Hammons Family Tree

Bridge to the Past Publications

Publisher: D. R. Hammons

Issue No. 002

Date: January 11, 2013

Hammons
Surname History
INTRODUCTION
Throughout various records Hammons was spelled in different
ways from Hammon (believed to be the original spelling) to
Hammond, Hammonds, Hammons, Hammans, Hamon, Hamond,
Hamonds, Hammens, Hamens, and even Haymans as well as some
left the h off and spelled it Ammons.
No one really knows what the true spelling is because it was
spelled phonetically by many enumerators on Tax Records as most
of the Hammons were illiterate when the spelling of the name was
established. For example, John Hammon (1760-1868) put an X
for his mark. It was William Henry Harrison the Hamilton County
Clerk who spelled his name Hammon.
Figure 1 Hammond Crest?
www.heraldry.ws/html/hammond.html1

It was a matter of how the individual heard the name through various accents
that the enumerator may have spelled the name on records. On my birth
certificate and that of my father and grandfather, my name is spelled
Hammons. However many of my uncles had their name spelled Hammond,
Hammonds but none spelled it Hammon. Again this was a matter of the
particular doctor who went back from the farm and registered the birth and
spelled the name as he had heard it. No one spelling is sure.
Figure 2 Hammond Crest?
Image from Crest purchased in England 1996

Even the Hammond Heraldry is different according to whomever wants to sell you an image of the family crest.( See Figs 1-4).

ORIGIN OF THE NAME HAMMON

Stratton O. Hammon2 lists a rich history of the surname Hammon. He
mentions it by stating that the name is seen in antiquity and is one of
the most ancient surnames of written history.3 However Hammon
was not a surname in antiquity according to the examples Stratton O.
Hammond gives. His particular examples include:
- Hammon: Ancient Sparta
- Hammon: Biblical Reference(s)
- Hammon: Roman Times
- Hammon: Medieval Times
- Hammon: England in the Middle Ages
Fig 3 Hammond Crest?
www.family-crests.org/hammond-english.html

HAMMON: ANCIENT SPARTA

Even in ancient Sparta the name Hammon was
not unknown4 Since Stratton O. Hammon
did not provide a reference to this statement we
can only guess.
Sparta rose to dominance in the 6th Century
Before the Common Era (BCE) and lost her
supremacy in 371 BCE and was absorbed into
the Achean League in the 2nd Century BCE. In
northwestern Greece the Oracle of Dodona
existed as early as 500-550 BCE during the rise
of Sparta. Any reference to Hammon during that
time in Sparta would probably have been in
relation to the Oracle of Hammon a twin oracle
Fig 4 Hammond Crest? - http://www.allfamilycrests.com
of Dodona. However, Hammon was located in
the Libyan Desert which today is located south
of the ancient city of Carthage in Tunisia. This Oracle will be addressed in the section below
entitled Roman Times. It is probably not a surname in Ancient Sparta but is a reference to a
gods name located in Libya.

Stratton Owen Hammon is a descendant of William Hammon. He is a past chairman of the Genealogical Committee of The
Filson Club, past president of the Kentucky Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and a Knight of the Order of the
Legion of Honor.
3
Hammon, Stratton O. John Hammon: Revolutionary Soldier, Kentucky Pioneer,
http://www.tcnet.net/hammons/johnhammon.html.
4

Ibid.

HAMMON: BIBLICAL REFERENCES

There are many references to Hammon in the Bible from the time of Joshuas entrance into the
Promised Land which predates Ancient Sparta, until the time of the prophets. Again Hammon is
not used as a surname but is a reference to places and false gods. Although Stratton O. Hammon
mentions the reference in Joshua 19:28 he does not mention the other occurrences of this place
name as found in Joshua 19:35; 21:32; 1st Chronicles 6:76; Ezekiel 39:11.
In Joshua 19:24, 27-28 Hammon is listed as one of the borders of the Tribe of Asher:
19:24

The fifth lot came out for the tribe of Asher according to its families 19:27
northward to Beth-emek and Neiel; then it continues in the north to Cabul, 19:28
Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, Kanah, as far as Sidon the Great; (New Revised
Standard Version ((NRSV)).

Fig 5 1779 Map of the Tribes of Israel, http://cyclopaedia.org/1716sacred/1716sacred.html5

(See blowup of Asher Fig 6)

Sacred Geography Contained in Six Maps, London, 1716 - http://cyclopaedia.org/1716sacred/1716sacred.html.

