John Wilkes Hammond (December 16, 1837 – March 26, 1922) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the court of last resort, highest court in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the di ...

from 1898 to 1914.

Early life

Hammond was born to Maria Louise (Southwick) and John Wilkes Hammond Sr. in

Mattapoisett Mattapoisett is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,508 at the 2020 census. For geographic and demographic information on the village of Mattapoisett Center, please see the article Mattapoisett Center, Ma ...

(then part of

Rochester, Massachusetts Rochester is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,717 at the 2020 census. History Rochester was settled in 1679 on the lands called "Sippican" by the local Wampanoags, along the coast of Buzzards Bay. ...

) on December 16, 1837. He graduated from Tufts College in 1861 and began teaching. He taught in Stoughton, Massachusetts for one year, then spent a brief time in Tisbury, Massachusetts before joining the Union Army. He enlisted in the

3rd Massachusetts Militia Regiment The 3rd Massachusetts Volunteer Militia Regiment was a peacetime regiment of infantry that was activated for federal service in the Union Army for two separate tours during the American Civil War. The regiment consisted of companies from Plymout ...

for a term of nine months. His enlistment ended in June 1863 and he resumed his teaching career in Wakefield, Massachusetts. In 1865 he was principal Melrose High School. In 1866 he married Clara Ellen Tweed, daughter of Tufts professor Benjamin Franklin Tweed and his wife, Clara Foster Tweed.

Legal career

1872 John Wilkes Hammond Massachusetts House of Representatives

In the fall of 1864, Hammond began studying law in the office of Sweetser & Gardner. He attended

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

for a year, earning a LL.B in 1865, and was admitted to the bar in 1866. He opened a practice in Cambridge, Massachusetts and served on the city's common council and school committee. He represented the 7th Middlesex district in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1872 to 1873 and from 1873 to 1886 was Cambridge's city solicitor. From 1879 to 1880 he also served as district attorney for Middlesex County, Massachusetts. On March 10, 1886, he was appointed to the Massachusetts Superior Court. On September 7, 1898, he was elevated to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court by Governor Roger Wolcott. He resigned from the bench on December 1, 1914, and died on March 26, 1922, after several years of illness.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hammond, John Wilkes 1837 births 1922 deaths District attorneys in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Justices of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Lawyers from Cambridge, Massachusetts Massachusetts Superior Court justices People from Mattapoisett, Massachusetts Politicians from Cambridge, Massachusetts Republican Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Schoolteachers from Massachusetts Tufts University alumni Union Army soldiers Harvard Law School alumni