The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1914-05-11
ACORNER IN ANCESTORS
The Hammer Family.
BY FRANCES cowLEs.

The first of the name of Hamer in this
country was a knight and gentleman oil
quality" Capt. Ralph Hamer. who was
one of the first settlers Of jamestown
Va. He came from London with Lord
De War; In 1910 and was appointed clerk
of the council. and afterward member OF
the Kings council and secretary of the
colony.
Capt. Ralph Hamer is well known to
students of early American history as
the author of a book published in 1914
called True Discourse of the Present
Estate of Virginia The book is dedi-
Gated to Sir Thomas Smith and in the
inscription on the title page is said to
be written by a gentleman of good
merit" The motto found in the book
is "Alget qui non ardet." which presum-
ably was the motto of the author, Ralph
Hamer.
About the year 1910 Capt. Hamer re-
turned to England for the purpose OF
having his book publisheG. While there
he married the widow Clement" who
returned to Virginia with him. bringing
with her her two children. Jeremy and
Elizabeth Clement. By this time Capt.
Hamer had risen to the pos of vice ad-
miral. On his return to Virginia Hamer
also brought his father. Ralph Hamer. ST.,
and his brother, Thomas Hamer. The
father had been a director o, the East
India Company, in which he had invest
ed Loo pounds. He died soon after
reaching his new home in Virginia, leav-
ing a widow, Susan. The Hamer broth
ers, Ralph and Thomas, were wealthy
men of the colony an. owned extensive
estates, one of which was Bermuda Hun
dred, in Virginia. From these two
brothers are probably descended all the
Hamers of the South
About a hundred years after the COM
ing of the Virginia Hamers there ap-
peared two families of the name in Penn
sylvania. One OF these connections was
founded by James Hamer, a Welshman.
who settled in Montgomery County, Pa.
in 1712. There he acquired about 900
acres of a tract of land known as the
Manor Of Gilbert from William Penn.
There have been many and distinguished
descendants OF this first settler. James
Hamer, and there has always been a rep
resentative of the family among them
who bore his name, James.
The other Pennsylvania family of the
name was founded by Thomas Hamer.
who is supposed to have settled in Ches-
ter or Northumberland. Pa. He came
either from Scotland or the north of
England. Thomas Hamer served in the
Revolution and his son James was in the
War OF MI In the Mexican war the
family was represented by Brig. Gen.
Thomas Lyon Hamer. who lost his life
in battle. He had been a member of
Congress.
Although Hamer is a fairly unusual
name, with its various near relatives in
the list OF surnames it is well represent
ed. Among the variations are Hamer.
Haymer. Hammer, Hamerton, Hamer-
ling, and Hamersley. Ralph Hamer, the
founder of the Virginia family. sometimes
spelled his name Hamor
Various suggestions as TO the origin of
the name and its variations have been
suggested. 1t may be derived from the
Anglo-SaXon word. ham. meaning home
or it may be derived from the~o old first
names Aimard and Haimard. Another
theory is that 1t is derived from the old
Morse root hari. meaning hero, from
which Haimir is derived, which might
have given rise to Hamer.s
The coat of arms of the family is de-