Big brother Raymond Sylvester, welcomed his new baby brother, Guy Arthur Hamm, into the family on March 16, 1888. Guy Arthur was the second child, and second son, of William Sylvester and Mary Jane Eckard Hamm." (He's listed as "Hany", [not "Guy"] age 12, on the earliest [second-earliest?] applicable [1900] Census record.)

Based strictly on "oral recitation", "oral tradition"...or "what everyone has always been told" the following would be considered "true and accurate":

Guy Arthur Hamm was married twice and had children by each of his wives. His first wife was Ethel DeEtta Welty. Exactly how, when, and where, they met is uncertain at this time.

Whatever the situation was for Guy and Ethel the only recorded, and therefore "verifiable", facts are:
a) that Guy Arthur Hamm was living in Nebraska in 1910,
b) that Guy Arthur Hamm married for the first time between 16 Mar 1915 and 15 Mar 1916; that is, "between his 27th and 28th birthdays". This date can be further narrowed down by the date of the birth of his eldest child, Ruby, who was born on 13 JUN 1915.)
c) that Guy Arthur Hamm and his wife had a child by the time of the WWI Draft (17 JUL 1917) [which, again, verifies the birth of Ruby.]
d) that both of Guy Arthur Hamm's first two children: Ruby Louise Hamm Reed, and Larry R. Ham, (nee' "Lawrence Ronald Hamm"), were born in Nebraska and
e) that Guy Arthur Hamm's second wife was ~NOT~ the birth mother of his first two children.

1. The 1910 U. S. Census record shows a Guy A. Hamm as a ~boarder~ to Nathan and Elizabeth N. (age 58) Baumgardner, in Grant Village, Perkins County, Liberty Precinct, Nebraska. What he was doing in Nebraska, and how he came to ~be~ there, at that time is unknown as yet. (Note: Nathan Baumgardner listed his age as 62 and his occupation as "retired farmer" while Guy listed ~his~ age as 22, and ~his~ occupation as "laborer". It seems likely that Guy was "working the farm" for Nathan and Elizabeth.) It is possible that Guy met Ethel there (in Nebraska) at that time.

Another possible scenario is that "Guy and Ethel ~moved to~ Nebraska because she had TB." (a disease to which she ultimately surrendered her life.)

2. The 1930 U. S. Census Record sheds far more light on Guy Arthur Hamm's past than on his then-present situation. On the 1930 U. S. Census record Guy Arthur Hamm lists his "age at first marriage" as "27". Since Guy would have been 42 at the time (of the 1930 census) this verifies that he was "first married" between 16 Mar 1915 and 15 Mar 1916 (that is, "between his 27th and 28th birthdays").

Further, the marriage certificate for Guy Arthur Hamm and Mary Grace Crist clearly reads 1926. Therefore this statement in the 1930 U. S. Census record could ~NOT~ be referring to his relatively recent marriage to Mary Grace Crist--albeit "Mary G. Hamm" is the name on the next line of the census form and is there listed as his wife. [Had this author known nothing of Guy A. Hamm's history, and this had been the first documentation of his life to have been located, this dichotomy would have been a surprise, if not an utterly baffling mystery! But, because this author ~does~ know something of his history, instead this document merely confirms that he ~was~, in fact, married at least once before he married M. Grace Crist Hamm.] Also, that 1930 U. S. Census record lists their residence as having been 720 West Park Drive, Huntington, Huntington County, Indiana. (This is the "hometown" of M. Grace Crist Hamm and makes logical sense from that viewpoint.)

a) The same census record (under "Mary G. Hamm") lists a son, Lawrence R. age 12, (estimated birth year 1918) and a daughter, Mary L. 2-3/12 years old (estimated birth year 1928). Furthermore, it states that both Lawrence, and Lawrence's mother, were born in Nebraska; while it lists "Mary G. Hamm" as having been born in Indiana. [Thus, Guy Arthur's current wife (which, by 1930, was M. Grace Crist Hamm) cannot be Lawrence's birth mother!]

