James Henry Hammond
November 15, 1807 - November 13, 1864
He was admitted to the bar in 1828. In 1831 he proposed marriage to Catherine Fitzsimons, daughter of Christopher Fitzsimons, a wealthy Charleston merchant. Her family objected because they believed he was a money hunter. Finally her mother gave in and in June 1831 they married. He found Catherine's money and influence irreplaceable, but his views towards women made him believe that he couldn't develop a loving relationship with a member of the opposite sex. In a letter to his son Harry, December 20, 1825, he told him to stay away from poor girls no matter how attractive they may be. Through his marriage to Catherine, James Henry Hammond acquired 7,500 acres at Silver Bluff. He also received one hundred forty seven slaves, and plenty of farm equipment.
They took up residence on the Silver Bluff plantation. Here his life was that of a Southern planter. He succeeded largely, reducing several thousand acres to cultivation. From one field of six hundred acres he produced a crop of thirty-seven thousand bushels of corn, in a section thought dead, and since, little adapted to this crop.
REF: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Henry _Hammond
A History and Genealogy of the Descendants of William Hammond by Roland Hammond, M.D.
Selections from the letters and speeches of the Hon. James H. Hammond, of South Carolina by James Henry Hammond
