Ogden H. Hammond
Encyclopedia
Ogden Haggerty Hammond was an American
businessman, politician and diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Spain
from 1925 to 1929. He was the father of Millicent Fenwick
, a four-term Republican
member of the United States House of Representatives
from New Jersey
.
, Kentucky
, the son of John Henry Hammond and Sophia Vernon Wolfe. During the Civil War
his father served as chief of staff to General William Tecumseh Sherman
before becoming a general himself. The Hammond family moved to Chicago, Illinois when he was four, and then to Saint Paul, Minnesota
and Superior, Wisconsin
. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy
and graduated from Yale University
in 1893. Returning to Superior, he served as a member of the Board of Aldermen for two years.
On a visit to Bernardsville, New Jersey
, Hammond met Mary Picton Stevens (May 16, 1885 – May 7, 1915). They were married in Hoboken
on April 8, 1907. Mary was the daughter of John Stevens (July 1856 – January 21, 1895), oldest son of Stevens Institute of Technology
founder Edwin Augustus Stevens and grandson of inventor John Stevens
, and Mary Marshall McGuire (May 4, 1850 – May 2, 1905). The Hammonds settled in a forty-seven-room mansion in Bernardsville in 1908.
Hammond and his first wife had three children: Mary Stevens Hammond, later Countess Guerino Roberti (May 22, 1908 – February 23, 1958); Millicent Vernon Hammond, later Millicent Fenwick
(February 25, 1910 – September 16, 1992); and Ogden H. Hammond, Jr. (September 17, 1912 – October 19, 1976).
Railway Company, as well as vice-president of the Hoboken Land and Improvement Company, owned by his in-laws, the Stevenses. Ogden became involved in local Republican politics, serving on the Bernardsville Township Committee from 1912 to 1914. He was elected to a one-year term in the New Jersey General Assembly
in 1914 and was re-elected the following year. He later served as delegate to the 1916 Republican National Convention
and as treasurer of the New Jersey Republican State Committee
.
in New York, en route to Liverpool
. Mary intended to help victims of World War I
and assist the Red Cross
in establishing a hospital in France. The Lusitania was torpedo
ed by a German U-boat
on May 7, and in the aftermath Ogden survived the sinking and Mary did not. He established the Mary Stevens Hammond Memorial Home for Destitute Children in Hoboken in her honor.
On December 18, 1917, Hammond remarried Marguerite "Daisy" McClure Howland (March 7, 1876 – January 6, 1969), the daughter of New York attorney David McClure and the widow of Dulany Howland. Her son McClure "Mac" Meredith Howland (November 4, 1906 – January 1985) became Hammond's stepson.
appointed Hammond to be United States Ambassador to Spain
. He served until 1929, when Herbert Hoover
appointed the new ambassador, Irwin B. Laughlin
. The Spanish Royal Court awarded him the Order of Isabella the Catholic for his public service.
at the age of 87.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
businessman, politician and diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Spain
United States Ambassador to Spain
-Ambassadors:*John Jay**Appointed: September 29, 1779**Title: Minister Plenipotentiary**Presented credentials:**Terminated mission: ~May 20, 1782*William Carmichael**Appointed: April 20, 1790**Title: Chargé d'Affaires...
from 1925 to 1929. He was the father of Millicent Fenwick
Millicent Fenwick
Millicent Hammond Fenwick was an American fashion editor, politician and diplomat. A four-term Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey, she entered politics late in life and was renowned for her energy and colorful enthusiasm...
, a four-term Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
member of the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
from New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
.
Early life and family
Hammond was born in 1869 in LouisvilleLouisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, the son of John Henry Hammond and Sophia Vernon Wolfe. During the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
his father served as chief of staff to General William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman was an American soldier, businessman, educator and author. He served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War , for which he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched...
before becoming a general himself. The Hammond family moved to Chicago, Illinois when he was four, and then to Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
and Superior, Wisconsin
Superior, Wisconsin
Superior is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 26,960 at the 2010 census. Located at the junction of U.S. Highways 2 and 53, it is north of and adjacent to both the Village of Superior and the Town of Superior.Superior is at the western...
. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy is a private secondary school located in Exeter, New Hampshire, in the United States.Exeter is noted for its application of Harkness education, a system based on a conference format of teacher and student interaction, similar to the Socratic method of learning through asking...
and graduated from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in 1893. Returning to Superior, he served as a member of the Board of Aldermen for two years.
On a visit to Bernardsville, New Jersey
Bernardsville, New Jersey
Bernardsville is a borough and affluent suburb in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. Bernardsville has the 10th-highest per capita income in the state. Nationwide, Bernardsville ranks 75th among the 100 highest-income places in the United States...
