Thomas Lyon Hamer was a United States congressman and soldier.

Hamer was born in July, 1800 in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania

Northumberland County, Pennsylvania

There were 38,835 households out of which 27.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.40% were married couples living together, 9.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.10% were non-families. 30.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.50% had...

. He was a school teacher before being admitted to the bar in 1821. He was an Ohio Presidential elector in 1828 for Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...

.

He practiced law in Georgetown, Ohio

Georgetown, Ohio

Georgetown is a village in Brown County, Ohio, United States. The population was 3,691 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Brown County. Georgetown was the childhood home of Ulysses S...

 and was elected as an Ohio state representative and served as Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives in 1829 and was then elected to the U.S. Congress. While serving as a congressman he nominated Hiram Ulysses Grant

Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...

, the son of a constituent, to be a cadet at West Point

United States Military Academy

The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...

. Hamer incorrectly put on the nomination the name "Ulysses Simpson Grant" and the name stayed with the new cadet.

When the Mexican-American War broke out Hamer volunteered as a private in the Ohio Volunteers. Popular and well respected, Hamer was appointed a brigadier general

Brigadier General

Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...

 of volunteers the next day, July 1, 1846. He was placed in command of the 1st Brigade of William O. Butler's Volunteer Division of the Army of Occupation

Army of Occupation (Mexico)

The Army of Occupation was the name of the U.S. Army commanded by Zachary Taylor during the Mexican-American War.-Creation:On April 23, 1845 General Zachary Taylor was appointed to command the 1st Military District along the Texas/Louisiana border. On April 27 Taylor received orders to move with a...

. He led his brigade with distinction into the fighting at the battle of Monterrey

Battle of Monterrey

In the Battle of Monterrey during the Mexican-American War, General Pedro de Ampudia and the Mexican Army of the North was defeated by U.S...

. When General Butler fell wounded, Hamer assumed command of the division. When Mexican General Pedro de Ampudia

Pedro de Ampudia

Pedro de Ampudia was born in Havana, Cuba and served Mexico as a Northern army officer for most of his life. He was also governor of the state of Nuevo León in 1846 and from 1853 to 1854....

 requested to discuss surrender terms, it was Hamer who delivered the message to General Taylor. While still serving in the army he was elected to another term in Congress but died unexpectedly while stationed with the army at Monterrey

Monterrey

Monterrey , is the capital city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León in the country of Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation. Monterrey serves as a commercial center in the north of the country and is the...

 on December 2, 1846. Upon Hamer's death, General Zachary Taylor

Zachary Taylor

Zachary Taylor was the 12th President of the United States and an American military leader. Initially uninterested in politics, Taylor nonetheless ran as a Whig in the 1848 presidential election, defeating Lewis Cass...

 exclaimed "I have lost the balance wheel of my volunteer army" and Lt. Ulysses S. Grant also lamented that the "U.S. has lost a future president".

He was buried in his hometown of Georgetown. A few miles away the town of Hamersville, Ohio

Hamersville, Ohio

HiiHamersville is a village in Brown County, Ohio, United States. The population was 515 at the 2000 census. Hamersville is named after Thomas Hamer, a general in the Mexican-American War.-Geography:Hamersville is located at ....

was named in his honor.