Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/90

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HAMMOND
HAMMOND

had built a mill, and four times it had to be taken down on account of trouble with the mudsills, which had to be placed in a sort of quicksand hard to control. Thus 'mudsills,' instead of meaning something low and insignificant, were, as I well remember, a matter of paramount interest and importance to him. It was just when he had at last placed his mudsills securely that he had occa- sion to use this expression." In the same speech occurs the passage : " No, sir, you dare not make war on cotton. No power on earth dares make war upon it. Cotton is king. Until lately the Bank of England was king, but she tried to put her screws as usual, the fall before last, upon the cotton-crop, and was utterly vanquished. The last power has been conquered." On the secession of South Carolina he retired from the senate, and after hostilities began returned to the superintend- ence of his estates, being prevented by failing health from active participation in the war. While governor he published a letter to the Free church of Glasgow, and two others in reply to an anti- slavery circular written by Thomas Clarkson, of England. These letters called forth severe replies from those to whom they were addressed, and, with other essays on the same subject, were issued in book-form under the title "The Pro-Slavery Argument " (Charleston, 1853). He was also the author of papers on agriculture, manufactures, banks, railroads, and literary topics, and an elabo- rate review of the life, character, and services of John C. Calhoun, contained in an address delivered in Charleston in November, 1850, on the invitation of the city council. This is considered by many the best effort of his life. — Another son, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, soldier, b. in Newberry dis- trict, S. C, 12 Dec, 1814 ; d. in Beech Island, Aiken co., S. C, 23 Jan., 1876, was graduated at the U. S. military academy in 1836, and assigned to the 4th infantry. He was made 1st lieutenant, 7 Nov., 1839, and resigned, 31 Dec, 1842, on account of severe illness. From 1842 till 1846 he was a planter in Georgia, but at the beginning of the Mexican war he was appointed additional paymaster, and served until 15 April, 1847, when he was again compelled to resign on account of impaired health. He then retired to a plantation at Hamburg, S. C, whence he removed to Athens, Ga., in 1860, and to Beech Island, S. C, in 1863. He held various com- missions in the state militia between 1849 and 1853, and was a member of the state house of representa- tives in 1856-'7. He is the author of various essays on agricultural, political, and military subjects published between 1843 and 1849, and of " A Criti- cal History of the Mexican War," which appeared in the " Southern Quarterly Review " between 1849 and 1853. — Another son, John Fox, physician, b. in Columbia, S. C., 7 Dec, 1821 ; d. in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., 29 Sept., 1886, was graduated at the University of Virginia, the Medical college at Augusta, Ga., and in 1841 at the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania. He was appointed assistant surgeon in the U. S. army, 16 Feb., 1847 ; major and surgeon, 26 Feb., 1861 : brevet lieutenant-colonel, 13 March, 1865, " for faithful and meritorious service during the war"; and lieutenant-colonel, 26 June, 1876. In 1849 he had medical charge of troops infected with cholera on the western frontier, and served in Florida from November, 1852, till October, 1853, during an epidemic of yellow fever. In 1862 he was medical director of the 2d army corps of the Potomac, and was pres- ent at the siege of Yorktown and the principal battles of the peninsula. After the close of the war he served on various medical boards.


HAMMOND, Jabez D., author, b. in New Bed- ford, Mass., 2 Aug., 1778; d. in Cherry Valley, N. Y., 18 Aug., 1855. With a limited education he taught at fifteen, studied and practised medi- cine in Reading, Vt., in 1799, and in 1805 was ad- mitted to the bar and settled at Cherry Valley, N. Y. He was elected to congress as a Democrat, serving from 4 Dec, 1815, till 3 March, 1817, was state senator from 1817 till 1821, and in 1822 re- moved to Albany, where he practised his profes- sion until 1830. From 1825 till 1826 he served as a commissioner to settle the claims of New York on the Federal government. In 1831 he visited Europe for his health, and on his return again set- tled in Cherry Valley. He was chosen county judge in 1838, and was one of the regents of the University of New York from 1845 until his death. Although he was a Democrat, he supported John Quincy Adams for the presidency. In 1845 Hamilton college conferred upon him the degree of LL. D. He is the author of " The Political History of New York to December, 1840 " (2 vols., Albany, 1843 ; vol. iii., Syracuse) ; " Life and Opinions of Julius Melbourn " (Syracuse, N. Y., 1847); "Life of Silas Wright" (1848); and "Evi- dence, Independent of Written Revelation, of the Immortality of the Soul " (Albany, 1851).


HAMMOND, Le Roy, soldier, b. in Richmond county, Va., about 1740; d. about 1800. In 1765 he removed to Georgia, and thence to South Caro- lina, where he became a dealer in tobacco. He was commissioned a colonel early in the Revolu- tionary war, served in the " Snow " campaign, and in that of 1776 against the Cherokees, in which he distinguished himself. He was subsequently often employed both by congress and the state of South Carolina as Indian agent. In 1779 he took the field with his regiment and played an important part in the battle of Stono Ferry. After the fall of Charleston he adopted, like Marion and others, a des- ultory mode of warfare, and was constantly engaged in fighting the loyalists, British, and Indians. In 1781 he was at the siege of Augusta, afterward at that of Ninety-Six, serving under Greene, and, later, under Gen. Pickens. After the battle of Eu- taw he was active in guerilla warfare. Col. Ham- mond ranked high as a partisan leader.


HAMMOND, Samuel, soldier, b. in Richmond county, Va., 21 Sept., 1757; d. near Augusta, Ga., 11 Sept., 1842. He volunteered in an expedition against the Indians under Gov. Dunmore, distinguishing himself at the battle of the Kanawha. In 1775 he raised a company and took part in the battle of Longbridge. In 1779 he was at the battle of Stono Ferry, S. C, under Gen. Lincoln. At the siege of Savannah he was made assistant quartermaster, and at Blackstocks he had three horses shot under him and was wounded. He was a member of the "council of capitulation" at Charleston, and was present at the siege of Augusta and the battles of King's Mountain, Cowpens, Eutaw, where he was again badly wounded, and many other engagements. On 17 Sept., 1781, he was commissioned colonel of cavalry, and served under Gen. Greene until the end of the war. He then settled in Savannah, and was appointed surveyor-general of Georgia. He was also elected to the legislature and fought in the Creek war of 1793. He was then elected to congress as a Democrat, serving from 17 Oct., 1803, till 3 March, 1805. He was appointed by President Jefferson military and civil commandant of upper Louisiana, holding the office from 1805 till 1824, and during the latter part of the time was receiver of public moneys in Missouri. In the last-named