Bedford County PA Archives Biographies.....Hammer, John Bisel
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Judy Banja jbanja@msn.com May 2003


JOHN BISEL HAMMER, ex-Sheriff of Bedford County and a 
substantial citizen of Bedford borough, was born in Union, 
Pa., July 28, 1842, son of William and Margaret (Bisel) 
Hammer.
  John Hammer, father of William, was born in Gettysburg, 
Pa.  He was a farmer and one of the earliest settlers of St. 
Clair.  He married Mary Ward, of Frostburg, Md. Their son 
William was born January 28, 1816, in East St. Clair, and 
his education was received in the common schools of that 
place.  He followed farming the greater part of his life.  
For five or six years, about the time of the Civil War, he 
was a minister of the Evangelical Association.  He also held 
minor town offices.  His wife was a daughter of Jacob Bisel, 
of West St. Clair.
  William and Margaret (Bisel) Hammer were the parents of 
nine children, and all but one of them grew to maturity, 
namely: Delilah, Hezekiah, Elizabeth, John Bisel, Isabella, 
William, Margaret, and Abraham J.  Delilah is the wife of 
Isaac Ling, of Pavia, Bedford County. Hezekiah, born July 
20, 1840, in Union, Pa., now resides in Pleasantville, 
Bedford County.  He enlisted in Company K, Fifty-fifth 
Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, and entered service as a 
private.  He was brave and competent, and was successively 
promoted to the rank of Corporal, Sergeant, Orderly, Second 
Lieutenant, First Lieutenant, and Captain.  He lost his arm 
in front of Petersburg in 1865.  Elizabeth is the wife of 
William Ling, of Pleasantville.  Isabella married David T. 
Christ, of Lovely, Pa.  William is a resident of Bedford.  
Margaret married Christian Herr, of Union, Pa.  Abraham J. 
is a medical practitioner in Toledo, Ohio.  Both parents 
were members of the Evangelical Association, and the father 
was a leader in the church.
  John Bisel Hammer acquired his education in the common 
schools.  In 1862 he enlisted in Company D, One Hundred and 
Thirty-eighth Pennsylvania Regiment, and was sent to join 
the Sixth Army Corps.  He participated in twenty-one battles 
and minor engagements, was slightly wounded in the 
Wilderness, May 6, 1864, and at Winchester, on September 19, 
1864, was shot through the body.  Upon recovering from his 
wounds he rejoined his regiment.  He was advanced from the 
rank of private to that of Sergeant, and was honorably 
discharged June 23, 1865.  After the war he returned to 
Union, and engaged in farming, which he followed up to about 
1888.  He then bought a hotel in Pleasantville, which he 
conducted as a temperance house about three years.  Coming 
to Bedford from Pleasantville, he has since been an esteemed 
resident of this town, where he owns two fine farms.  Mr. 
Hammer was elected Sheriff in the fall of 1893 for a term of 
three years, and served most acceptably.  For a number of 
years he was constable and School Director, and held other 
local offices in Union township.  Fraternally, he is a 
member of E. S. Wright Post, No. 33, G.A.R., of which he is 
Past Commander, and is a member of the Patriotic Sons of 
America.
  Mr. Hammer married Leah, daughter of  Christian Ling, of 
Union.  Two of their four children grew to mature years, 
namely: Melissa, wife of Cyrus Harbaugh, of Pleasantville; 
and Ann, wife of Frank Nicodemus.  Mrs. Leah Hammer died 
July 14, 1893.  Mr. Hammer married Mary E., daughter of 
Thomas G. Walker, of West St. Clair, and has two children by 
this union - John Domar and Rufus.


Source: Bedford Biographical Review, 1899, Bedford Co., Pa