Hammon (Hamon/Amon)

Hammon (Hamon or HamothDor)

Fig 6 Tribe of Asher Hamon (Amon)

According to Joshua 19:28, Hammon was a known place name by the time of the writing of
Joshua (circa late 7th century BCE6). As such it is possibly one of oldest dates for the mention of
Hammon (Hamon) as a place name but refers back to a time prior to the settlement of Canaan by
the Israelites.

Lutheran Study Bible, Joshua, Augsburg Fortress, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2009, pg 363. The action of Joshua takes place
probably in the 13th century BCE but the writing of Joshua was later, probably in the 7th century BCE.

Also in Joshua there is a reference to Hamoth as a fortified city and the Hamoth-dor or Hamon
the city of refuge for the slayer, Hammoth-dor with its pasture lands, (Josh 19:32). This
Hamoth-dor or Hammon in Naphtali is also identified in First Chronicles7 6:76.
and out of the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee with its pasture lands,
Hammon with its pasture lands, and Kiriathaim with its pasture lands. 1
Chronicles 6:76 (NRSV)
Ezekiel speaks about Gog and Magog gathering against Israel in the 39th chapter and that they
will die in the Valley of Hamon Gog ().
On that day I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the Valley of the
Travelers east of the sea; it shall block the path of the travelers, for there Gog and
all his horde will be buried; it shall be called the Valley of Hamon-gog. Ezekiel
39:11 (NRSV)
This is not the Battle of Armageddon mentioned in Revelation 16:16. But there are similarities in
that the valley is in western Galilee and Megiddo is nearer the coast of Israel in the Tribe of
Manasseh (See fig 7).

Fig 7 Hamon/Hamoth-dor Megiddo8

One might ask why these place names were called Hammon (Hamon/Hammoth-dor). The
significance might be contained in the meaning of word Hammon or Hamam from a different
source.

Lutheran Study Bible, Joshua, Augsburg Fortress, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2009, pg 639. Probably written by the Chronicler
during the Persian Period (539-332 BCE) after the return to Israel.
8
Sacred Geography Contained in Six Maps, London, 1716 - http://cyclopaedia.org/1716sacred/1716sacred.html.

The city of Ugarit was located in north of Lebanon and about 10 km south of Latikia, Syria along
the Mediterranean Coast. The city of Ugarit was occupied from prehistoric times to about 1200
BCE. In 1928 when a farmer opened a tomb while plowing his fields the ruins of Ugarit were
discovered. Most excavations of Ugarit were undertaken by archaeologist Claude Schaeffer from
the Prehistoric and Gallo-Roman Museum in Strasbourg. The people of Ugarit worship many
gods but the chief god was Baal.
It is in the worship of Baal that the term Hammon appears in the Hebrew Scriptures. In Ezekiel
6:4, 6 the Hebrew word translated as incense stand is Hammon (hmn - ). The same word is
translated as incense stands in 2nd Chronicles 34:4-7 where King Josiah goes throughout the
country tearing down the incense stands of Baal in the towns of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon
and as far as Naphtali (2nd Chronicles 34:6 NRSV). The word hmm was thought to mean to
be hot and that is the reason that many biblical scholars translate this Hebrew word as incense
stand/altars.
Since the discovery of the Ugaritic tablets, the same or similar word in Ugaritic hmn
(hamman/plural hammanim) sheds light that they were not incense stands but probably road side
shrines. Ziony Zevit surmises on the basis of references to Baal Hammon on Punic inscriptions
and of the term in Aramaic that it may refer to a type of altar and that the word hamman are
associated to small cultic structures, canopies that protected the altar and cult image or the like
and that they were associated with Baal.9
It is likely that Hamon in Asher and Hamon/Hamoth-dor in Naphtali were places that were
named as temple or shrines to Baal. To make the claim that the surname Hammon is in the
Hebrew Scriptures is a claim that is rather weak. It is highly unlikely that the descendants of
John Hammon came from Northern Israel unless we have miraculously found one of the missing
ten tribes of Israel.
HAMMON: REFERENCE FROM ROMAN TIMES
Stratton O. Hammon claims that Decimus Junius Juvenalis mentions Hammon in his Sixth
Satire. This is true. The reference is made on line 781 of the Sixth Satire. However, the context
of this reference is to Hammons secret fount. This secret fount is based in mythological god
worship and oracles which predate Roman times. In Carthage at the heighth of her power the
Punic goddess Tanits consort was Baal Hammon, Lord of Mt. Amanus. Referrences can be
found on inscriptions from the 5th century BCE.10
The most renowned oracles of the ancient world were Delphos, Dodona, Trophonius, Jupiter
Hammon and the Clarian Apollo. It is said that the Oracle of Dodona of the Oaks was a pigeonprophetess and was introduced by a Thessalian word which means both pigeon and woman. The
fable was that two pigeons having taken wing from Thebes, one of them fled into Libya where
9

