Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 280, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 November 1918 — CELEBRATES HIS 83RD BIRTHDAY [ARTICLE]

CELEBRATES HIS 83RD BIRTHDAY

TIPPECANOE COUNTY TAKES PRIDE IN EMINENT LAWYER AND PATRIOT. Hon. Edwin P. Hammond, eminent lawyer, patriot and citizen of this community, today in a modest way celebrated the eighty-third anniversary of his birth. Judge Hammond was born at Brookville, Indiana, November 26, 1835, a son of Nathaniel and Hannah (Sering) Hammond. On the Hammond side of his genealogical tree he is descended from New England ancestry. Has father removed from Vermont to Indiana, and was married at Brookville. When yet a youth his parents removed to Columbus, Indiana, where he received such education as the common schools and the seminary at Columbus afforded. In 1854 young Hammond went to Indianapolis to accept a position as clerk in a wholesale house. During his first year thus employed he caught a glimpse of professional life and soon after began the study of law in the office of Abraham A.

Hammond and Thomas A- Nelson, of Terre Haute. The former, his halfbrother, was elected lieutenant governor in .1856 and became governor of the state, on .the death of Governor Willard in 1859. About this time, having passed a satisfactory examination, Judge Hammond entered thd senior class of Asbury university at’ Greencastle and in 1857 received the degree of bachelor of law. He soon after opened an office at Rensselaer. At that time the county seat of Jus-, per county was a country town and not inviting and yet Judge Hammond,

through strict integrity and unusual ability, became a factor in every advanced step of ‘higher ideals. Today he loves the county and its people and the people have only praise for the distinguished lawyer and good citizen. When the country was in danger of disruption by rebellion of the southern states, when our very existence as a nation was threatened, he heard, in the opening hour of the day, the. bell ringing in the old court house tower and without breakfast went across the way, surprised to find the court room half filled with men who realized somehow that war, with all it means, was inevitable. He walked to the front of the court room and delivered an address that electrified the people and that hour his career as a soldier and patriot began. He enlisted in the three months’ service, was commissioned first lieutenant of Company G, Ninth regiment, Indiana volunteer infantry, and served with-General Robert H. Milroy in West Virginia. At the expiration of his term of enlistment he returned to his home and resumed the practice of - law. He was elected to the legislature in October, 1861, representing Newton, Jasper and Pulaski counties. In August, 1862, he assisted in raising Company A, Eighty-seventh Indiana “regiment, and was commissioned captain. He rose rapidly to major and on November 21, of that year to lieutenant coloneK 'His great courage and efficiency in the civil war is tpo well known to” need repetition. Tippecanoe county claims him now. He easily ranks as one of our most distinguished citizens.—Lafayette Courier, November 26.