John Henry Hammond

John Henry Hammond (30 June 1833 – 30 April 1890) was a Union Army officer during the American Civil War, a banking and railroad executive, and a federal official in Indian affairs for the Dakota Territory. He served on the staff of Major General William T. Sherman and was recommended for promotion by Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant. After the war, Hammond held federal appointments in the American West and participated in discussions regarding the surrender of Sitting Bull in 1881. During the 1880s he was involved in railroad development and land promotion at the head of Lake Superior, contributing to the early development of Superior, Wisconsin.

Early life John Henry Hammond was born on June 30, 1833, in New York City, on Chambers Street opposite City Hall Park. His father, Henry Hammond, was from Maryland, and his mother, Rachel Orr, was from near Londonderry, Ireland. After his father’s death during his childhood, the family moved to Campbell County, Kentucky.

Hammond attended preparatory school and college at Bethany, Virginia, and later studied civil engineering at the Jesuit college in Cincinnati. He worked for two years in a mercantile house in New York City before returning to Kentucky, where he was engaged in farming and land development and was associated with the founding of Clinton, Iowa. According to a later biographical account, he later returned to Kentucky and joined a company that became part of the 10th Kentucky Infantry Regiment.

In July 1864, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant wrote to Abraham Lincoln recommending Hammond for promotion to brigadier general, citing his service and his role in recruiting three African American regiments in Kentucky: "He is one of the most industrious, indefatigable and bravest men I have ever seen in action."

On 10 November 1864, Hammond married Sophia Vernon Wolfe, daughter of Hon. Nathaniel Wolfe, who served for many years as Attorney General of Kentucky. Wolfe had been a member of a state committee appointed to determine whether Kentucky should remain in the Union at the outset of the Civil War.

In 1877, he was appointed Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Dakota Territory. According to History of Dakota Territory, his investigations of Indian agency officials and traders generated controversy and resulted in indictments that were later dismissed or unsuccessful in court.

Hammond is described in history books as participating in federal discussions surrounding the expected surrender of Sitting Bull in 1881. Hammond was among those who did not think that Sitting Bull should receive unfair treatment after his arrest for involvement in the Battle of the Little Bighorn, and indicated that he would use his political connections in Washington, D.C. to ensure that Sitting Bull could surrender at Fort Buford without fear.

Development of Superior, Wisconsin 1886 Old Settler's Association of West Superior, Wisconsin featuring General John Henry Hammond among other founders. In 1878, Hammond traveled to the head of Lake Superior with the intention of establishing a city. In an 1890 local history, Frank A. Flower wrote that Hammond came “for the purpose of making a city”, and the same account describes his later role in the development of what became West Superior in Superior, Wisconsin. Hammond investigated development opportunities at the head of Lake Superior, focusing on the Wisconsin side of the St. Louis River. He acquired land holdings in the area and promoted rail connections to the head of the lakes. In July 1912 the city of Superior, Wisconsin opened Hammond Park, in memory of the former soldier. Hammond's two sons paid for a fountain in the park, which is next to Hammond Avenue.

Some time after his death, in January 1953, the Minnesota Historical Society (MHS) received a telephone call from Mrs. Vaclav Vytlacil, Hammond's granddaughter, to tell them about some papers held in a rolltop desk, in the attic of the family home in Saint Paul. In addition to Hammond's papers the MHS found a tight bundle wrapped in a copy of a Washington, D.C. newspaper dated 1805. Upon further inspection it turned out to be the original diary of the American explorer William Clark, now generally known as The field notes of Captain William Clark, 1803-1805. These were edited by Ernest Staples Osgood and published in 1964 by Yale University. Osgood described this find as "an ingot of gold in a bale of hay." There was a legal battle over the papers' ownership, instigated by the Hammond family, which lasted several years. The Clark Field Notes, are now held at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

He was the father of Ogden H. Hammond and John Henry Hammond (1871–1949), the grandfather of music producer John Henry Hammond II, and the great-grandfather of blues musician John P. Hammond.