James Henry Hammond (1807 - 1864)

Born 15 Nov 1807 in Newberry County, South Carolina [uncertain]

Husband of Catherine Elizabeth (Fitzsimons) Hammond — married 23 Jun 1831 in Charleston, South Carolina, United States

Descendants

Died 13 Nov 1864 at age 56 in Beech Island, Aiken, South Carolina, United States

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Preceded by 59th Governor John Peter Richardson II Preceded by Andrew Butler

James Henry Hammond 60th Governor of South Carolina 1842—1844 US Senator (Class 3) from South Carolina 1857—1860

Succeeded by 61st Governor William Aiken, Jr. Succeeded by Vacant 1860 – 1868 Secession, Civil War & Reconstruction

Biography

James Hammond is Notable.

Birth

James Henry was born November 15, 1807

Life of James Henry

James Henry Hammond was an attorney, politician and planter from South Carolina. He served as a United States Representative from 1835 to 1836, the 60th Governor of South Carolina from 1842 to 1844, and United States Senator from 1857 to 1860 (when he resigned due to South Carolina's secession from the union.^[1] He was considered one of the major spokesmen in favor of slavery in the years before the American Civil War.^[2]

Acquiring property through marriage, he ultimately owned 22 square miles, several plantations and houses, and more than 300 slaves. Through his wife's family, he was a brother-in-law of Wade Hampton II and uncle to his children, including Wade Hampton III (later governor of South Carolina (1876-1879). When the senior Hampton learned that Hammond had abused his four Hampton nieces as teenagers,^[1] he made the scandal public. It was thought to derail Hammond's career for a time, but he was later elected as US senator. The Hampton family suffered more, as none of the girls married.^[3],^[4]

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina's 4th congressional district from 1835–1836; Governor of South Carolina from 1842–1844; U.S. Senator (Class 3) from South Carolina from 1857–1860. He served alongside: Josiah J. Evans, Arthur P. Hayne and James Chesnut, Jr.^[1]

Death

James Hammond died two days shy of his 57th birthday on November 13, 1864 at what is now the Redcliffe Plantation State Historic Site in Beech Island, South Carolina. He is buried at Hammond Cemetery, Beech Island, Aiken County, South Carolina.^[5]

Plantations

The following plantations were owned by Hammond during his life:^[6][7]

• Wrackley Place, Calhoun County, Georgia
• Fitzsimons Marsh, on Bear Island Creek in Edgefield County, South Carolina
• Cedar Grove, bounded by Fitzsimons Marsh, Edgefield County, South Carolina
• Cathwood Plantation, bounded by Cedar Grove, Edgefield County, South Carolina
• Silver Bluff, bounded by Cedar Grove, Edgefield County, acquired in 1831 from wife's father's estate
• Silverton, an entire tract of pine land surrounding Silverton House
• Cowden Plantation and Coldwade, Edgefield County, South Carolina
• Redcliffe, Edgefield County, acquired in 1855

Slaves

James Henry Hammond was a slaveholder. His plantation journals name the 146 enslaved persons from Silver Bluff Plantation when he took over the property in Dec 1831,^{[8] [9]} The 1860 Slave Schedule includes several pages of unnamed slaves.^[10] and another list from his plantation journals in 1832 which give the name and value of each enslaved person.^[11]

For more information please see the Slaves of James Henry Hammond page.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} James Henry Hammond on Wikipedia
2. ↑ Selections from the Letters and Speeches of the Hon. James H. Hammond (New York: John F. Trow & Co., 1866), at https://www.google.com/books/edition/Selections_from_the_Letters_and_Speeches/FvMeZzrWW3AC?hl=en&gbpv=1
3. ↑ Drew Gilpin Faust, James Henry Hammond and the Old South, Louisiana State University Press, pp. 241–245, Baton Rouge and London, 1982, ISBN 0-8071-1048-5.
4. ↑ Rosellen Brown, "MONSTER OF ALL HE SURVEYED": Review of SECRET AND SACRED The Diaries of James Henry Hammond, a Southern Slaveholder, edited by Carol Bleser. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989, at https://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/29/books/monster-of-all-he-surveyed.html.
5. ↑ Find A Grave Memorial# 25736532
6. ↑ http://sankofagen.pbworks.com/w/page/14230808/Silver%20Bluff%20Plantation
7. ↑ Miscellaneous probate records, 1785-1868; indexes to records, 1785-1957: "Miscellaneous probate records, 1785-1868; indexes to records, 1785-1957"
   Catalog: Miscellaneous probate records, 1785-1868; indexes to records, 1785-1957 Box 89, packages 3555-3598
   Film number: 007649260 > image 216 of 586
   FamilySearch Image: 3Q9M-C9P1-K8 (accessed 29 January 2024) properties named in his probate papers
8. ↑ Records of ante-bellum Southern plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War:
   Catalog: Records of ante-bellum Southern plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War Part 1. The papers of James Henry Hammond James Henry Hammond papers - plantation books, account book, census record, 1831-1887
   Film number: 008891490 > image 18 of 1017
   FamilySearch Image: 3QHV-R3GS-S9WV-X (accessed 25 July 2023)
9. ↑ 1831 Plantation journal of James Henry Hammond
10. ↑ "United States Census (Slave Schedule), 1860," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GBSX-Y8C?cc=3161105&wc=8BD4-N38%3A1610392401%2C1610832901%2C1610493701 : 16 October 2019), South Carolina > Barnwell > nulla > image 133 of 224; citing NARA microfilm publication M653 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
11. ↑ Records of ante-bellum Southern plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War: "Records of ante-bellum Southern plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War"
    Catalog: Records of ante-bellum Southern plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War James Henry Hammond papers - plantation books, list of Negroes, account book, 1832-1858
    Film number: 008891471 > image 12 of 459
    FamilySearch Image: 3QHV-R3G9-Y9DY-3 (accessed 29 January 2024)
    • plantation journals of James Henry Hammond

• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress