My Genealogy Home Page:Information about Thomas HAMMOND
Thomas HAMMOND
Notes for Thomas HAMMOND:
Following is excerpted from Anne Arundel Gentry, by Harry Wright
Newman:
THE HAMMONDS OF MOUNTAIN NECK
The interest in the English background of the Hammond family of
Anne Arundel County by several appreciative descendants created
an incentive for English research. It is quite evident that the
family had excellent and interesting connections on the other
side, for in the analysis of Anne Arundel families perhaps none
stood higher in public service, wealth and social
attainmentsÑthough so little is obtainable during the early
years. While other families of the County, several of which
inter-married with the Hammonds, maintained a high position, the
uniformity was not as great, some branches excelling, while
other branches reverted to a minor station in service and social
position. The latter was certainly not true of the Hammond
family during the colonial period and it was only during the
Revolutionary period when intemperance caused some unfavorable
elements to creep into the family and some indiscretions of
several bachelors.
Placing the English progenitor of the Maryland branch, not
unlike other colonial emigrants, has not been a simple campaign.
The family in England was a large one and several branches in
Maryland and Virginia did not simplify the task. (A member of
the Hammond family, John by name, settled in St. Mary's Co.,
with several attributes which placed him with the minor gentry,
if not the major but he left no descendants. The numerous John
Hammonds who came into virginia as well as Thomas Hammonds, do
not clarify the genealogical problem, but the branch in Northern
Virginia, equally as socially important as the Maryland,
certainly must have possessed excellent English connections
whose scions of later generations contributed much culture to
South Carolina lowlands. Then there was the emigmatic John
Hammond, the writer of "Leah and Rachel" who lived 19 years in
Virginia and two years in Maryland but who returned to England
and published his brochure in 1656. Very few documentary
sources, however, are extant of his domicile in Maryland.) But
in placing and proving the European parentage of any American
planter certain factors must be known and invisibly assist in
the placement or proof as well as source records extant in the
Colonies and in Britain. The fact that the pro genitor appeared
in the Province of Maryland without much fanfare, held no
military or civil office, patented only one plantation which he
called "Mountain Neck" which had apparently no references to his
ancestral estate in England, died intestate and no extant record
exists of the settlement of his estate to ascertain his wealth
or a correct list of his heirs, all of which add only to the
intrigue and mystery of his background and certainly throw rocks
in the path of his historians.
Furthermore, while the progenitor lived a complacent life on his
Severn plantation there were certainly some vital gens
transferred to his son and heir, John Hammond, to make him the
outstanding planter in Anne Arundel and a leader during the
Royal period whose accomplishments matched any planter of his
day and one of the few Marylanders to have held the rank of
Major General of the Provincial forces during the colonial
period.
The many factors to be reconciled none pique the historians more
than the fact that Thomas Hammond and his only proved son became
members of the austere Quaker faith, refused to muster according
to law, and thus were disinclined to protect the planters and
their families against any provoked Indian atrocities. Quakerism
was therefore indicative of some unorthodox feelings within
their immediate ancestral make-up and perhaps had its roots
during those trying years when Puritanism, which was devoid of
spirituality within its framework, was antagonistic to the
existing orders of State and Church. Paradoxes have, however,
been present in all ages, and for definite reasons, John
Hammond, the son and heir of the emigrant, quarreled with the
Quaker hierarchy, left that austere sect, was accepted into the
Established Church (Episcopal) of Maryland and became so devout
or staunch that he presented a Bible and a Book of Common Prayer
to St. Anne's ParishÑstill preserved among its historic relics.
While the Hammonds gave no distinctive names to their
plantations to aid the antiquarian, they did leave behind
impressions of their ancient armorial bearings on parchment
still preserved at the Hall of Records now for nearly three
hundred years. This places the emigrant with definite branches
of the English family without question, but how the Maryland
family fitsin has presented a difficult problem for the
historian and genealogist.
