenant Governors of Illinois Republican Party Illinois state senators Illinois lawyers People from Richwood, Ohio People of Illinois in the American Civil War Illinois Wesleyan University faculty Ohio Wesleyan University alumni 19th-century American politicians