Marion R. Hammer

Write-up for MARION R. HAMMER in the 1878 book The History of Jasper County Iowa, section on Buena Vista Township:

HAMMER, M. R., Dr.; Physician and surgeon; Sec. 21; P. O. Newton; born in this county in 1853; he is a graduate of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Keokuk; he commenced practicing medicine in 1875; he is a promising young physician, with a rapidly growing practice, the result of promptness and attention to his customers, coupled with a practical knowledge of his business; he is the only physician in this county a native born son of the soil, and the sixth physician of his name in the United States. He married Miss Emma Dooly in 1876.

Notes: The 1912 book Past and Present of Jasper County includes a much longer write-up of Dr. Hammer, his career, his arrest for attempted manslaughter, his time in jail, the commutation of his sentence and the restoration of his name and career. It is fairly long, so rather than duplicate it here, here's a link to it: https://archive.org/download/pastpresentofjas01weav/pastpresentofja...

Dr. Hammer graduated Feb. 17, 1881 from Northwestern Medical College, Saint Joseph, Missouri. He and Emma Dooley, daughter of George and Jane Dooley, had 2 children: Marion R. Hammer Jr, b. Aug 27, 1878, and Jesse Marion Hammer, b. Oct. 22, 1884. Dr. Hammer married (2) Laura C. Tunnell Jan. 28, 1914 at Nashville, TN, and they had 2 children.

A final, odd note about Dr. Hammer. The online guide to the Newton Union Cemetery, Jasper County, Iowa (https://www.newtongov.org/DocumentCenter/View/2085/182021-Union-Cem...) records the following about his burial: Sec 11, Lot 28, Block 14; buried in glass casket 1 1/2" thick and tightly sealed. He selected the casket himself 5 year earlier. Had made all arrangements 2 years prior to his death. Casket was so large that Will Murdock had to keep it near chapel since most of his doors were too narrow.

The printed guide, available at the cemetery, provides this: A private mausoleum, or vault, was constructed by Dr. Marion R. Hammer. Because of the poor manner in which it was constructed, it was never used. Dr. Hammer also had a copper covered cyprus coffin built locally and it was placed in the community mausoleum. Dr. Hammer supervised the construction of the coffin, and several times he climbed into it to insure that it would properly fit. The coffin deteriorated in the mausoleum, and Dr. Hammer was buried in a massive glass casket. Probably no person buried in Newton Union spent more time and effort planning for his own burial than Dr. Hammer.

• Updated from MyHeritage Family Trees by SmartCopy: Nov 26 2014, 16:44:26 UTC

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Marion Hammer in 1894 book Portrait and Biographical Record of Jasper, Marshall and Grundy Counties, Iowa, page 283:

MARION R. HAMMER, M.D., of Newton. The genealogy of the Hammer family, traced to the original emigrant in the United States, is as follows: In the early part of the eighteenth century, the progenitor of the family in America, who was a German by birth, emigrated to Bucks County, Pa. His son, Abraham, was born in that county in 1731, and in 1760 moved to North Carolina, where his children, four sons and three daughters, were born. The second of his sons, Isaac, was born in North Carolina, in 1764, and migrated to Tennessee, where were born by his first wife, Jesse, Elisha, Aaron and Jonathan; by his second wife, Lydia, Henry, Charity, Rachel, John, Nathan and Laban; by his third wife, Hannah, William, Joanna, Delila and Isaac A. Afterward he removed to Indiana and settled in Huntsville, where he died.

Elisha, second son of Isaac, was born in North Carolina, May 1, 1789, and died in Iowa, May 21, 1847. Hie children, eleven in number, were all born in Jefferson County, Tenn., and were Mahlon, Seth, Henry, Jesse, Ira, Aaron, Elisha, Isaac, Susannah, Polly A. and Lydia. Jesse, the fourth son of Elisha, was born in Jefferson County, Tenn., October 4, 1820, and died at Richland, Iowa, September 2, 1878. He was four times married, and was the father of six daughters and eight sons. The two eldest, Aaron T. and John H., were by his first wife, and were born in Jefferson County, Tenn.; the other children were all born in Jasper County, Iowa. Those by his second wife were Elizabeth L., Marion R. (subject of this sketch ), Samuel L., Jasper F., Martha E. and Mary E.; by his third wife were Alta E. and Etta N.; and by his fourth wife, James C., Frank V. and Jesse M.

The Hammers, back to the first representative of the family in this country, have been identified with the Quaker faith, although the later generations have drifted away from that church. In 1846 the father of our subject came to Jasper County and settled in Kellogg Township, where Marion R. was born January 26, 1853. At the age of eighteen years, he entered Hazel Dell Academy, at Newton, where be studied for ten terms. He then entered a Quaker school at Lynnville, and there spent two terms. during the former of which be was one of the assistant teachers in the institution. During the winter of 1873-74 he taught school at the Hammer Grove schoolhouse, in Kellogg Township, and in the following winter taught in the public schools of Rock Creek Township. In the winter of 1875-76, while teaching in Buena Vista Township, he also studied medicine, and in March, 1876, be commenced the practice of that profession at Adamsville, Iowa.

The marriage of Doctor Hammer occurred October 22, 1876, and united him with Mary E. Dooley, of Adamsville, a native of that place. Soon after his marriage be entered the medical department of the Iowa State University, but did not graduate. In 1878 be went to Reasnor, Iowa, where be conducted an extensive practice until the spring of 1880. In the fall of that year he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons of St. Joseph, Mo., but soon afterward there was a revolution in the college and he, with about fifty other students, left and entered the Northwestern College of that place. From that institution he was graduated February 17, 1881.

Returning to Jasper County, the Doctor commenced the practice of his profession at Newton, where be now resides. For two years he served as Health Officer of Newton, and was a member of the Jasper County Medical Society from 1879 until 1884. He filled the Chair of Physiology in Kings Medical College, of Des Moines, from 1885 until 1889, resigning on the 6th of March of that year. He is the founder of the Hammer Genealogical Society, and was its first President and is now serving in that capacity. Socially he has been identified with the Knights of Pythias and the United Workmen, and is a demitted member of the Masonic fraternity. He has engaged in practice in various places in Jasper County, and came to Newton the last time in September, 1892. In January, 1893, he was appointed Physician to the Jasper County Jail. He has been prominent in the Order of Knights of Labor and was its Master Workman for one term, but declining a re-election, his wife was chosen in his place. They are the parents of two sons: Marion R., Jr., who was born in Jasper County, Iowa, August 27, 1878, and Jesse Marion, who was born in Plymouth County, Iowa, October 18, 1884.