, Hammond met Mary Picton Stevens (May 16, 1885 – May 7, 1915). They were married in Hoboken
Hoboken, New Jersey
Hoboken is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 50,005. The city is part of the New York metropolitan area and contains Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub for the region...
on April 8, 1907. Mary was the daughter of John Stevens (July 1856 – January 21, 1895), oldest son of Stevens Institute of Technology
Stevens Institute of Technology
Stevens Institute of Technology is a technological university located on a campus in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA – founded in 1870 with an 1868 bequest from Edwin A. Stevens. It is known for its engineering, science, and technological management curricula.The institute has produced leading...
founder Edwin Augustus Stevens and grandson of inventor John Stevens
John Stevens (inventor)
Col. John Stevens, III was an American lawyer, engineer and an inventor.-Life and career:Born the son of John Stevens , a prominent New Jersey politician who served as a delegate to the Continental Congress, and Elizabeth Alexander, daughter of New York lawyer and statesman James Alexander. His...
, and Mary Marshall McGuire (May 4, 1850 – May 2, 1905). The Hammonds settled in a forty-seven-room mansion in Bernardsville in 1908.
Hammond and his first wife had three children: Mary Stevens Hammond, later Countess Guerino Roberti (May 22, 1908 – February 23, 1958); Millicent Vernon Hammond, later Millicent Fenwick
Millicent Fenwick
Millicent Hammond Fenwick was an American fashion editor, politician and diplomat. A four-term Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey, she entered politics late in life and was renowned for her energy and colorful enthusiasm...
(February 25, 1910 – September 16, 1992); and Ogden H. Hammond, Jr. (September 17, 1912 – October 19, 1976).
Business and political career
Hammond worked as an insurance broker, then moved into real estate, becoming president of the Broadway Improvement Company and the Hoboken TerminalHoboken Terminal
Hoboken Terminal is one of the New York Metropolitan area's major transportation hubs. The commuter-oriented intermodal facility, is located on the Hudson River in Hoboken, New Jersey...
Railway Company, as well as vice-president of the Hoboken Land and Improvement Company, owned by his in-laws, the Stevenses. Ogden became involved in local Republican politics, serving on the Bernardsville Township Committee from 1912 to 1914. He was elected to a one-year term in the New Jersey General Assembly
New Jersey General Assembly
The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature.Since the election of 1967 , the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for a term of two years, each representing districts with average...
in 1914 and was re-elected the following year. He later served as delegate to the 1916 Republican National Convention
1916 Republican National Convention
The 1916 Republican National Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois at the Chicago Coliseum, from June 7 to June 10, 1916. It nominated Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes of New York for president and former Vice President Charles Fairbanks of Indiana for a return to the vice presidency....
and as treasurer of the New Jersey Republican State Committee
New Jersey Republican State Committee
The New Jersey Republican State Committee is the affiliate of the Republican Party in New Jersey. The Committee was founded in 1880. The party is led by Chairman of the New Jersey Republican State Committee Sam Raia of Saddle River, New Jersey.-Membership:...
.
RMS Lusitania
On May 1, 1915, Hammond and his wife Mary boarded the British ocean liner RMS LusitaniaRMS Lusitania
RMS Lusitania was a British ocean liner designed by Leonard Peskett and built by John Brown and Company of Clydebank, Scotland. The ship entered passenger service with the Cunard Line on 26 August 1907 and continued on the line's heavily-traveled passenger service between Liverpool, England and New...
in New York, en route to Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
. Mary intended to help victims of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and assist the Red Cross
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an international humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide which was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and to prevent and alleviate human...
in establishing a hospital in France. The Lusitania was torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
ed by a German U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
on May 7, and in the aftermath Ogden survived the sinking and Mary did not. He established the Mary Stevens Hammond Memorial Home for Destitute Children in Hoboken in her honor.
On December 18, 1917, Hammond remarried Marguerite "Daisy" McClure Howland (March 7, 1876 – January 6, 1969), the daughter of New York attorney David McClure and the widow of Dulany Howland. Her son McClure "Mac" Meredith Howland (November 4, 1906 – January 1985) became Hammond's stepson.
Diplomatic career
In 1925, Calvin CoolidgeCalvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
appointed Hammond to be United States Ambassador to Spain
United States Ambassador to Spain
-Ambassadors:*John Jay**Appointed: September 29, 1779**Title: Minister Plenipotentiary**Presented credentials:**Terminated mission: ~May 20, 1782*William Carmichael**Appointed: April 20, 1790**Title: Chargé d'Affaires...
. He served until 1929, when Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
appointed the new ambassador, Irwin B. Laughlin
Irwin B. Laughlin
Irwin Boyle Laughlin was an American diplomat. He served as Minister to Greece from 1924 to 1926 and Ambassador to Spain from 1929 to 1933.-Early life:...
. The Spanish Royal Court awarded him the Order of Isabella the Catholic for his public service.
Later years and death
In 1931, Hammond was named president and a director of the First National Bank of Hoboken. He became vice president and director of the First National Bank of Jersey City in 1934, retiring in 1950. Hammond died in 1956 at his home in ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
at the age of 87.
External links
- Biographical information for Ogden H. Hammond from The Political GraveyardThe Political GraveyardThe Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 224,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information.-History:...