Charles Hammond (lawyer and journalist)

Charles Hammond

from a painting in the office of the Reporter of the Ohio Supreme Court in Columbus
Member of the Ohio Senate
from the Belmont County district
In office
December 6, 1813 – December 3, 1815
Preceded by James Caldwell
Succeeded by John Patterson
Personal details
Born (1779-09-19)September 19, 1779
Baltimore County, Maryland
Died April 3, 1840(1840-04-03) (aged 60)
Cincinnati, Ohio
Political party Federalist
Spouse(s) Sally Tillinghast

Charles Hammond (September 19, 1779 – April 3, 1840) was a lawyer, newspaper editor, and state legislator in Ohio in the early nineteenth century.[1] He attained renown in his time as both a lawyer and a journalist,[2] but was largely neglected later.[3] Hammond is best known today for his role as the intellectual leader of Ohio's ultimately failed opposition to the Second Bank of the United States.[4]

Early life and education

Charles Hammond was born on September 19, 1779 to George and Elizabeth (née Wells) Hammond.[5] The family lived in Baltimore County, Maryland at the time of Hammond's birth, but moved to Brooke County in western Virginia (now in West Virginia) in 1785. After a very brief (two-day) attempt at learning the printing business in 1798, Hammond began studying law under Virginia lawyer Philip Doddridge in 1799.[6]

Career

Hammond received his license to practice law in Virginia in 1801,[7] and later that year acquired a license to practice in the Northwest Territory.[8] In November 1801, he was appointed as prosecuting attorney in Belmont County, Ohio.[8]

In 1804, Hammond moved to Wheeling, where he lived, practiced law, and wrote newspaper essays for five years.[9] He returned to Belmont County in 1809.[9]

In 1813, Hammond began publishing a newspaper, the Ohio Federalist, in St. Clairsville, Ohio.[10] That same year, Hammond was elected to a position in the Ohio Senate, serving a two-year term until 1815.[11] Hammond was elected to the lower house of the Ohio legislature in 1816, and re-elected in 1817, 1818, and 1820.[12]

Hammond did not play a very prominent role as a legislator until controversy arose between Ohio and the Second Bank of the United States.[13] This controversy thrust him into prominence for the next several years.[13]

Together with John Crafts Wright, Hammond represented Ohio and Auditor Ralph Osborn in the litigation that followed on the state's forcible collection of state taxes from the federal Bank.[14] The high-stakes legal wrangling lasted from late 1819 until early 1824, when it came to end with a loss for Hammond in the Supreme Court of the United States in Osborn v. Bank of the United States.[15][16] Hammond played an important role in the 1824 presidential campaign of Henry Clay - who had been opposing counsel representing the federal Bank in the litigation with Ohio.[17]

Hammond was nominated for a seat on the Ohio Supreme Court in 1822, but was rejected by the Ohio legislature.[18] He was appointed official reporter for the Ohio Supreme Court and held that role until he retired from the practice of law in 1838.[19] Near the close of his administration, John Quincy Adams offered Henry Clay a seat on the United States Supreme Court. Clay declined, and the seat was offered to Hammond, who also declined.[20]

Hammond became the editor of the semi-weekly Cincinnati Gazette in 1825.[19] Until his death in 1840, Hammond published a steady stream of commentary on law, politics, and public affairs.[21] Speaking of him decades later, William Henry Smith, who coordinated and managed the Associated Press, described Hammond as "the most distinguished American editor of his day."[22]

Personal life

Hammond married Sarah (Sally) Tillinghast in 1803.[8] Charles and Sally had a daughter, Almer (b. Oct. 12, 1813), and a son, Henry. They remained married until Sally's death in 1826, which followed a seven-year period of poor health.[23] Some years later, he married again.[24] Of his second wife, Weisenburger says only that she was "a sister of Thomas and Moses Moorehead of Zanesville."[24]

Death

Charles Hammond died on April 3, 1840.[25] He was memorialized in a poem by his assistant editor at the Gazette, William D. Gallagher, which included the lines:[26]

A keen perception of the right, A lasting hatred of the wrong,
An arm that failed not in the fight, A spirit strong,
Array’d him with the weak and low, No matter what the opposing pow’r
And gave a terror to his blow In battle's hour.
He asked no leader in the fight; No “times and seasons” sought to know;
But, when convinced his cause was right, He struck the blow.
Praise to his virtues!—greenly keep The memory of the race he ran!
Ne’er let the LIVING LESSON sleep Of such a man!

References

  1. ↑ Weisenburger, p. 338.
  2. ↑ Smith at 12 (describing Hammond as "a famous man in his time, who conferred honor upon two professions, and left the world richer for his having lived").
  3. ↑ Weisenburger at 338 (explaining that "[a] century after his life and work ... [Hammond's] name is practically unknown except to well-informed journalists and historical specialists; and to most of these his personality and achievements may seem blurred and indefinite").
  4. ↑ Ellis at 149 (identifying Hammond as "the leading figure among the antibank forces" in Ohio).
  5. ↑ Weisenburger, p. 340.
  6. ↑ Weisenburger, p. 342.
  7. ↑ Weisenburger, p. 343.
  8. 1 2 3 Weisenburger, p. 344.
  9. 1 2 Weisenburger, p. 345.
  10. ↑ Weisenburger, p. 347.
  11. ↑ Weisenburger, p. 348.
  12. ↑ Weisenburger, p. 351.
  13. 1 2 Weisenburger, p. 352.
  14. ↑ Ellis, pp. 149-184.
  15. ↑ Ellis, pp. 183-184.
  16. ↑ "Osborn v. Bank of the United States, 22 U.S. 738 (1824)". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2015-02-10.
  17. ↑ Weisenburger, pp. 264-372.
  18. ↑ Ellis, p. 182.
  19. 1 2 Weisenburger, p. 372.
  20. ↑ Randall, p. 45.
  21. ↑ See generally Weisenburger.
  22. ↑ Smith, p. 29.
  23. ↑ Weisenburger, pp. 376-377.
  24. 1 2 Weisenburger, p. 425.
  25. ↑ Weisenburger, p. 426.
  26. ↑ Gallagher, William D. (1849). "Charles Hammond". The Western Quarterly Review. I: 171.

Sources

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