John Wilkes Hammond

John Wilkes Hammond (December 16, 1837 – March 26, 1922) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from 1898 to 1914.

Early life Hammond was born to Maria Louise (Southwick) and John Wilkes Hammond Sr. in Mattapoisett (then part of Rochester, Massachusetts) on December 16, 1837. He graduated from Tufts College in 1861 and began teaching. He taught in Stoughton, Massachusetts for one year, then spent a brief time in Tisbury, Massachusetts before joining the Union Army. He enlisted in the 3rd Massachusetts Militia Regiment for a term of nine months. His enlistment ended in June 1863 and he resumed his teaching career in Wakefield, Massachusetts. In 1866 he married Clara Ellen Tweed, daughter of Tufts professor Benjamin Franklin Tweed and his wife, Clara Foster Tweed.

Legal career

In the fall of 1864, Hammond began studying law in the office of Sweetser & Gardner. He attended Harvard Law School for a year, earning a LL.B in 1865, and was admitted to the bar in 1866. He opened a practice in Cambridge, Massachusetts and served on the city's common council and school committee. He represented the 7th Middlesex district in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1872 to 1873 and from 1873 to 1886 was Cambridge's city solicitor.