Abram Hamilton was an American con man and slave trader who was active during the mid-19th century. In 1841, he and fellow con man Merrill Brown traveled to Saratoga Springs, New York, where they persuaded the Black violinist Solomon Northup that they were circus performers who would pay well for his musical skills as they toured New York City and Washington DC. In Washington, the two men drugged Northup and sold him to the slave trader James H. Birch.