T
he Hammett family came to upper
South Carolina sometime after 1812. The ancestor of
the Hammetts associated with Glendale was Charles
Brooking Hammett. He was known as Captain Charles B.
Hammett. He was born on December 12, 1812, in England.
When he was a young man, Charles, and his brothers,
Thomas and James left England and came to America.
They lived in Georgia for a time but when Charles was
still quite a young man, they came to the upper part
of South Carolina. The brothers also had two sisters,
Betsy and Venity, but no records survive as to what
happened to them.
Like so many families, the Hammetts were caught up in
the Civil War with tragic results. Both Thomas and
James either were killed or died during the War. After
the War, Captain Charles B. Hammett became a large
land owner on the Pacolet River and in Spartanburg
County. He was also the owner of the “Hammett Gold
Mining Company”. At one time, gold mining was a big
industry in the Upstate. Evidence is still shown in
place names like Gold Mine Road.
The community of Hammett’s Grove in Cherokee County,
close to the Pacolet River, is believed to be named
after Captain Hammett and his family. Several of his
descendents are buried in that community.
Captain Hammett was first married to Sarah Wood. She
was born on November 11, 1816 and died on November 9,
1849 at the age of 33. They had four children. They
were:
Benjamin Hammett married Paralee Willis; Mahala Emory;
Mamie Hoover
Agnes V. Hammett married Winfield Brown
Mary Elizabeth Hammett married William Brown
Sarah Ann Hammett married James Lafayette Chaffin.
After his first wife, Sarah died, Captain Hammett
married the second time to Elizabeth Lee. She was the
daughter of James Lee and Anna McBee Lee. They had
seven children. They were:
Sarah Venity Hammett married Cornelius Lipscomb
Annie Laura Hammett married Alexander Bunten; Robert
Burdine
Charles B. Hammett Jr. married Fannie Pierce; Sarah
Jean Biggerstaff
William Thomas Hammett married Mollie Vinson
Alice Goulie Hammett married William Dearybury;
Charles Reynolds
James Lee Hammett married Victoria Lipscomb
John Matthew Hammett married Sallie Waddell
It is believed that the first member of the Hammett
family to work for the D. E. Converse Company, or
Glendale Mills, was the son of Charles B. Hammet Jr.
and his second wife Sarah Jane Biggerstaff. His name
was Neely D. Hammett who was born on Feb. 19, 1899.
Neely married Ola Mae McKinney. Ola was the grand
niece of John Thomas McKinney who lived just outside
Glendale. She was born in 1905.
Neely and Ola and their young son, Charles, moved to
Glendale in 1935. Neely and Ola worked at Glendale
Mill. Ola worked in the Weaving Department and Neely
worked in the Card Room. They eventually lived in
several houses in the Glendale village. Their last
house was on Shady Street or Mill Street. Later the
street name was changed to Douglas Street and they
lived at No. 12.
Sometime in the 1950’s, the family was hit by a
tragedy. Ola was stricken with rheumatoid arthritis.
This is a painful, debilitating disease that to this
day is still not curable. Due to a wonderful
arrangement by the mill officials, Ola was able to
continue her work as a weaver for the D. E. Converse
Company. Due to her illness, they let her first work
in a special room in the mill. However, her
illness progressed to her being unable to walk and get
to the mill. Then the mill made a remarkable
adjustment for her sake. The mill officials made
a special effort to move the equipment into her
home. The piece of equipment was a very heavy
frame of iron material to hold the Warper Beam which
was loaded with threads. Each thread had to be
pulled through eyelets to make up each type of cloth
made in the mill. She was allowed to work eight
hours per day, five days per week or six days if the
mill operated six days. She would use the
daylight hours for better lighting. Ola’s story is a
testimony to the spirit of family that often existed
between mill officials and the mill workers.
Neely D. Hammett died on Dec. 6, 1962 at the age of
66.Ola McKinney died on October 10, 1990 at the age of
85.
Their son, Charles grew to adulthood in Glendale. He
married Frances (Frankie) H. Corn. Frankie is the
great granddaughter of John Lafayette and Charlotte
Flynn/Flinn Corn
(Thanks to Charles Hammett for
contributing this story.)