b) In the same (1930) U. S. Census, (on another page, of course), is a "Mary Hamm", age 68, listed as a "domestic", in Peoria, IL, and a "Ruby Hamm", age 14, (estimated birth year 1916) as a "roomer", both under a listing for the head of household: Mary E. Ticknor. Thus, Ruby was living with Guy's mother, (Mrs. William Sylvester) Mary Jane Eckard Hamm, while her brother, Lawrence, was living with their father and stepmother. Here, again, both Ruby's, ~AND~ Ruby's mother's, birthplaces are listed as Nebraska. [And, again, Guy Arthur's current wife (which, by 1930, was M. Grace Crist Hamm) cannot be Ruby's birth mother, either!]

1930 United States Federal Census
Name: Ruby Hamm
Home in 1930: Peoria, Peoria, Illinois
Age: 14
Estimated birth year: abt 1916
Birthplace: Nebraska
Relation to Head of House: Roomer
Race: White
Age at first marriage: Note: this line on the 1930 Census is blank
Parents' birthplace: Note: this line on the 1930 Census is blank
Household Members:
Name Age
Mary E Ticknor 84
Sewis Deyo 75
Mary Hamm 68*
Ruby Hamm 14

[Author's note: *This has to have been "Mary Jane Eckard Hamm"; her identity is deduced from the location, and name, of the person at the time. "Mary Jane Eckard Hamm" was Ruby's paternal grandmother. Further, M. Grace Crist Hamm never lived to be 68.]

3. Guy Arthur Hamm's WWI Draft Registration Card (dated 17 JUL 1917) stated that he claimed exemption from the draft because he had a "Wife and child dependant on" him. (Whether he ~got~ the exemption or not is unknown.) Since he did not marry M. Grace Crist until 1926--nine years later--this has to refer to his first wife, Ethel, and eldest daughter, Ruby.

After Ethel's untimely death (at age 22) Guy Arthur Hamm moved himself and his two now motherless children back to Illinois "so his sister, Leta Violet Hamm Hayes (a.k.a. Mrs. Charles W. Hayes), and mother, (Mrs. William Sylvester) Mary Jane Eckard Hamm, could help [him] raise the kids." As fate would have it he met Mary Grace Crist instead.

Known better by her middle name, M. "Grace" Crist was a schoolteacher in Spring Bay, IL. Ruby and Lawrence went to school where Grace taught and I'm told "she said she fell in love with them [meaning Guy's children, Ruby, and Lawrence] before she fell in love with Guy."

The story-teller, Leta Elvira Hamm Krueger, went on to say: "Guy would bring the kids to school early and start a fire for her in the one-room schoolhouse. Grace said she loved the way he packed their lunch buckets. They were made like [our modern-day] paint cans; the lid fit tight and you sometimes needed to pry them open. Lard came in those cans and they made great lunch pails."

Guy Arthur Hamm eventually married Mary Grace Crist on May 26, 1926. Ruby was not quite 11 years old, and Lawrence was 8 years old, at that time.

Together Guy Arthur Hamm and M. "Grace" Crist Hamm had six children of their own: Mary Leona, Carroll Arthur, Eleanor Rose, Leta Elvira, Ray William, and Iladora May.

When Guy and Grace Hamm's youngest child (Iladora May) was six and a half years old, Guy Arthur Hamm died [1/14/1949]. At that time Ruby Louise was 33, Lawrence Ronald was not quite 31, Mary Leona was almost 21, Carroll Arthur was 18, Eleanor was not quite 17, Leta had just turned 15, and Ray William was 12.

By then Ruby was married to Virgil Royce Reed and had three children of her own: DeEtta Louise [age 12], Joyce [age 11] and Larry Duane Reed [age 9].

To go forward in time, see Mary Grace Crist Hamm...