John Hammons

From "The Hammons Family: A Study of a West Virginia Family's Traditions" edited by Carl Fleischhauer and Alan Jabbour, based on fieldwork by Dwight Diller, Alan Jabbour, and Carl Fleischhauer, APS L65-L66, Archive of Folk Culture, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, Washington:

http://www.loc.gov/folklife/LP/AFSL65andL66_Hammons.pdf

Passage about "Uncle John":

The caption for his picture: "Crooked Neck" John Hammons, ca. 1856. Family members report that John Hammons participated in the Tug Fork fight described in the text, where he was struck by a piece of wood and his head "listed" to one side ever after. John was Paris Hammons's uncle. Photograph courtesy of Leonard and Ethel O'Brien, Gerry Milnes, and the Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins, West Virginia.

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The family's move into the Alleghenies is explained in different ways. Burl once simply said that after the escape from the Indians the family came to "this country" (West Virginia). Maggie ascribes the move to unspecified "troubles and hard times," sometimes associated with the Civil War. The only narrative set on Big Sandy—a story about a murderous fight that sounds like a family feud— may provide a clue to the move. This telling is Maggie's, with interjections by her cousin James Hammons.

Maggie: They had some awful times in Kentucky when they lived there. You're blamed right they did. They floated their logs out, right down Big Sandy River, that's where they floated their logs. They got into one of the awfullest fights right there on Big Sandy. Well, now my daddy was just a small boy, you see, when they come here, but they was, I don't know how many my uncles they was, and my grandpaw, my grandpaw, and he said every time they'd take, they had to shove 'em off the bank, you see, and follow 'em, follow 'em down and keep 'em shoved off when they'd come a tide in the river. And he said they went, somebody's in there, and they'd go down to the boats, they'd follow the logs, and they'd go down to the boats, you see, to see if they was any of 'em lodged into the banks. And after they'd cleared the middle of the water, the river, they'd get boats in. And, he said, they got to shooting their lights out. That they'd take big torches—

James Hammons: And some of 'em got killed, of course, you know.

Maggie: I know it, they did. And he, they got to shooting their lights out. And they was Uncle John, Uncle Pete, Uncle Dick, my grandpaw, Lord I don't know how many more, they was even more with 'em, besides they was. And, he said, now they told 'em, said, "The very next time we go down and the lights, and they go to shooting at the lights, we'll go right to the bank to 'em."

James: Now where was it Maggie, that they, now, let's see now, dragging this feller and—

Maggie: And so he said they went, they went a time or two, but then after a while they went, and they went, and they went to shooting their lights out, he said. By gosh, they just landed their boats and went out.

James: Now it was a tough time.

Maggie: And there was a big bunch of 'em out on the bank, and into it they went. Now, he said, they was blood and everything else there, he said. And old Uncle John cut one man pretty near plumb right in two.

James: That's what it was I started to tell you, and his head was a-bobbing up, dragging—cut him so bad.

Maggie: He cut him right in two and grandpaw got him off of him. But gosh, he said they had the awfullest time you'd ever seen in your life, but that was the last time ever was the lights shot out.

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John Hammons, "West Virginia, Marriages, 1853-1970"

• Name: John Hammons
• Spouse's Name: Eliza Mullins
• Event Date: 1856
• Event Place: Wyoming, West Virginia, United States
• GS Film number: 594767
• Digital Folder Number: 4229138
• Image Number: 00006
• Affiliate Repository Type: County Records

"West Virginia, Marriages, 1853-1970," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FTKY-BT5 : accessed 09 Jul 2013), John Hammons and Eliza Mullins, 1856.

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From McDowell and Wyoming Co, WV Individuals and Families April 3, 2013

http://www.coalexchange.com/smith/mcdowella/pafg220.htm#4426

Jesse Hammons Sr

• was born in 1802 in Hawkins Co,TN.
• He married Charlotte Broughton on 20 Feb 1823 in Knox Co, KY.

