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Jasper County, Iowa
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Marion R. Hammer, M.D. The
life history of Dr. Marion R. Hammer, prominent citizen of Newton, Jasper
County, is one of romance and tragedy. Born in this county, the son of very
early settlers, his career has been one of strenuous action and full of human
interest; but, being endowed with sterling qualities, he has successfully met
and overcome many obstacles that would have defeated the purposes of others less
courageous. Determining early in life to become a physician, he let nothing
stand in the way of his ambition and after years of toil and self-sacrifice he
attained the end sought for, becoming a successful practitioner, honored among
his fellows. From this position he
was stripped of all honors and subjected to such humiliation and disgrace as
falls to the lot of a convict, then, to be pardoned by the governor, restored to
citizenship, and again win back success and honor. He clearly belongs to that
class of men made of the stuff that does not bend easily and who refuse to be
downed by untoward circumstances, who, in fact, being natural fighters, thrive
on opposition. Doctor
Hammer traces his ancestry back to Aaron Hammer, who was born in Celacia,
Germany, from which country he emigrated to America in 1725, settling in Bucks
County, Pennsylvania, in which county his son Abraham was born in 1731. He
adopted the Quaker religion and became a worker in that faith and the next three
generations of Hammers adhered to the same. His son Isaac was born at Guilford
Courthouse, North Carolina, in 1764, whither the father, Abraham, had emigrated
with his family. Elisha, son of Isaac, was born in North Carolina, May 1, 1789,
and at an early age moved with his parents to Tennessee, settling in Jefferson
County. He was a miller and owned a
mill on the historic stream of Lost creek.
He was a minister of the Friends church.
His family consisted of ten children, of whom, Jesse, the father of the
subject, was fourth in order of birth. In
1846 the Rev. Elisha Hammer sold his mill. loaded up his earthly belongings and
drove overland to Iowa, bringing his wife and six sons, four of whom were
married, and they brought their families; also two daughters. The Rev. Mr.
Hammer came along, leaving but one member of the family in Tennessee. The
Hammers wintered in Richland, Keokuk County, Iowa, where the father taught
school. In the spring of 1847 Rev.
Elijah Hammer came to Jasper County and settled in the neighborhood of Hammer's
Grove and there he organized the Friends Church and became its first pastor,
serving without pay, and there he continued to reside until his death, in 1847,
and he was buried at Pleasant Plains. He
was a useful man and accomplished much good wherever his lot was cast. He was a
Whig and a strong Abolitionist. Jesse
Hammer, father of the Doctor, was born October 4, 1820 in Jefferson County,
Tennessee. There he grew up, received what education he could in the rude
schools of those early days and there he married, his wife dying in early life,
leaving him with two sons. In 1846
he joined his father, who decided to leave that country since he was opposed to
slavery and his views had been resented by his neighbors, and they all came to
Iowa. He settled in Jasper County
and was destined to become quite prominent and influential. Here he married
Margaret W. Sparks, daughter of John R. Sparks, who owned a flour mill at
Lynnville, of which mill Jesse Hammer later became miller, operating the same
successfully for a number of years. He later became miller of Doctor Warrren’s
mill near Oskaloosa. He was owner of two hundred acres of land in Newton
Township. He was elected the first sheriff of Jasper County, but refused to
serve. His marriage with Margaret
Sparks was the first of record in this County.
His brother Seth was the first recorder of the County, having been
elected in 1846 or 1847; another brother, Elisha, was captain of Company G,
Seventh Iowa Cavalry, in the Civil war. Jesse
Hammer was married four times, his first wife having been a Miss Hackney, of
Tennessee, and they were married in Jefferson County, Mr. Hammer's wedding suit
having been cut out by Andrew Johnson, later President of the United States, who
lived in the adjoining County. By
his second wife, Margaret Sparks, was born Dr. Marion R. Hammer, of this sketch,
he being their oldest child. In all, Jesse Hammer was the father of fourteen
children. John R. Sparks, mentioned above, was not only known as the proprietor
of the mill at Lynnville but he was also a large land owner, and at one time
paid the largest tax of any one in Jasper County.
