One of the challenges of genealogy is deciding what to do with information that has been copied from tree to tree for decades — especially when the evidence begins to conflict.
In the case of my 2nd great-grandfather, Richmond F. Hammond, I’m beginning to question whether I have the correct family structure attached to him. Like many online trees, my database has long included nine children for Richmond Hammond. However, the first three children raise significant questions.
The three oldest children commonly attached to Richmond F. Hammond are:
- William R. R. Hammond, born 1 January 1864
- Homer L. Hammond, born 25 July 1865
- Judson F. E. Hammond, born 15 April 1866
So where did these names and birth dates originate?
In my case — and likely in many other trees — the information came from the book History and Genealogies of the Hammond Families in America by Frederick Stam Hammond, published in 1902. Richmond F. Hammond’s family appears as family #3327 beginning on page 519, with the children listed on page 520.
At first glance, the list seems straightforward. However, comparing the dates against other records creates several problems.
Richmond F. Hammond married Sarah Ellen Ralston on 1 January 1867. Records consistently indicate Sarah was born on 11 May 1848, meaning she was only 18 years old at the time of her marriage. If Sarah was the mother of the three older children, she would have been approximately:
- 15 years old at William’s birth in January 1864
- 17 years old at Homer’s birth in July 1865
- and still unmarried at the time of all three births
While young marriages and premarital births certainly occurred, the larger issue is Richmond’s Civil War service.
Richmond served in the Union Army during the American Civil War and was captured in August 1864. He was imprisoned at Andersonville Prison and later at Florence Stockade until his release in May 1865.
That timeline creates a major problem for Homer Hammond’s reported birth date of 25 July 1865.
A child born in late July 1865 would likely have been conceived in approximately October 1864 — at a time when Richmond was imprisoned hundreds of miles from home. While Richmond may have been home on leave early enough to father William Hammond, it appears highly unlikely that he fathered Homer Hammond if the reported dates are accurate.
Judson’s reported birth in April 1866 creates a similarly compressed timeline given Richmond’s release from prison in May 1865.
At this point, I have only one known source for these three children: the 1902 Hammond genealogy. I currently have no census records, probate records, Bible records, death records, or other contemporary sources that clearly place William, Homer, or Judson in Richmond F. Hammond’s household.
Because the known timeline conflicts with Richmond’s imprisonment — and because the evidence currently rests on a single compiled genealogy written decades later — I have decided to disconnect these three children from Richmond F. Hammond in my tree pending further evidence.
That does not necessarily mean the children never existed, nor does it prove they were unrelated to Richmond or Sarah. It simply means that, at present, I do not believe the available evidence is strong enough to confidently place them in the family.
Sometimes genealogy research is not about adding names to a tree. Sometimes it is about recognizing when the evidence no longer supports what has been there all along.