Charlotte Broughton

• was born in 1811 in KY.
• She married Jesse Hammons Sr on 20 Feb 1823 in Knox Co, KY.

They had the following children:

• 1. M i John Hammons was born in Nov 1826.
• 2. M ii Daniel Hammons was born in 1829.
• 3. M iii Jesse Hammons Jr was born in 1835.
• 4. F iv Nancy Hammons was born in 1838. She died in 1890/1900.
• 5. M v Richard Mark Hammons was born in 1839.
• 6. M vi Peter Hammons was born in 1846 in Wayne Co,WV.

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http://www.coalexchange.com/smith/mcdowella/pafg97.htm#4431

John Hammons

• was born in Nov 1826 in Knox Co, KY.
• He married Elizabeth Mullins on 30 Aug 1856 in Wyoming Co,WV.

Elizabeth Mullins [Parents: William Mullins and Elizabeth "Betsy" Stanley]

• was born in 1845 in VA.
• She married John Hammons on 30 Aug 1856 in Wyoming Co,WV.

They had the following children:

• 1. M i Sampson Hammons was born on 27 Aug 1857 in WV. He died in 1927/1928.
• 2. F ii Nancy Rebecca Hammons was born on 17 May 1860 in Webster Springs,Webster Co,WV.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hammons-278-

http://www.coalexchange.com/smith/mcdowella/pafg2886.htm#92067

[Notes]

• Jesse Hammons Sr
  • 1. 1860 Census, Wyoming Co, WV, transcribed by Pauline Haga. Listed as head of household as a farm laborer.
  • 2. "Wyoming Co, WV Heritage...", "Jesse Hammons" article, page 114. Son of Edwin Hammons. Grew up in Knox Co, KY.
  • 3. 1860 Census, Webster Co, WV, Family #234, transcribed by Patricia Dilley, 17 Jun 2001, pdilley@neumedia.net. Also listed here as Jesse Hammons, age 57, born in Hawkins Co, TN, in household of Henry C. Moore.
  • 4. FamilySearch.com, LDS Web Site, Jesse hammons search, 21 Jun 2001, submitted by Barbara Vermeesch, Rt 2, Box 181, Rayville, MO 64084. Jesse Hammons married Lottie Broughton on 20 Feb 1823 in Knox Co, KY.
• Charlotte Broughton
  • 1. 1860 Census, Wyoming Co, WV, transcribed by Pauline Haga. Listed in household of husband, Jesse Hammons.
  • 2. "Wyoming Co, WV Heritage...", "Jesse Hammons" article, page 114. Married in Knox Co, KY.
• Peter Hammons
  • 1. 1860 Census, Wyoming Co, WV, transcribed by Pauline Haga. Listed in household of father, Jesse Hammons.
  • 2. "Wyoming Co, WV Heritage...", "Jesse Hammons" article, page 114.
  • 3. 1860 Census, Webster Co, WV, Family #234, transcribed by Patricia Dilley, 17 Jun 2001, pdilley@neumedia.net. Also listed here as Peter Hammons, age 13, born in Wayne Co, WV, in household of Henry C. Moore, with father Jesse Hammons.
• John Hammons
  • 1. 1860 Census, Wyoming Co, WV, transcribed by Pauline Haga. Listed as head of household as a farm laborer.
  • 2. "Marriage Records, Wyoming Co, WV...", Vol 1, Haga, page 41. Married Eliza Mullins, daughter of William and Elizabeth Mullins.
  • 3. "Wyoming Co, WV Heritage...", "Jesse Hammons" article, page 114.
  • 4. 1860 Census, Webster Co, WV, Family #234, transcribed by Patricia Dilley, 17 Jun 2001, pdilley@neumedia.net. Also listed here as John Hammons, age 31, born in Knox Co, KY, in household of Henry C. Moore, with father Jesse Hammons.
• Elizabeth Mullins
  • 1. 1850 Census, Wyoming Co, VA, Family 227.
  • 2. "Wyoming Co, WV Heritage...", "Jesse Hammons" article, page 114.