Benjamin Hammond (abt. 1621 - 1703)

Husband of Mary (Vincent) Hammond — married 8 Nov 1648 in Yarmouth, Plymouth Colony

Descendants

Died 27 Apr 1703 at about age 82 in Rochester, Plymouth, Province of Massachusetts Bay

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Benjamin Hammond migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Birth

Benjamin's birth is given as 1621 (in London) in Elnathan Hammond's unreliable Memorandum Book, and his age at death in 1703 as 82.^[1][2][3] However, no record of birth or baptism/christening has been found, and the transcribed death record from Rochester does not mention his age.^[4][5]

Residences

Note: See Research Notes regarding possible earlier appearance in New England.

The first confirmed record of Benjamin in Massachusetts lists him as "able to bear arms" in the town of Yarmouth in 1643. "In 1652 he was chosen constable of Yarmouth, and he is on record as a resident there as late as 1655." By 1673 he is documented as a landowner in Sandwich, and in 1675 he became constable there. He removed to Rochester sometime between its founding (as Sippican) in 1679, and 1686, when his son Samuel was admitted freeman there.^[3][6]

Marriage

Elnathan's unreliable Memorandum Book states that Benjamin married Mary Vincent, daughter of John Vincent, in 1650.^[1] A Sandwich marriage record is badly worn and reads only, "[worn]aried to Mary Vincent the 8th of november," under a heading dated 1648 and with a signature underneath reading "p me William Wood".^[7] The Sandwich, Massachusetts Vital Records list Benjamin Hammond and Mary Vincent's marriage is repeated in the History and Genealogy of the Hammond Families of America, Volume 1, published 1902, pages 565-567.^[8]

"John Vincent and Benjamine Hammond" were named overseers of the will of Joan Swift in 1662,^[9][6] demonstrating that Benjamin and the Vincents knew each other, and Benjamin's wife's name was Mary, so it's a reasonable supposition that the 1648 marriage was theirs. However, there's an apparent eight-year gap before the birth of their first known child, which is unusual.

Death

Benjamin Hammond, husband of "Marey", died in Rochester, Massachusetts, on 27 Aug 1703.^[5][1]

Children

The children of Benjamin Hammond and Mary (Vincent) Hammond, probably born in Sandwich:

• Samuel, b. 1655^[1]
• John, b. 30 Nov 30, 1663, d. 19 Apr 1749 O.S.^[1]
• Nathan, b. 1670^[1]
• Benjamin, b. Nov 1673, d. 29 Mar 1747
• Rose, d. 20 Nov 1676^[10]
• A second daughter, d. young;^[1] her name is sometimes given as Mary

Research Notes

Disputed Origins: The widely-reported origin of Benjamin Hammond is problematic for several reasons, enumerated below, and is unlikely to be accurate as published.

First Problem: Two Hammond Families

There is no known relationship between Benjamin and the family of William Hammond and Elizabeth Paine, who migrated from Lavenham, Suffolk, England, and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Benjamin was not a child of this family, and did not sail on the Francis with Elizabeth and her children in 1634.^[11] There is no evidence that Benjamin came from Lavenham, or Suffolk.

The two Hammond families are frequently confused because Benjamin's parents are given as William Hammond and Elizabeth Penn (see below for additional problems with this claim). The major Hammond genealogies refer to Benjamin's father as "William of London" to differentiate him from "William of Watertown."^[2][3]

Second Problem: Elnathan Hammond's Journal

All of the published biographical and genealogical works on the birth, parentage, and migration of Benjamin Hammond so far rely on a single source: the private Memorandum Book kept by his grandson, Captain Elnathan Hammond, written roughly between 1755-1781.^[1]

Errors and Questionable Claims in Elnathan's Journal

Unfortunately, in his book, Elnathan reports at least two things as fact (enthusiastically, in great detail) that we now know to be wrong:

1. That Elizabeth was a sister/aunt of the famous Penn family. Disproved 1900 in NEHGR 54.^[12]
2. That Rev. John Lothrop was talking about Benjamin's mother when he wrote, "Elizabeth Hammon, my sister" in church records in Scituate in 1636. Disproved 1995 by Anderson.^[11]

At least one additional claim is therefore unlikely to be accurate:

1. That Elizabeth, Benjamin, and his three sisters sailed on the Griffin: "in the same ship or vessel with that worthy Minister Mr. John Lothrop". Anderson proved in 1995 that Lothrop was not their minister.^[11]

Elnathan, born 1703, would not have known either one of his paternal grandparents, as Benjamin died 1703 and Mary died 1705, so he could not have heard their origins first-hand. Battell reports that Elnathan also copied (probably after John's death in 1749) information from a journal kept by his father, Benjamin's son John Hammond. John's original journal, if it existed, hasn't been published, so we don't know which information it may have contained. It seems likely that Elnathan was also referencing published information about the Hammonds of Watertown and conflating them with his own family.