He was prominent in the early industrial life of the County, having
established the first flour mill, the first saw mill and the first carding mill
in Jasper County, all being erected near Lynnville. Two
sons of his, William Henry and Mathew T., uncles of the subject, were soldiers
in the Civil war, having served in the Fifth Iowa Volunteer Infantry; they were
captured at Tunnel Hill in 1864 and incarcerated in Andersonville prison, where
they died. The death of Jesse Hammer, father of the Doctor, occurred on
September 2, 1873, at Richland, Iowa, whither he had gone on a visit.
Dr.
Marion R. Hammer, the immediate subject of this sketch, was born January 26,
1853, about a quarter of a mile north of the Amboy school house in Kellogg
Township. When he was eight years
old his mother died, and his early education was neglected, in fact, at the age
of fifteen he could scarcely read or write, but early in boyhood he had shown a
preference for the medical profession and would not permit anything to turn him
from his course, and he consulted with Dr. I. A. Hammer, a brother of his
grandfather, as to the proper course to be pursued and was informed that he must
obtain an education, so the boy set about to do so.
Saving his earnings by working out on the farm, he attended school ten
terms at Hazel Dell Academy and at Lynnville three terms.
He also taught one term in the Lynnville Academy and three terms of
public school in the County. In 1876-7 he entered the Iowa State University and
took his first course in medicine. He
studied assiduously and made a brilliant record in his studies, both in the
academy and the university, and thus well equipped he began the practice of
medicine at Adamson Grove in 1877. Later he located in Reasoner.
In order to further fit himself for his calling, in 1880 he entered the
College of Physicians and Surgeons at St. Joseph, Missouri, taking the
prescribed course of medicine. Before
he had finished there was a split in the faculty of that institution and a
number of professors and students seceded and established the Northwestern
Medical School. Of the
seventy-seven students in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, more than
fifty went with the new college. Doctor Hammer being one of the number and he
graduated fourth in a class of twenty-seven on February 17, 1881.
He was elected vice-president of the Alumni Association of the last-named
institution. Following his
graduation, he came to Newton, locating here in March 1881. In the spring of 1884 he went to Kingsley, Iowa, and taught
in the schools there for three terms. He
was first principal of
these schools for one term. He was
appointed professor of physiology of King College in Des Moines, which position
he held for four years, and he lectured for two years on diseases of children in
that college. In March 1881 he was
graduated from the King Eclectic College. He
taught the branch of physiology in the Newton College for seven or eight terms.
As a teacher he gave the utmost satisfaction in all capacities. On
October 22, 1876, Doctor, Hammer was united in marriage with Mary Emma Dooley,
the daughter of a Jasper County farmer, and to this union two children were
born: Marion R., Jr., born August 22, 1878, is practicing law in Newton; Jesse
Marion, born at Kingsley, October 18, 1884, is farming in Jasper County and is
an optician. In
the year 1901 Doctor Hammer was so unfortunate as to become embroiled in a
quarrel with a young man of Newton which resulted very disastrously, for a time
checking his career, and bringing much sorrow into his life. Doctor Hammer's own story of the troube follows: The
two men in question met on the public square and after a few bitter words the
Doctor's opponent struck him five times in quick succession, the fourth blow
knocking him to his knees; while he was still on the sidewalk, the fifth blow
knocked him into the street, some distance from the curbing. His opponent then
followed him up and as he approached Doctor Hammer drew a sheathed knife from
his pocket and struck him with the knife sheathed, but his assailant continued
to rain blows upon the Doctor's head and shoulders. The latter's opponent was a
much younger and larger man, twenty-eight years of age, six feet and one inch
tall and weighing two hundred and forty pounds, while the Doctor was forty-eight
years old and weighed but one hundred and fifty pounds at that time, and was but
five feet seven inches in height. Believing that his life was in danger and not
being able to cope with his opponent unassisted, he unsheathed his knife and cut
him several times or until his assailant desisted from his attack.
