admin THE HAMMOND FAMILY is of origin so ancient that the name may be traced to the conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066, and to France of a period indefinitely preceding that epoch. Burke’s “Landed Gentry ” says that the race was probably derived from a branch of the Norman house of St. Amand, far more ancient and of Norman origin, granted to the “Sirname of Hammond,” with the motto: “Tentanda Via Est “- ” A Way Must be Tried.”
In America the Hammonds date to a period nearly contemporaneous with the earliest Puritan settlement of Massachusetts. The branch of the Hammonds with which this sketch is concerned consists of descendants of William Hammond of London, County Kent, England, who in 1620 married Elizabeth Penn, sister of Admiral Sir William Penn, and aunt of William Penn.
The children of William Hammond were: Benjamin, Elizabeth, Martha, and Rachel. After her husband’s death the widow of William Hammond, with her children, left a good estate in London, and in 1634 came to New England. Mrs. Hammond lived in Boston and in Watertown, Mass., till 1638, when she removed to Scituate, becoming a member of the Rev. John Lothrope’s church. She died in Boston in 1640.
Benjamin Hammond, son of William and Elizabeth, went to Sandwich, Mass., and in 1650 married Mary Vincent.
Samuel Hammond, eldest son of Benjamin Hammond (1st), was born at Sandwich in 1655. About 1680 he came with his brother, John, to Rochester, Mass., -where he lived to an advanced age. He was a large landholder, and a leading member of the First Congregational Church. He married Mary Hathaway.
Thomas Hammond, fourth son of the preceding, was born September 16, 1687. He lived at New Bedford, Mass. In 1721 he married Sarah Spooner.
William Hammond, second son of Thomas Hammond of New Bedford, was born at that place on the 17th of August, 1724. From Wales, Hampden County, Mass., he removed to Northern New York, settling in or near Pittstown, Rensselaer County, in 1745 he married Elizabeth Sheperd.
Paul Hammond, son of William, was born December 27th, 1757, probably at Wales, Hampden County, Mass. In 1780, at Pittstown, Rensselaer County, N. Y., he married Mary, also called Polly, Fuller. He was a soldier of the Revolution, was crippled in the Patriot service, and received a pension from the Government. He was a farmer. In 1785 he moved to Northampton (Northville), Fulton Co., N. Y. Between 1815 and 1820 he removed to Penfield, afterward Webster, Monroe County,’ N. Y., where he died in 1838.
Benoni G. Hammond, son of Paul Hammond, Sr., was born February 16, 1784. He was a farmer, surveyor and school teacher. He lived at Brant, Erie County, N. Y., where he resided till his death in 1866. May 1, 1803, he married Ruth Lobdell.
SOURCE: Memorial and Family History of Erie County New York; Volume I