These Errors Widely Reproduced

The original account of Elnathan's journal was published by Philip Battell in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 30, in 1876.^[1]

The article in NEHGR 30, in turn, is the sole source for Benjamin's origin story in Roland Hammond's A history and genealogy of the descendants of William Hammond of London, England and his wife Elizabeth Penn: through their son Benjamin of Sandwich and Rochester, Mass., 1600-1894, written 1894. He reports Elnathan's errors as fact.^[2]

Frederick Stam Hammond's History and Genealogies of the Hammond Families in America: with an Account of the Early History of the Family in Normandy and Great Britain, 1000-1902 was written in 1902, after the publication of detailed Penn records in NEHGR 54 in 1900 disproved the claim that Benjamin's mother Elizabeth was a child of that family.^[12] F.S. Hammond acknowledges the famous-Penns error but goes on to say, "It is probable that her name was Elizabeth Penn, however, as there exists no satisfactory reason for doubting the general accuracy of the record kept by Capt. Elnathan Hammond and his father." The Memo Book was his sole source for this information.^[3]

Banks in 1937 listed Benjamin, Elizabeth, Elizabeth, Martha, and Rachel as passengers on the Griffin, citing two sources: "Hammond Gen. p. 565," and "Drakes 'Boston'."^[13] The records of the Griffin are reconstructed from secondary records, not original passenger manifests; like the others, the claims in Banks trace back to grandson Elnathan's Memo Book.

Remaining Unsourced, Unverified Claims

Thus far, no additional sources have been found to corroborate any of the following claims, which originate solely from Elnathan's Memo Book:

• That Benjamin's parents were named William and Elizabeth
• That Elizabeth's maiden name was Penn
• That they were from London (and "left a good estate" there)
• That Benjamin had sisters Elizabeth, Martha and Rachel
• That Elizabeth and the sisters came to New England at all
• That Elizabeth died in Boston and was buried there in 1640

Possible earlier appearance in New England

A Benjamin Hammon, servant of John Hardy, was twice sentenced by the courts in Salem for disobedient behavior. In 1640 he was bound to his master for an additional year, and in 1641/2 he was fined £5, whipped, and "bound to good behavior for one year".^[14] The dates of his servitude fit extremely well with the appearance of Benjamin Hammond in Yarmouth in 1643. However, Yarmouth, Sandwich, and Rochester are not particularly near Salem. It's possible but not proven that they were the same man.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8} Battell, Philip. "Descendants of Benjamin Hammond", The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 30. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1876, pp. 28-32. Archive.org. Also digital image on Google Books.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Hammond, Roland. A history and genealogy of the descendants of William Hammond of London, England and his wife Elizabeth Penn: through their son Benjamin of Sandwich and Rochester, Mass., 1600-1894. Boston: David Clapp & Son, Printers, 1894. Digital image on Internet Archive.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} Hammond, Frederick Stam. History and Genealogies of the Hammond Families in America: with an Account of the Early History of the Family in Normandy and Great Britain, 1000-1902, Volume 1. Oneida, N.Y.: Ryan & Burkhart, Printers, 1902, pp. 565-7. Digital image on Ancestry.com and archive.org.
4. ↑ Rochester Vital Record Transcripts. Digital image at Ancestry.com.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Vital Records of Rochester Massachusetts to the year 1850, Volume 2, p. 385. Digital image at [1].
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Sinnott, Mary Elizabeth. Annals of the Sinnott, Rogers, Coffin, Corlies, Reeves, Bodine and allied families. Philadelphia: private printing, J.B. Lippincott, 1905, p. 87-9.
7. ↑ Kardell1996: p. 4 and footnote
8. ↑ Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016). Reference Sandwich, Volume 1, page 4 via American Ancestors
9. ↑ Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume VI, R-S. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009, p. 629.
10. ↑ Kardell1996: p. 23
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1 11.2} Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633, Volume 2. Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1995, pp. 853-4. Digital image on Ancestry.com.
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1} Lea, J. Henry, Esq. "Genealogical Gleanings among the English Archives", The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 54. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1900, 325-9. Digital image on Google Books.
13. ↑ Banks, Charles Edward. Topographical Dictionary of 2885 English Emigrants to New England, 1620-1650. Philadelphia: Bertram Press, 1937, p. 109.
14. ↑ Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England 1634–1635, Volume 3, G-H. Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 2003, p. 221.

See also:

• Kardell, Caroline Lewis and Russell A Lovell, Jr. Vital records of Sandwich, Massachusetts, to the year 1885, vol. 1. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1996.