Husband James Hammond 1
Born: - Aconry, County Sligo, Ireland
Christened:
Died: 26 Jul 1907 - Bolivar, Westmoreland Co, PA 1
Buried:
Father: Michael Hammond ( - ) 2
Mother: Rebecca Roberts ( - ) 2
Marriage: - Ireland
Wife Elizabeth Brett 1
Born: 17 Sep 1820 - Aconry, County Sligo, Ireland 1
Christened:
Died: 26 Nov 1899 - Bolivar, Westmoreland Co, PA 1
Buried:
Father: Christopher Brett ( - ) 3
Mother: Elizabeth Allen ( - ) 3
Children
1 M Charles William Hammond 3
Born:
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2 M James Allen Hammond 3
Born:
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Died:
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3 F Margaret Hammond 3
Born:
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Died: while young
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4 U [Infant] Hammond 3
Born:
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Died: in infancy
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5 M Thomas Roberts Hammond 3
Born:
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Died:
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6 F Elizabeth Ellen Hammond 3
Born:
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Died:
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Spouse: Theophalis Morgan Berkey ( - ) 3
7 M E. R. Hammond 3
Born:
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Died:
Buried:
Spouse: Jennie H. McCormick ( - ) 3
8 F Rebecca Ann Hammond 3
Born:
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Spouse: Charles M. Johnson ( - ) 3
9 M James Brett Hammond 3
Born: 18 Apr 1867 - Bolivar, Westmoreland Co, PA 3
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Died:
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Spouse: Elsie May Brown (1875- ) 4
General Notes: Husband - James Hammond
He was born in Aconry, a village and parish in County Sligo, Ireland. His youth was spent in Ireland, his lot one of hard work and considerable hardship, but after his marriage he borrowed money from his uncles, William Gibson and Alexander Gibson, and John Dougherty, a cousin, of Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, to bring him to America. He was then twenty-two years of age, and neither he nor his wife suffered any extra inconvenience during the voyage, although they were steerage passengers. His first stop was at Hollidaysburg, Blair County, Pennsylvania, but after a stay there of but six months he located in Bolivar, Westmoreland County, where others of his family were residing and engaged in business. He quickly found employment, and out of his daily wages, seventy-five cents, he saved sufficient to repay his uncles and cousin the money they had advanced to bring him to the United States. His ambition was to have the entire family come over, and after paying his own debts he began saving for that purpose. He soon sent money to bring his next oldest brother over, and after Thomas arrived they saved together and brought three sisters over. After the death of their mother in Ireland, they sent money to bring their father, youngest brother and sister to Pennsylvania, the entire family then reuniting on American soil.
His first work in Bolivar was as a farmer, a miner of clay brick, lumbering, and brick-making following. In 1863 he enlisted in the Pennsylvania militia for a term of three months as a home guard, and to protect the border against raiders, particularly General Morgan, whom later he helped to capture. In 1864 he reenlisted in Company L, Sixth Regiment, Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, for the term of the war. He continued in the service until honorably discharged, and the night President Lincoln was shot was on picket duty at Camp Ethan Allen, in Virginia, the news of the shooting being signalled to the camp. After the war he returned to Bolivar, and in 1867 bought a small fire-brick-making plant in company with his brother Thomas, which they conducted profitably until 1868. He then formed a partnership with Isaac and B. F. Reese, operating as Reese, Hammond & Company. This firm successfully manufactured fire-brick at Bolivar on a large scale, B. F. Reese continuing in the partnership until the death of James Hammond. The firm, Reese, Hammond & Company, was later absorbed by the Reese, Hammond Fire Brick Company, of Bolivar.
He was a deep student of geology, and his opinion was authority upon the strata of Western Pennsylvania. He was a member of Captain John Coulter Post, Grand Army of the Republic, Bolivar; an Orangeman in Ireland; a class leader of the early Methodist Episcopal church in Bolivar, and for years a member of the official board; in politics, an independent Republican.
General Notes: Wife - Elizabeth Brett
Her mother was very proper and correct in observing all difference in rank, and as Michael Hammond was a tradesman and consequently inferior in rank to a farmer, she strongly opposed her daughter's marriage to James Hammond, consequently Elizabeth took the matter in her own hands, being of age, and made the match a Gretna Green affair. For defying her parent's wishes she was disinherited, but James Hammond became a far wealthier man than her father and their married life was very happy.