Judge Henry C. Hammond papers

Collection — Box: 1

Identifier: ARCHS-101

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection comprises 4 scrapbooks containing ephemera such as newspaper clippings, event programs, correspondence, and annotated writings documenting the career of Judge Henry C. Hammond between 1886-1953. The scrapbooks document his career as a law practicioner and eventual judge in Richmond County, Georgia.

Dates

Acquired: 1983
Created: 1884-1953
Majority of material found in 1884-1905

Conditions Governing Access

No current restrictions. Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The Augusta Richmond County Historical Society is the owner of the physical collection and makes reproductions available for research purposes only. Materials within the collection are subject to the copyright law of the United States and item condition. the Augusta Richmond County Historical Society may or may not own the rights to materials in the collection. It is the researcher's responsibility to verify copyright ownership and obtain permission from the copyright holder before publication, reproduction, or display of the materials beyond what is reasonable under copyright law. Researchers may quote selections from the collection under the fair use provision of copyright law.

Biographical / Historical

As a member of a prominent family spanning both sides of the Savannah River, Judge Henry Cumming Hammond maintained deep lifelong ties to Redcliffe Plantation, the historic Beech Island, South Carolina estate built by his paternal grandfather, the pro-slavery South Carolina Governor and U.S. Senator James Henry Hammond. Born just after the Civil War in 1868, the young Henry spent much of his youth at the plantation, which passed to his parents, James Henry "Harry" Hammond Jr. and Emily Cumming Hammond, in 1873. Even as he established his legal and judicial career across the river in Augusta, Georgia, serving 18 years as a Superior Court judge, he remained intricately connected to the property's daily affairs. Historical family records from the estate capture his distinct presence, including a noted architectural footnote when he ordered the removal of Redcliffe’s water-damaged second-floor piazzas in 1886. Ultimately, his connection to the site endured until his death in 1961; he was buried in the Hammond family cemetery on the plantation property, which his nephew, John Shaw Billings, later donated to the state of South Carolina in 1973 to preserve its complex legacy for the public.