Throughout history man has sought political asylum in foreign
lands, and during those trying years of Civil Wars in England
and the ruthlesses of the reign of the Puritans, Maryland and
Virginia became a haven for Englishmen who had been a little too
active in politics. Then when Charles II returned from his exile
in France and conservative Royal prerogatives were
reestablished, many active political Puritans or
Parliamentarians as they are sometimes called, made hasty
departures. The tide had changed, so they found it most
expedient to leave quietly but in haste the scenes of their
former activities. It is significant that Thomas Hammond did not
appear in Maryland until after the downfall of the Commonwealth.
And history has also proved that in asylum for expediency they
lived quietly. Therefore, the question is why did Thomas Hammond
live so unostentatiously at "Mountain Neck". A certain Thomas
Hammond in England aggressively engaged in the trial of Charles
I, faltered at the crucial moment by refusing to sign the death
warrant.
The family in England was definitely divided during the
Carolinian periodÑone brother loyal to the King, another the
King's bitter enemy, and other members fighting with the
Puritans throughout, while others repenting of their
Revolutionary tendencies went over to the Royal Cause. All of
which make subjective material for the genealogist to solve. And
in the final analysis the Maryland family used the identical
arms (The administration bond of Major General John Hammond
contains the signatures of all four sons with wax seals, but the
charges are indistinct. On the will of Philip Hammond, 1753,
grandson of the General, is the impression of the Hammond arms
with a shield containing "three demilions passant". Ref: Wills,
Box H, folder 20 Hall of Records.) of this hopeless family which
played such a prominent role when the Puritans overthrew the
existing order and ushered in a period of such chaos that a few
years thence the populace was only too happy to return to Royal
rule.
To add to the complexitiesÑwho was Major General Hammond who on
May 1, 1661, received 8So acres of land on the south west side
of York River for transporting 17 unnamed persons? Could he be
the Thomas Hammond who was in Maryland by November 1662? The
loss of the land records for New Kent County, Virginia,
precludes the disposition or later ownership of this tract.
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Hammond of the Parliamentary Army and
one of the Judges at the trial of Charles I, was declared
deceased by 1652, when he was listed as one of the twenty dead
regicides exempted from the Act of Indemnity as to the
forfeiture of estate. This Thomas Hammond was born prior to
1582, the death of his father, so it would make him in excess of
60 years of age if he were the father of Major General John
Hammond, born in or about 1643. It is possible, however, and
instances are not uncommon of political personages being
spirited surreptitously out of their country and declared
deceased in public records. Circumstances would seem, however,
that Thomas, the father of Major General Hammond, was a younger
man than the defaulting judge. It is definitely proved that
Thomas Hammond of "Mountain Neck" was alive on April 5, 1666,
when he received patent for his plantation. The judge had a son,
Thomas, who was a colonel in the Parliamentary Army who perhaps
thought it was expedient to depart from England at the downfall
of Cromwell. He would fit into the age bracket of Thomas of
Mountain Neck.
Captain John Norwood, High Sheriff of Anne Arundel, on November
15, 1662, marked 440 lbs. tob. in the barn of Thomas Hammond as
a fine of "John Hammond W'h 5d Tob. was disposed of & payd away
by Thomas Hammond his ffather". The fine was the failure of John
Hammond to appear at muster and to serve in the militia for the
protection of the inhabitants. Captain Norwood thereupon brought
suit at the Provincial Court on March 5, 1662/3. The court
ordered the Sheriff on December 29, 1664, to arrest Thomas
Hammond and to have him appear at the next session of the court
on February 7, 1664/5. At court on March 2, 1664/6, Thomas
Hammond appeared with his attorney, Thomas Notley, and pleaded
not guilty. The tobacco so marked was of John Hammond, the son,
and not the father's. At session of October 13, 1665, the suit
was withdrawn.
More About Thomas HAMMOND:
Record Change: October 10, 2003
Children of Thomas HAMMOND are:
- +Major General John Esq. HAMMOND, b. 1643, Probably Isle Of Wight, England, d. November 24, 1707, St. Ann's Parish, Annapolis (Anne Arundel), MD.