Charles Hammond | |
|---|---|
.jpg) from a painting in the office of the Reporter of the Ohio Supreme Court in Columbus | |
| Member of the Ohio Senate from the Belmont County district | |
| In office December 6, 1813 – December 3, 1815 | |
| Preceded by | James Caldwell |
| Succeeded by | John Patterson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 19, 1779 Baltimore County, Maryland |
| Died | April 3, 1840 (aged 60) Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Political party | Federalist |
| Spouse | Sally Tillinghast |
Charles Hammond (September 19, 1779 – April 3, 1840) was a lawyer, newspaper editor, and state legislator in Ohio in the early nineteenth century.[1] He attained renown in his time as both a lawyer and a journalist,[2] but was largely neglected later.[3] Hammond is best known today for his role as the intellectual leader of Ohio's ultimately failed opposition to the Second Bank of the United States.[4]
Hammond was born on September 19, 1779, to George and Elizabeth (née Wells) Hammond.[5] The family lived in Baltimore County, Maryland, at the time of Hammond's birth, but moved to Brooke County in western Virginia (now in West Virginia) in 1785. After a very brief (two-day) attempt at learning the printing business in 1798, Hammond began studying law under Virginia lawyer Philip Doddridge in 1799.[6]
Hammond received his license to practice law in Virginia in 1801,[7] and later that year acquired a license to practice in the Northwest Territory.[8] In November 1801, he was appointed as prosecuting attorney in Belmont County, Ohio.[8]
In 1804, Hammond moved to Wheeling, where he lived, practiced law, and wrote newspaper essays for five years.[9] He returned to Belmont County in 1809.[9]
In 1813, Hammond began publishing a newspaper, the Ohio Federalist, in St. Clairsville, Ohio.[10] That same year, Hammond was elected to a position in the Ohio Senate, serving a two-year term until 1815.[11] Hammond was elected to the lower house of the Ohio legislature in 1816, and re-elected in 1817, 1818, and 1820.[12]
Hammond did not play a very prominent role as a legislator until controversy arose between Ohio and the Second Bank of the United States.[13] This controversy thrust him into prominence for the next several years.[13]
Together with John Crafts Wright, Hammond represented Ohio and Auditor Ralph Osborn in the litigation that followed on the state's forcible collection of state taxes from the federal Bank.[14] The high-stakes legal wrangling lasted from late 1819 until early 1824, when it came to end with a loss for Hammond in the Supreme Court of the United States in Osborn v. Bank of the United States.[15][16] Hammond played an important role in the 1824 presidential campaign of Henry Clay - who had been opposing counsel representing the federal Bank in the litigation with Ohio.[17]
Hammond was nominated for a seat on the Ohio Supreme Court in 1822, but was rejected by the Ohio legislature.[18] He was appointed official reporter for the Ohio Supreme Court and held that role until he retired from the practice of law in 1838.[19] Near the close of his administration, John Quincy Adams offered Henry Clay a seat on the United States Supreme Court. Clay declined, and the seat was offered to Hammond, who also declined.[20]
Hammond became the editor of the semi-weekly Cincinnati Gazette in 1825.[19] Until his death in 1840, Hammond published a steady stream of commentary on law, politics, and public affairs.[21] Speaking of him decades later, William Henry Smith, who coordinated and managed the Associated Press, described Hammond as "the most distinguished American editor of his day."[22]
Hammond married Sarah (Sally) Tillinghast in 1803.[8] Charles and Sally had a daughter, Almer (b. Oct. 12, 1813), and a son, Henry. They remained married until Sally's death in 1826, which followed a seven-year period of poor health.[23] Some years later, he married again.[24] Of his second wife, Weisenburger says only that she was "a sister of Thomas and Moses Moorehead of Zanesville."[24]
Charles Hammond died on April 3, 1840.[25] He was memorialized in a poem by his assistant editor at the Gazette, William D. Gallagher, which included the lines:[26]