For this he was arrested, tried and convicted of attempted manslaughter,
before Judge Bishop, who was appointed to hear the case and on Friday, March 1,
1901, was sentenced to serve three and one-half years in the penitentiary.
The case was then appealed and was sustained by the upper court, and on
April 22, 1902, he was taken to Fort Madison by Sheriff Hook and Deputy Agnew,
who showed him every possible courtesy. During
the first ten months of, his term in prison he was a messenger man or "lumper,"
and as such was allowed freedom to go to all parts of the penitentiary; the last
twenty months he was gate-keeper at the lower gate and was outside the walls
every day. His wife remained
faithful during his trouble and never ceased in her efforts to work for his
pardon. A
petition containing over three thousand names, being one-third of the voters of
the County, was presented to the governor, together with petitions from persons
from various states of the union to the number of four thousand. The latter
names were secured through the editor of the Blue Grass Blade, the Rev. C. C.
Moore, of Lexington, Kentucky, who interested himself in the case and espoused
it. These seven thousand names were
presented in a petition to the governor, asking for his release, and after the
men who had been most interested in his prosecution and conviction had joined in
the petition, the governor acted upon it, and on September 12, 1904, the
Doctor's sentence was commuted to take effect on September 15th, three days
later. He had received eight months
off for good time. He came back to
Newton on the same train which had carried him to prison, reaching home on the
22nd of that month, just two years and six months after leaving home. When the train upon which he was returning arrived at the
local station he was met by a delegation of five hundred persons, who tendered
him an ovation, assuring him that they believed he had been wrongfully
sentenced. On April 18, 1905, Doctor Hammer was restored to citizenship by the
governor. The Doctor docs not
believe that his case was properly handled by his attorney.
After his return home he again took up the practice of medicine, in the
same office in the Myers block, which he had retained during his absence; in
fact, this has been his office since 1885.
He has been very successful since his return home, enjoying a large and
growing practice, and he has sent his son, M. R. Hammer, Jr., through Drake
University. Doctor Hammer is
independent of his practice, but he continues it because of his liking for the
work. He owns a good farm near
Kapple Station, as also does Mrs. Hammer. He has served as health officer of the city of Newton for two
years, and he has been physician to the County jail for four years, all told; at
the present time he is assistant physician to the County.
He has been president and secretary of the Jasper County Eclectic Society
of Physicians and Surgeons, and in 1910 he was elected vice-president of the
Jasper County Medical Society. He
was president of the Ringsley Medical Society and president of the Teachers
Association of that institution. While
confined at the state penitentiary he formed a medical society and was made its
president. It consisted of five other physicians. At present he is a member of
the Jasper County Medical Society, the Iowa State Medical Society and the
American Medical Association. He
is a dimitted member of the Masonic order, Lebanon Lodge No. 127, at Lynnville,
Iowa. He is also a dimitted
member of the Knights of Pythias. He belongs to the Pioneer Lodge, Des Moines
Homesteaders. Politically, Doctor Hammer was reared a Republican, became a
Democrat, afterwards embraced the Greenback theory, and later became a Populist,
and is now a Socialist. He voted for Belva Lockwood for President, and is an
ardent supporter of woman's suffrage. While he has always been an abolitionist, he is an
uncompromising Confederate, and is in possession of the only Confederate flag in
Jasper County. Religiously, he was
reared a Quaker (Friend), became a Methodist, then a Universalist, later an
infidel and now a confirmed atheist. The Past and Present of Jasper County, Gen. James B. Weaver, Editor-In-Chief, 1912 B.F. Bowen Co., Indianapolis, IN, p. 529. |
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