(I) Thomas Hammond, the first American ancestor of Elmira (Hammond) Shepardson, was one of the early settlers of Newton, Massachusetts. He was the son of William and Mary Hammond, of Melford, England, and grandson of John and Agnes Hammond, of the adjacent town of Lavenham, England. He was baptized at Melford, county of Suffolk, England, with his twin brother John, September 2, 1603. He was a first cousin of William Hammond, who settled at Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1636. The marriage of Thomas Hammond to Elizabeth Carson, daughter of Robert and Prudence (Hammond) Carson, and maternal granddaughter of Robert and Elizabeth Hammond, of Whelhethaur, where she was born before 1604, took place in Lavenham, November 12, 1623, and their first child Thomas, was born there about 1625 and accompanied his parents to America in 1635. Thomas Hammond was one of the first settlers of Hingham Massachusetts, and had land granted to him there in 1636, and was admitted a freeman, March 9, 1636-37. He served on the Grand jury in 1637. His two younger children were born in Hingham, the elder ones having been born in England. With several other Hingham pioneers, Thomas Hammond removed to a locality near the boundary line of what are now Newton and Brookline, Massachusetts, five of them settling in that vicinity, Mr. Hammond’s homestead in Newton being near the pond afterwards called Hammond’s Pond. He became one of the wealthiest men of his day, and when he died, in 5675, his unsigned will was admitted to probate. His estate, according to the inventory, amounted to nearly eleven hundred and forty pounds. An interesting relic of Elizabeth (Carson) Hammond, in possession of George W. Hammond, of Yarmouthville, Maine, in 1902, is a silver coin, which she herself was allowed to coin when visiting the mint of England as a young girl. Thomas and Elizabeth (Carson) Hammond were the parents of four children: Thomas, of whom further; Elizabeth, Sarah and Nathaniel.
(II) Thomas Hammond, eldest son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Carson) Hammond, was born in England about 1630, and died in Newton, Massachusetts, October 20, 1678, having inherited his father’s estate in that town. The homestead at Newton remained in the family for a number of generations, and then passed into the hands of Judge John Lowell. Thomas Hammond married, December 17, 1662, Elizabeth Stedman, probably a sister of Nathaniel Stedman, who married his sister, Sarah Hammond, and they were the parents of seven children, among them Eleazer, of whom further. The mother died in 1715, at Newton.
(III) Eleazer Hammond, seventh child and fifth son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Stedman) Hammond, was born in Newton, Massachusetts, November 13, 1677, and died there in 5760. He was a selectman of Newton in 1741, and his will was dated May 1, 5760, and mentions his children and others. His widow’s will was dated April 4, 1764. Eleazer Hammond married, April 2g, 1703, Hannah Harrington, who was born August 9, 1682, and died in 1775, a daughter of John and Hannah (Winter) Harrington, of Watertown, Massachusetts. They were the parents of eight children among them Ephraim, of whom further.
(IV) Ephraim Hammond, seventh child of Eleazer and Hannah (Harrington) Hammond, was born in Newton, Massachusetts, March 15, 1719-20. He married, in 1741, Martha Steel, and they were the parents of twelve children, among them Samuel, of whom further.
(V) Samuel Hammond, fifth child of Ephraim and Martha (Steel) Hammond, was born in Newton, Massachusetts February 2, 1748, and died at Wardsboro, Vermont, January 4, 1942 He was one of the party of patriots who threw the tea overboard in Boston Harbor. He was a private in Captain Hopestill Hall’s company, Colonel Lemuel Robinson’s regiment, January 31, 1776. According to the roll he was then living in Roxbury. He also served in Captain Amariah Fuller’s company, Colonel William McIntosh’s regiment in 1778, stationed at Roxbury. After the Revolution he removed to Wardsboro, Vermont, where he was one of the first settlers. The family erected mills at what is now West Wardsboro, called at that time Hammond’s Mills. Samuel Hammond married, in 1770, Mary Rogers, daughter of John Rogers. She was born January 28, 1752, and they were the parents of seven children, among them Joel, of whom further. Peter Hammond, the third child of Samuel and Mary (Rogers) Hammond, lived to be one hundred and two years of age. When his parents went to Wardsboro, Vermont, in 1791, he was seventeen years old. He was left with his grandparents in Newton for a time, and his mother returned for him on horseback, a distance of one hundred and twenty-five miles, and the boy walked back with her. In later years he owned the Hammond Mills, and was by far the most prominent and influential man in the town; he was justice of the peace and postmaster for nearly twenty-five years; he cast his first vote for John Adams, and lived to be a Republican during and after the Civil War. He removed to Geneseo, Illinois, with his son in 1856, and for several years prior to his death had made his home with his daughter, Mrs. Martha H. Taylor. He died on the day that he was one hundred and two years old, and was taken to Wardsboro to be buried. Stewart Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, in Geneseo, presented him with a gold-headed cane on the anniversary of his becoming one hundred years of age. He had become a Mason in 1799. He married and had seven children.
(VI) Joel Hammond, son of Samuel and Mary (Rogers) Hammond, was born in Newton, Massachusetts, July 13, 1778, and died at Oneonta, New York, where he is said to have removed late in, life. He married (first) Hannah Moon (Moore?) and they had seven children. He married (second) Sena Higgins, and they had one daughter, Elmira, who married Andrew Shepardson, above mentioned.