Watson F. Hammond (May 24, 1837 – December 9, 1919) was the first

Native American Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States. Related terms and peoples include: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...

to sit in the

Great and General Court The Massachusetts General Court, formally the General Court of Massachusetts, is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts located in the state capital of Boston. The name "General Court" is a holdover from the earliest days of ...

of Massachusetts.

Early life

Hammond was born in 1837 in the North End of

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

to John Hammon of

Sag Harbor Sag Harbor is an incorporated village in Suffolk County, New York, United States, in the towns of Southampton and East Hampton on eastern Long Island. The village developed as a working port on Gardiners Bay. The population was 2,772 at the 2 ...

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and Catherine F. Hammond. a Montauk Indian He had two siblings, Frances C. Hammond (Mingo) and John Hammond. John owned over 50 acres of land on Mashpee Neck on

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The ...

. John died when Watson was seven, and Watson was sent to live with an uncle in Mashpee at the Attaquin Hotel.

Professional career

At the age of 14, Hammond sailed to the north Pacific Ocean on board the Liverpool, a whaling ship out of

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. The ship, under the command of Captain Weston Swift, hunted

bowhead whales The bowhead whale (''Balaena mysticetus''), sometimes called the Greenland right whale, Arctic whale, and polar whale, is a species of baleen whale belonging to the family Balaenidae and is the only living representative of the genus '' Balaena' ...

for 20 months. While in the bay of

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, the ship struck a reef and began to sink. They were rescued by the ship Helen Augusta, a ship sailing from Holmes Hole, Martha's Vineyard. They were towed to a Russian port on St. Lawrence Island, in the

Bering Sea The Bering Sea ( , ; rus, Бе́рингово мо́ре, r=Béringovo móre, p=ˈbʲerʲɪnɡəvə ˈmorʲe) is a marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean. It forms, along with the Bering Strait, the divide between the two largest landmasse ...

, more than 167 miles away. The ship was not salvageable, so the cargo was loaded onto the Helen Augusta. The Liverpool was then set on fire and sank, while Watson sailed home on the Helen Augusta. Following his maiden voyage, he spent the next 15 years working as a seaman. Watson loved the outdoors and was a successful cranberry farmer on the

Mashpee River The Mashpee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tidal river on Cape Cod in Mashpee, Massachusetts Mashpee ( ) is a New England town, town in Ba ...

. He was also an inventor, and patented a cranberry separator in 1883.

Personal life

In 1869 he married Rebecca C. Amos, the daughter of "Blind Joe" Amos, the famous Baptist preacher. Together they had seven children: Jeremiah Hammond, Nellie W. Hammond, Chief Lorenzo (Len) Tandy Hammond, Edith L. Hammond, Charles N. Hammond, Elizabeth Hammond, Charles H Hammond, Alice C Hammond, and Caroline (Carrie) F Pells. The oldest, Charles, became a teacher and Town Clerk in Mashpee. Watson's son

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, was known as Chief Little Bear of the Wampanoag nation and took over leadership of the tribe from his cousin Nelson D. Simons, a grand-nephew of Watson Hammond. Watson Hammond is buried near the Mashpee

Old Indian Meeting House The Old Indian Meeting House (also known as the Old Indian Church) is a historic meeting house at 410 Meetinghouse Road in Mashpee, Massachusetts. Built in 1758, the meetinghouse is the oldest Native American church in the eastern United States ...

Elected official

Watson held every office in Mashpee: town clerk, moderator, selectman, surveyor, and treasurer. He was also the leader of the

Mashpee people The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (formerly Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribal Council, Inc.) is one of two federally recognized tribes of Wampanoag people in Massachusetts. Recognized in 2007, they are headquartered in Mashpee on Cape Cod. The other Wa ...

in addition to being a deacon of his church and a manager of Attaquin Hotel. In 1885 he was elected to serve in the

of Massachusetts, representing both Barnstable and Mashpee. Like most of the voters of town of Mashpee, Hammond was a Republican, but there were far more voters in Barnstable. The incumbent, Capt. Zenas E. Crowell of Hyannis was retiring. Hammond beat "Cranberry King" A. D. Makepeace, the Democratic candidate, by a margin of 77 votes out of 432 cast. His victory party was hosted by the Republican boss, General John Reed at the Samuel Hooper House in

Cotuit Cotuit ( ) is one of the villages of the Town of Barnstable, Massachusetts, Barnstable on Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. Located on a peninsula on the south side of Barnstable about ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hammond, Watson F. Massachusetts Republicans Native American people from Massachusetts 1837 births 1919 deaths Indigenous sailors of the Americas 19th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court