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Below is a family biography included in Book of Biographies: Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens, Cortland County, New York published by Biographical Publishing Company in 1898.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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SAMUEL DAVIS HAMMOND of the town of Marathon is engaged in following agricultural pursuits on a portion of the homestead, where his birth took place, July 4, 1858. His parents were Samuel and Lucy Ann (Stanley) Hammond. He was reared on the farm, and obtained a good, practical, common school education. He naturally adopted farming as his occupation, as his forefathers before him for many generations back had been tillers of the soil; he located on a part of the homestead, and is still living on his share of the ancestral estate, some 130 acres in all. He is an active Republican in politics, and is at present a member of the county committee. He has served as a constable, but prefers not to hold office. He is a member of the Marathon Grange, No. 455, and has been its master for three years. On December 22, 1880, his nuptials with Miss Sarah Bryant, daughter of Lewis Bryant of Cortland County, were celebrated. This union has been blessed with one child, Clarence S., born January 1, 1898.

Our subject belongs to a family that ranks with the oldest and most substantial families of Cortland County. Deacon John Hammond, the grandfather of our subject, founded the family in this county. He came to the town of Marathon from Long Island, N. Y., early in the present century, with the idea in view of bettering his fortune; he located some two miles from the present village, and cleared himself a large farm out of the wide-extending forests that then covered this section of country. After clearing his farm, and after becoming fairly settled, he engaged industriously in farming, and was occupied thus the remainder of his life. He was a man of strict integrity and intense religious zeal. He was a pioneer Baptist in the town of Marathon, and his title of deacon was won through his great activity in the church, and through the influence he wielded for good. He married Phoebe Davis, and had a family of thirteen children, among whom was Samuel Hammond, the father of our subject.

Samuel Hammond was born on the old homestead in 1814, and lived there until his death in 1893, being engaged in farming, exclusively. He was originally an old line Whig, but became a Republican upon the organization of the latter party in 1856, and ever afterwards was a stanch adherent of the party of Lincoln, Grant and Garfield. He was a very intelligent, well-read man, with pronounced views on many subjects; in local affairs he took a lively interest, and for twenty-six years was the assessor of his town. He married Lucy Ann Stanley, who bore him five children, as follows: Ballard, who died at the age of twelve; Clark S.; Bradley J., who was called home at the age of ten years; John Harris; and Samuel Davis. Clark S. Hammond was born on the homestead in the town of Marathon, February 7, 1853, received a common school education, and has always been engaged in farming. Politically, he is a Republican, and is at present filling out his fourth year as assessor of the town. It is needless to say that he takes an intelligent and abiding interest in political affairs, and is considered very influential. He is a member of the Marathon Grange, No. 455. He married Mary E. Hurd, a daughter of George Hurd of Whitney’s Point, and has two children, namely: Nellie and Georgia. John Harris Hammond is now a substantial farmer of the town of Marathon; he was born on the homestead, October 24, 1856, and obtained his education in the district schools and in Wells Academy of Marathon. He was reared on the farm and remained there at work until he became twenty-three years of age, when he accepted a position in a drug store, which employment continued for about seven years. He then purchased for himself a farm about two miles north of the village of Marathon, where he has followed agricultural pursuits to the present time. He is a Republican, as are all the family, and is at present a supervisor of the town of Marathon. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, in which he holds the office of ruling elder; he has represented the church in both Presbytery and Synod. He was married on December 12, 1877, to Ada Baker, a daughter of Aden Baker of McGrawville, this county, and to this union there have been born two children, as follows: Anna L., born December 27, 1880; and Willis, born July 17, 1886.

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This family biography is one of numerous biographies included in Book of Biographies: Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens, Cortland County, New York published in 1898. 

View additional Cortland County, New York family biographies here: Cortland County, New York Biographies

View a map of 1897 Cortland County, New York here: Cortland County, New York Map

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