Zevit, Ziony, The Religions of Ancient Israel: A Synthesis of Parallactic Approaches, IV Tangible Belief: The
material and Textual Aspects of Cultic Artifacts, Continuum, The Tower Building, 11 York Road, London SE1 7NX,
2001, p 267 http://books.google books.com see also Block, Daniel Isaac, The Book of Ezekiel: chapter 1-24,
Volume 1, pg 225 http://books.googlebooks.com.
10
Stuckey, Johanna, Tanit of Carthage, http://www.matrifocus.com/LAM09/spotlight.htm.

10

the Oracle of Jupiter Hammon was established and the other one stopped in the forest of Dodona.
It is interesting that the word for pigeon in Arabic is hammam and it also can mean baths (spa).
The hot springs where this oracle was established in Arabic today is called Hammam or
Hammamat.
To further isolate that Hamman was an oracle occurs in Book IX of the Pharsalia (The Civil
War) it is spelled as Hammen. Cato speaks about the Libyan Hammen.
593 Now had they reached that temple which possess
594 Sole in all Libya, th' untutored tribes
595 Of Garamantians. Here holds his seat
596 (So saith the story) a prophetic Jove,
597 Wielding no thunderbolts, nor like to ours,
598 The Libyan Hammen of the curved horn.11
Once again Hammon/Hammen is not only a place name but he is also the god Baal who was
worshiped in Libya through the oracle established there. Decimus Junius Juvenalis did mention
Hammon but Hammon/Hammen was a god who spoke through an oracle in the Libyan Desert
(south of Carthage) and not a surname that stood out in antiquity.

Hammamet
/Hammma
m

Fig 8 Map of Tunisia and Hammamet

http://www.tunisia-travelguide.de/imgs/tunisia/map.jpg
11

Pharsalia, Book IX Cato, Online Medieval and Classical Library Release #16b
http://omacl.org/Pharsalia/book9.html.

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HAMMON: MEDIEVAL TIMES

York

Stratton O. Hammon states that In 868 Common

Era (CE)12 a band led by the Danish Chieftain
Hamond crossed the North Sea and landed at
Holkham on the northern shore of what later
became know as Norfolk I can find numerous
references to the landing of the Viking Mauraders
to Norfolk but can not isolate the name of the
Chieftain who led them.
In 866 CE a Great Heathen Army arrived in
Norfolk and settled in the Norwich area, see Fig
10.13 The East Anglias Viking Age began as
Viking ships made their way up the River Yare and
made raids on settlements. At first there were just
small raids but then in 866 CE the Vikings invaded
East Anglia.

Nottingham
Norwich

Fig 9 Counties of England

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recalls the event:

And the same year came a large heathen army into England, and fixed their winterquarters in East-Anglia where they were soon horsed; and the inhabitants made peace
with them.14

The next year the Vikings marched to Northumbria to York and eventually through an immense
slaughter of the Northumbrians15 they entered York as the survivors sued for peace.
In 868 CE they fixed their winter quarters at Nottingham where they gathered an army with an
alliance with the West-Saxons and to invade Mercia but there was very little fighting as the
Mercians made peace with the army. In 869 CE the army went back to York and remained a year.
In 870 CE they left York and rode over East-Anglia and fixed their winter quarters at Thetford
and that winter King Edmund fought them. It was probably at this time that that the Danes were
gathered once again as we read in Ingulphs Chronicle of the Abbey of Croyland:
During the night, there arrived at the camp of the Pagans all the other kings of
their country, who, dividing the district between themselves, had gone forth for
the purpose of ravaging it. These, whose names were, Gogroun, Baseg, Oskitel,

12

I added Common Era (CE) to the date.

