San
Joaquin County
Biographies
JOHN CULVER HAMMOND
The history of a community is best
told in the lives of it citizens, and when these citizens are men of forceful
character, progressive and public spirited, giving of the best of their lives
not alone to the upbuilding of their own fortunes but to the establishment and
maintenance of enterprises calculated to advance the general welfare of those
about them, then indeed is such a career worthy of a place in the highest type
of citizenship. Such qualities and
characteristics have distinguished the life of John Culver Hammond, who came to
California with his parents in 1864 and grew to manhood in San Joaquin County
and who has proved a dominant force in the upbuilding of this commonwealth and
the development of the county.
A descendant of one of the oldest
and most prominent American families, dating back to 1634 when Elizabeth
Hammond, her son Benjamin, and three daughters landed in Boston September 18,
1634 on the ship Griffin, John Culver Hammond was born in North Abington,
Plymouth County, Massachusetts, on October 19, 1865, a son of George and
Susanna (Shaw) Hammond. Grandfather
Benjamin Hammond was a farmer in the vicinity of North Abington, Massachusetts,
and influential in that community. The
father, George Hammond, was born in Carver, Massachusetts, on June 21, 1815,
and his wife was born in North Abington, Massachusetts, on April 21, 1816. George Hammond came to California by the
Panama route in the spring of 1864 settling at Lockeford, San Joaquin County,
where he engaged in farming on a quarter section of land which he purchased,
and on which he made his home until his death at the age of eighty-nine
years. George Hammond’s first marriage
united him with Susanna Shaw, who passed away on November 29, 1874, and they
were the parents of eight children, namely:
Delia Marcella Hammond, the oldest daughter, was born in North Abington,
Massachusetts, on May 30, 1836, and was married to Dr. Dean J. Locke and they
had thirteen children, Luther J., Ada, Horace Mann, Nathaniel H., Ida, May,
William W., Hannah, John Calvin, Edward, Eunice, George, and Theresa. Mrs. Locke is still living in Lockeford. The second daughter, Susan Lucretia Hammond
was born in North Abington, Massachusetts, on January 13, 1839 and married George
Shipley Locke, a brother of Dean J. Locke and they had eleven children: Sarah, A. J., Elmer Hammond, George Franklin,
Wallace H., Almy, Lilla,
John G., Mertice, Franklin H., and Almy G. Roland G.
Hammond, the eldest son, was born at North Abington, Massachusetts, on May 18,
1842, came with his parents to California and farmed near Lockeford until his
death in 1901. He married Miss Rebecca
Taylor in 1876 and they were the parents of six children: Alice Edna, Alberta Josephine, George,
Estella May, Ina Pearl, and Nellie.
Josiah Shaw Hammond was born at North Abington, Massachusetts, on
September 10, 1842, was graduated from the San Jose State Normal School in 1868
and from Cooper Medical College at San Francisco, in 1873 and is now practicing
his profession at Butte, Montana. He
married Miss Ann Eliza Simpson, a native of St. Louis, Missouri, and they have
six children: Emma Louise, Kate T., Hattie, Delia, Nelson, and Benjamin. Horace Alfred Hammond, the third son, was
born at North Abington, Massachusetts, on August 7, 1847, resides in Oakland,
California, and is an engineer. His
first marriage occurred on April 7, 1880, and united him with Miss Dolly
McGregor, a native of San Francisco, who died in Oakland in 1884, leaving one
child, Amy Evelyn. His second marriage
united him with Miss Anna Elizabeth Harges. Hannah Sturtevant Hammond, the third
daughter, was born December 12, 1849, and married Thomas B. Geffroy,
who passed away in San Joaquin County.
Mrs. Geffroy resides at Lodi and is the mother
of seven children: Mabel, Carrie,
Bertha, Arthur, Richard, Susie, and Amy.
Clara Cobb Hammond, the fourth daughter, was born in North Abington,
Massachusetts on November 8, 1853; on January 24, 1872, she married Rev. Orville
Allen Ross, of Uxbridge, Massachusetts, and they were the parents of eight
children, Nettie Taylor being the only child living.
John Culver Hammond, the subject of
this review and the youngest child of George Hammond’s family, came with his
parents to San Joaquin County in 1864 and was reared and educated at
Lockeford. Previous to his death, George
Hammond, the father, had sold a portion of his quarter section to his son
Roland, but John Culver later leased this from his brother and engaged in
general farming on the quarter section.
John Culver received thirty-seven acres from his father’s estate, which
was grain land; he has since added to this until he now has ninety-five acres
all in vineyard and the house in which he lives was built by his father in
1867.
The marriage of Mr. Hammond occurred
in Lockeford on September 21, 1882, and united him with Miss Lucie Jane Coil, a
native of Lincoln, Illinois, born on December 25, 1864, a daughter of James
Anderson and Mary Eliza Coil, both natives of De Witt County, Illinois. They were the parents of three children, Mrs.
Hammond being the oldest. Charles C.
Coil is a merchant of Lockeford, and Myrtle is Mrs. Frank Hill of Fresno,
California. Mrs. Hammond came to
California with her parents in 1874 and received her education in the Lockeford
schools. Her father passed away at the
age of seventy-nine, while her mother died at the age of thirty-four
years. Mr. and Mrs. Hammond are the
parents of five children, as follows:
Horace Coil Hammond married Miss Lena Dudley and they are the parents of
one son, John C. H. C. is an employee of
the Southern Pacific Railroad at Oakland; Alice Ethel married Dr. Phillip Petch, a native of Humboldt County, California, now
practicing medicine in Oakland and they are the parents of one son, Philip,
Jr.; Myrtle Coil is a graduate nurse at the Stanford Hospital; James Anderson
resides at home with his parents. On
August 13, 1917, he entered the service of his country as a private and was
sent to Camp Tanforan, California, in Battery B, 144th
Field Artillery, 40th Division, known as
the California Grizzlies. He remained at
Camp Tanforan until October of 1917 when he was sent
to Camp Kearney where he remained until August 2, 1918 and on August 15 of that
year left New York for France. He
trained first at Poiters; then was sent to Bordeaux
and after the armistice was signed was at Claremont-Ferrand,
near Lyons, France, his foreign service covering the
period from August 15, 1918, to January 3, 1919. Returning to the United States and
California, he was discharged at the Presidio, San Francisco, when he returned
to his home in Lockeford. Clara Cobb
Hammond, the youngest child, is now Mrs. Charles Utterback,
residing at Christian Colony and they are the parents of two children, Charles,
Jr., and Marjorie Jane. In politics, Mr.
Hammond is a Republican, and fraternally is a past grand of the Odd Fellows,
while Mrs. Hammond is a past noble grand of the Live Oak Lodge of Rebekahs. The family have been
identified with the upbuilding of Lockeford and have been factors in movements
for the betterment of the social and moral conditions of the people.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
455-456. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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