William Henry Hammer Sr.

Brief Life History of William Henry

When William Henry Hammer Sr. was born in November 1869, in Illinois, United States, his father, Henry Hammer, was 34 and his mother, Emma Virginia Metzel, was 19. He married Cora Butler on 11 February 1889, in Stark, Illinois, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 4 daughters. He lived in Princeville, Peoria, Illinois, United States for about 40 years and Peoria, Peoria, Illinois, United States in 1950. He died on 20 June 1951, in Peoria, Illinois, United States, at the age of 81, and was buried in Princeville Township Cemetery, Princeville, Peoria, Illinois, United States.

Photos and Memories (2)

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Family Time Line

William Henry Hammer Sr.
1869–1951
Cora Butler
1871–1943
Marriage: 11 February 1889
Verna F Hammer
1889–1980
William Henry Hammer Jr.
1891–1925
Claude Lee Hammer
1895–1927
Pearl A Hammer
1899–1996
Ethel M Hammer
1902–1968
Opal Della Hammer
1910–1980

Sources (17)

  • William H Hammer, "United States 1950 Census"
  • William Hammer, "Illinois, County Marriages, 1810-1934"
  • William Henry Hammer, "Find A Grave Index"

World Events (8)

1870 · The Fifteenth Amendment

Prohibits the federal government and each state from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's race, color, or previous condition of servitude. It was the last of the Reconstruction Amendments.

1871

In 1871, a cow kicked over a lantern, causing a fire that burned down half of Chicago. Today this city is the third largest in the US.

1892 · The Chicago Canal

The Chicago River Canal was built as a sewage treatment scheme to help the city's drinking water not to get contaminated. While the Canal was being constructed the Chicago River's flow was reversed so it could be treated before draining back out into Lake Michigan.

Name Meaning

German, English, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German hamer, Yiddish hamer, a metonymic occupational name for a maker or user of hammers, for example in a forge, or a nickname for a forceful person. As an English surname, the derivation from Middle English ham(m)er, hamor ‘hammer’ (Old English hamor) is formally possible, either as a metonymic occupational name or as a locative or occupational name taken from a shop sign or inn sign. However, there is no evidence that such appellations became hereditary surnames. The surname of German origin (possibly also in the sense 2 below) is also found in France (Alsace and Lorraine).

English and German: topographic name for someone who lived in an area of water meadow, or flat, low-lying alluvial land beside a stream, Middle English ham(me), Old English hamm, Old High German ham (see Hamm ) + the English and German agent suffix -er. In England, names composed of a topographic term + -er are characteristic of southern England, especially Kent, Sussex, Surrey, and Hampshire.

English: possibly a variant of Hanmer , and in northern England a variant of Hamer .

Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.

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