Fig 9
14
Ingram, Rev James , Translator, The Online Medieval & Classical Library, The Anglo Saxon Chronicle, Part 2
A.D. 750-919, http://omacl.org/Anglo/part2.html
15
Ibid
13

12

Halfden, and Hamond, with as many Earls, namely Frena, Unguar, Ubba and the
two Sidrocs, the elder and the younger, now arrived with all their forces16
The Danes won the battle, killing King Edmund and went on a rampage they overran all that
land, and destroyed all the monasteries to which they came."17
Then in 870 CE we read the account
as recounted by Stratton O. Hammon:

Based on this quote from the

Chronicler of Croyland Abbey,
Hamond was one of the Viking
Kings and since Hammon visited
the site in Norfolk and presented
the account of Hamonds grave
being moved to flatten the land for
an airfield during World War II
Fig 10 - Fye Bridge in the area of Norwich where Vikings settled
and having met many Hamonds
who had remained in this area for
generations it is safe to say that the reference to Hamond leading a particular Viking party who
settled in the Norfolk/Norwich area is probably true.18
HAMMON: ENGLAND IN THE MIDDLE AGES
Stratton O. Hammon states that in 1066 William the Conqueror, at the battle of Hastings, relied
heavily upon Robert Fitz Hamon (Robertus filius Hamot) whom he later appointed Prince of
Wales. From this Robert Fitz Hamon all Englishmen and Americans of this cognomen have
descended.19
It is unlikely that all Englishmen and Americans of this cognomen have descended since Robert
Fitz Hamon only had one daughter, Mabel Fitz-Hamon who married Robert de Caen the
Consul20 Their second son was named Hamon Fitz Robert and he died without issue. Robert
Fitz-Hamon was probably the most famous Hamon but his line ended with him.
As far as the claim that William the Conquueror relied heavily upon Robert Fitz-Hamon at the
Battle of Hastings there is very little known about the early career of Fitz Hamon. It is stated in
the Chronicle of Tewkesbury that he accompanied William in 1066; however, it is almost certain
16

Ingulphs Chronicle of the Abbey of Croyland with the Continuations by Peter of Blois, p 41 http://books.google.com ; (See also Hammon, Stratton O., The Saga of John Hammon: Revolutionary War Hero and
Owen County Kentucky Pioneer, The Pilgrim Press, Louisville, 1979, Second Printing January 1988, p 1).
17
Ingram, Rev James, Translator, The Online Medieval & Classical Library, The Anglo Saxon Chronicle, Part 2
A.D. 750-919, http://omacl.org/Anglo/part2.html.
18
Hammon, Stratton O., The Saga of John Hammon: Revolutionary War Hero and Owen County Kentucky Pioneer,
The Pilgrim Press, Louisville, 1979, Second Printing January 1988, pp 2-3.
19
Hammon, Stratton O. John Hammon: Revolutionary Soldier, Kentucky Pioneer,
http://www.tcnet.net/hammons/johnhammon.html.
20
Robert de Caen the Consul was the bastard son of King Henry I Beauclerc.

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that he was not present at Hastings as his name is not mentioned in the Doomsday Book as
having received any subsequent grant of lands. Since Robert Fitz-Hammon was the founder of
Tewkesbury Abbey it is possible that this honor was accounted to him because of his patronage.
There is therefore little that can be said about his activities in the first decade and a half
following the Norman Conquest.
Again, the statement that all Americans and Englishmen named Hammon stem from Robert FitzHammon is a bit over zealous.
ORIGIN OF THE SURNAME HAMMON
It is more likely that Hammon is not an English phonetic rendering of Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic
or Ugaritic but is derived from the Viking invaders of England from Denmark who were led by
Hammond and settled in East-Anglia circa 866 CE.
According to the Historical Research Center Inc, the surname Hammons is of patronymic origin.
Hammons is derived from the name Haimund an Anglicization of the old German name
Haimon which originally meant protector.
The Internet Surname Data Base also records the surname
as Amand, Hammand, Hammond, Hammant, Hammon and possibly others and
states that it is a famous Anglo-French surname, but one which can be of early
Norse-Viking or later French and German origins of which it has three. The first
is from early Norse-Viking personal name Hamundr meaning High protection
and possibly introduced into Britain in about the 7th century CE. The second is
also Norse-Viking and of the same period, but from Amundr meaning Ancestor
protection. Over the centuries the two forms became literally confused and
fused. The third possible origin is arguably of German origin from the personal
name Haimo meaning Home, but introduced as Hammant by the Norman French
invaders of England in 1066 CE. This again became integrated and fused with the
two Norse spellings.21
I have the greatest respect that for those who have researched the surname and all of the
permutations that record keepers of past generations have bestowed upon the spelling of our
surname, The Hammon Clan. To claim one of the three possibilities of origin over another is a
matter of preference unless you can actually trace your descendents to either Norwich or Kent
where the Norman French seemed to settle, but we can all claim the name no matter how it has
been and will continue to be spelled. After all, whats a little misspelling among cousins?

21

The Internet Surname Data Base, http://www.surnamedb.com/surname.aspx?name=Hammond,

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