Biography of Thomas Hamman, pages 850/851/852.  History of DeKalb 
County, Indiana; B. F. Bowen & Company, Inc., Indianapolis, 1914.



Thomas Hamman



	The occupation of farming, to which the major part of the 
business life of Thomas Hamman, one of the well known and popular 
citizens of DeKalb county, has been devoted, is the oldest pursuit for 
a livelihood of mankind and the one with which he will ever be the most 
independent.  His name has long been inseparably connected with general 
growth of DeKalb count, of which he is a native and where, in fact, he 
has spent most of his life.  While primarily attending to his own 
varied interest, his life has been largely devoted to his fellow man, 
having been untiring in his efforts in inspire a proper respect for law 
and order and ready as all times to uplift humanity along civic and 
social lines.

	Thomas Hamman, a public-spirited citizen and a progressive and 
successful farmer of Smithfield township, DeKalb county, was born on 
July 25, 1866, on the old home place in this township, and is the son 
of Thomas and Elizabeth (Schuler) Hamman.  The subject’s father was 
born in Osnaburg township, Stark county, Ohio, on April 11, 1823, and 
his death occurred on August 8, 1897, at the age of seventy-four years.  
In the fall of 1847 he came to section 16, Smithfield township, DeKalb 
county, Indiana, where he became a successful farmer and stock raiser.  
At the time he entered upon this land it was heavily timbered, and the 
following year he began clearing the same, the succeeding years being 
characterized by toil of the most strenuous character, but eventually 
the fruits of his labors were apparent and the farm became recognized 
as one of the best in the locality.  The year he entered upon the land 
he began the erection of a dwelling, which he finished in 1849 and 
which was the first frame house in Smithfield township.   It was 
eighteen by thirty feet in size, with thirteen-foot posts. During the 
first six years Mr. Hamman cleared sixty acres of heavily timbered land 
and chopped the timber from one hundred and forty acres.  In 1864 he 
built a barn eighty-five by forty-two feet in size, which for a long 
time was the best in the township.  The buildings were of unusually 
substantial and permanent character, and he was recognized in all 
departments of his work as above the average in excellence.  In 1850 he 
married Elizabeth Shuyler, who was a native of York county, 
Pennsylvania, and who came with her stepfather, Adam Hood, to DeKalb 
county in early days.  He was the father of nine children, John, Henry, 
Caroline, Thomas, Simon, Samuel, Eliza, and two died in infancy.  Mr. 
Hamman became a member of the Lutheran church when twenty years of age, 
and maintained his interest in religious matters throughout his mature 
life. He was a noble man in his motives and actions, and through his 
persistence, industry and wise management of his affairs he was enabled 
to accumulate a fine property.  He was a faithful husband, a kind 
father, accommodating neighbor and enjoyed the confidence and respect 
of all who knew him.  His wife was born in York county, Pennsylvania, 
in 1823, and died at the old home farm in this county on April 4, 1901, 
at the age of seventy-eight years.  She moved to DeKalb county in 1842, 
and here was a consistent member of the Reformed church, to which she 
gave stanch and faithful allegiance throughout her life.

	Thomas Hamman was reared on the old farmstead, securing his 
education in the common schools of the locality, and from an early age 
devoted his labors to the farm.  In the spring of 1887 he left home and 
lived on a farm one-half mile south of the home place and which was 
owned by his father.  Two years later this tract was deeded to him by 
his father, and he remained there seven years longer, at the end of 
which time he sold the place to Joseph Hohl, and then bought eighty 
acres south of the home place, where he lived one and one-half years.  
He placed this tract in good condition by draining and tiling the soil 
and building good fences, and eventually traded this tract for one 
hundred and sixty acres of land about one and one-half miles west of 
the home place where he now lives, and on to which he moved in 1896.  
At that time it was in a very rough and uninviting condition, the 
buildings being poor and in other ways run down.  In 1889 Mr. Hamman 
built a splendid residence and in 1903 a large and well arranged barn, 
the old barn being remodeled into a sheep barn, and the old residence 
that was on the place was turned into a hog barn. The farm is now 
generally recognized as one of the best in the township, its present 
condition being secured by the subject’s hard work and careful 
attention to every detail of its management.  It has been very 
extensively tiled, one field having over three thousand tiles.

	On October 14, 1886, Thomas Hamman was married to Mary Charlotte 
Erwin, the daughter of Edward and Eliza (McEntarffer) Erwin, who are 
mentioned elsewhere in this work.  To this union have been born two 
children, Chloe, who is the wife of Cleveland Getts, of LaGrange 
county, Indiana, and Dessie the wife of Gaulbert Geaty, of Smithfield 
township, this county, and they have one child, Iola.

	Politically, Mr. Hamman is an earnest supporter of the Democratic 
party, though he has been too busy in his private affairs to mingle 
much in politics.  He is well liked throughout the community, and , 
though a quiet and  unassuming man,  he is progressive in his methods 
and has earned the confidence which is generally bestowed in him.



Submitted by:

Arlene Goodwin

Auburn, Indiana

Agoodwin@ctlnet.com