Andrew Benoni Hammond (July 22, 1848– January 15, 1934) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

lumberman. He developed the Missoula Mercantile Co. He built the Bitterroot Valley Railroad and the Astoria & Columbia River Railroad. He was president of the Hammond Lumber Co. and the Hammond Steamship Co.

Biography

Hammond was born in Saint-Léonard,

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

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on July 22, 1848. He left home at 16 years old to work in the logging camps of Maine and Pennsylvania. He arrived in Montana in 1867, worked as a woodcutter and store clerk, eventually becoming a partner in the mercantile firm of Bonner, Eddy and Company. Under Hammond's management this became the Missoula Mercantile Company, the largest mercantile between St. Paul and Portland. Hammond Lumber Company was founded when Hammond purchased the Samoa sawmill, the largest mill in Humboldt County in 1900. He built the Bitterroot Valley Railroad, the Philipburg Railroad, and the Astoria & Columbia River Railroad. He was president of the Hammond Lumber Co. and the Hammond Steamship Co. Hammond and his partners received the contract to build the intermountain section of the Northern Pacific railway line, from Helena to Spokane. In the 1890s, Hammond moved to the West Coast and built two more railroads. In 1900, he began to assemble one of the largest lumber companies on the West Coast, including the world's largest redwood lumber company and the world's largest lumber yard in Los Angeles. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Hammond was the largest supplier of

Sitka spruce ''Picea sitchensis'', the Sitka spruce, is a large, coniferous, evergreen tree growing to almost tall, with a trunk diameter at breast height that can exceed 5 m (16 ft). It is by far the largest species of spruce and the fifth-larg ...

wood to the U.S. Army, which needed it to manufacture airplanes. Hammond is most known for his role in the poaching of federal timber during his years in Montana, and his anti-union efforts during the early twentieth century. Ironically, much of the Hammond Lumber Company lands that were illegally acquired under the federal

Timber and Stone Act The Timber and Stone Act of 1878 in the United States sold Western timberland for $2.50 per acre ($618/km2) in 160 acre (0.6 km2) blocks. Land that was deemed "unfit for farming" was sold to those who might want to "timber and stone" (logging and ...

in Humboldt County eventually formed the bulk of

Redwood National and State Parks The Redwood National and State Parks (RNSP) are a complex of one national park and three state parks, cooperatively managed, located in the United States along the coast of northern California. Comprising Redwood National Park (established 1968 ...

. In 1956, Hammond's heirs sold the company's California stakes to

Georgia-Pacific Georgia-Pacific LLC is an American pulp and paper company based in Atlanta, Georgia, and is one of the world's largest manufacturers and distributors of tissue, pulp, paper, toilet and paper towel dispensers, packaging, building products and r ...

Death and legacy

Hammond died on January 15, 1934, in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, at age 85. He married Florence Abbott in 1879, in Missoula. They had a son, Leonard C. Hammond., who was a flying ace in World War I. The community of Hammond, Oregon was named for him, and his wife gave her name to

Florence, Montana Florence ( Salish: čp̓úƛ̓us ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Ravalli County, Montana, United States. The population was 821 at the 2020 census. History Florence was named for Florence Abbott Hammond, wife of A. B. Hammond, a lumber ...

. * SS A. B. Hammond a liberty ship built by California Shipbuilding Corporation of Los Angeles, is named after him.

Hammond Shipping Company

Hammond opened the Hammond Shipping Company with ships to transport his lumber products. In 1929 the line was called the Christenson-Hammond Lines. *Hammond Shipping Company wooden ships built at Hammond Lumber in Fairhaven, California built: (Hammond Lumber purchased the

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

in 1910 and sold yard in 1919) *Necanicum built in 1912 fate Scrapped 1939 *Mary Olson built in 1913 fate Burnt at

Cienfuegos Cienfuegos (), capital of Cienfuegos Province, is a city on the southern coast of Cuba. It is located about from Havana and has a population of 150,000. Since the late 1960s, Cienfuegos has become one of Cuba's main industrial centers, especial ...

in 1919 *Santiam built in 1916 fate Burnt at

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

in 1936 *Flavel built in 1917 fate Wrecked off

Carmel Carmel may refer to: * Carmel (biblical settlement), an ancient Israelite town in Judea * Mount Carmel, a coastal mountain range in Israel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea * Carmelites, a Roman Catholic mendicant religious order Carmel may also ...

in 1923 *Trinidad built in 1918 fate Wrecked off Willapa in 1937 *Halco built in 1918 fate Wrecked off

Grays Harbor Grays Harbor is an estuary, estuarine bay located north of the mouth of the Columbia River, on the southwest Pacific coast of Washington (U.S. state), Washington state, in the United States of America. It is a ria, which formed at the end of the l ...

in 1925 *World War II During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Hammond Shipping Company was active in charter shipping with the

Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...

and

War Shipping Administration The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. Both shipbuilding under the Maritime Co ...

. The ship was run by its Hammond Shipping Company crew and the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

supplied United States Navy Armed Guards to man the deck guns and radio. The most common armament mounted on these merchant ships were the MK II 20mm Oerlikon autocannon and the 3"/50, 4"/50, and 5"/38 deck guns.World War II U.S. Navy Armed Guard and World War II U.S. Merchant Marine, 2007-2014 Project Liberty Ship, Project Liberty Ship, P.O. Box 25846 Highlandtown Station, Baltimore, M

/ref> ** Merchant navy ships: * SS A. B. Hammond * SS Alfred Victory *SS Gretna Victory *SS Grinnell Victory *SS Marquette Victory *

SS Bessemer Victory SS ''Bessemer Victory'' was one of 534 Victory ships built during World War II. Named for Bessemer, Alabama, an industrial city honoring Sir Henry Bessemer (the Englishman who invented a steel manufacturing process), she was one of 218 such shi ...

SS American Victory SS ''American Victory'' is a Victory ship which saw brief service in the Pacific Theater of Operations during the final months of World War II, Korean War from 1951–1954, and Vietnam War from 1966–1969. Built in June 1945, she carried ammu ...

, now a

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...

*SS Walter Wyman *SS Josiah Earl *SS Robert G. Cousins *SS Edward Bates, sank in 1944 after torpedo * SS Arcata, sank off Alaska by the

Japanese submarine I-7 ''I-7'' was an Imperial Japanese Navy J3 type submarine commissioned in 1937. She was a large cruiser submarine that served in World War II. She operated in support of the attack on Pearl Harbor, conducted anti-shipping patrols in the Indian Oce ...

Companies

Hammond owned or had the controlling interest in: * Missoula Mercantile, retail store * Big Blackfoot Milling Co. * Flour mill at Bonner * Grain elevators in western Montana * Missoula Real Estate Association, owners of Florence Hotel and the Hammond Block * First National Bank of Montana * South Missoula Land Company, residential homes on the Clark Fork River * Missoula Water Works and Milling Company * Missoula Street Railway Company, horse drawn cars * Missoula Publishing Company owners of the Missoulian * Missoula Valley Improvement Company, owners the local cemetery * Hammond Shipping Company * Hammond Lumber Company

Footnotes

External links