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Elizabeth Schermerhorn Hammond move with her husband and children from Lagrange County, Indiana to Montfort, Wisconsin in 1859, where they lived until 1868, when they decided to try their fortune in Dakota Territory. The were accompanied by Alanson Hammond's father and mother and their orphaned grandson Charles J Fox Jr. then a youth of 19.
Alanson had a team of horses and a covered wagon while the others drove a yoke of oxen hitched to their covered wagon. The progress was slow and they stopped for a few days to visit relatives near Charles City, Iowa. Three weeks after leaving Montfort they arrived at Vermillion, Dakota Territory. The three children of the party enjoyed the trip immensely. Sarah often rode one of the horses or one of the oxen when they were crossing the various sloughs, which were common on the trail across Iowa. There were two sloughs which were especially hazardous to the pioneers. The first was called Purgatory and the second Hell Slough. When they came to Purgatory the men unhitched both horses and oxen and the children drove them to dry land on the opposite side. Ropes were then run through the ends of the wagon tongues and the wagons were towed across the slough. The same procedure was followed in crossing Hell Slough, but the crossing was not as successful as in the first instance. Elizabeth was left in the Hammond wagon alone. When the wagon reached the middle of the slough it gave a sudden lurch and a prized bureau containing all of the best clothes in the family wardrobe pitched headlong into the muddy water. After much labor it was rescued but every article had to be removed from it and washed and dried at the next stopping place.
When the Hammonds reached Vermillion they were besieged by millions of mosquitoes. There were so bitten that they became discouraged and were about to return to Wisconsin. but Sunday morning a jolly young Irishman came riding by in a buckboard. He saw their plight and told them to accompany him to Yankton where he could locate them on a homestead where the mosquitoes would not annoy them. They followed his advice and filed on a quarter section of land eight miles northeast of Yankton. The Irishman was named James Walsh, later became the partner of Alanson in the sawmill business in Yankton. In later years he married and lived on his homestead and was a neighbor of Sarah Hammond DeVoe for many years.
At the time the Hammond's filed on their Homestead the government permitted the shanties to be built on the line between the homesteads, so the families built a double shanty with boards upright and the cracks left open to provided better ventilation in summer. Earlier settlers had told Alanson that their was no winter in Dakota until December. So with the families settled, Elizabeth and her children in one end of the shanty and Grandfather and Grandmother Hammond and Charles Fox in the other, Alanson went to Yankton to establish his sawmill business and prepare a winter home for the family.
All went well until one day in early October when the air was soft and balmy. It began to snow gently and increased steadily. The next day the wind rose and a blizzard was in progress. There was nothing to do but for everybody to go to bed and cover up as tightly as possible to keep warm. The snow drifted into the open cracks of the shanty. They were afraid to build a fire for fear the shanty would catch fire from the stove pope through the roof, which was their only chimney. They ate cold food until the storm abated the third day. Elizabeth then baked potatoes in the ashes and Sarah said that, that meal of hot baked potatoes was the best she ever ate. Alanson was terror stricken when the blizzard came on, but he could not find his way to the homestead in the blinding snow. After the storm was over he hired men to help him get his team through the drifts. He was indeed grateful to find that his family had passed safely through a Dakota blizzard. He immediately moved his family and the others occupants to the safety of Yankton and they continued to live there until Elizabeth's death in childbirth in June 1870.
Elizabeth Schermerhorn Hammond is buried in Hammond-Fox block in the Yankton Cemetery. The other occupants of the block are Grandfather and Grandmother Hammond and Charles Fox and his wife Mary Brownson Fox. The block is marked with a large tombstone on which is the name Hammond.
Contributed by: Blanch DeVoe Keith 1886-1961
Elizabeth Schermerhorn Hammond move with her husband and children from Lagrange County, Indiana to Montfort, Wisconsin in 1859, where they lived until 1868, when they decided to try their fortune in Dakota Territory. The were accompanied by Alanson Hammond's father and mother and their orphaned grandson Charles J Fox Jr. then a youth of 19.
Alanson had a team of horses and a covered wagon while the others drove a yoke of oxen hitched to their covered wagon. The progress was slow and they stopped for a few days to visit relatives near Charles City, Iowa. Three weeks after leaving Montfort they arrived at Vermillion, Dakota Territory. The three children of the party enjoyed the trip immensely. Sarah often rode one of the horses or one of the oxen when they were crossing the various sloughs, which were common on the trail across Iowa. There were two sloughs which were especially hazardous to the pioneers. The first was called Purgatory and the second Hell Slough. When they came to Purgatory the men unhitched both horses and oxen and the children drove them to dry land on the opposite side. Ropes were then run through the ends of the wagon tongues and the wagons were towed across the slough. The same procedure was followed in crossing Hell Slough, but the crossing was not as successful as in the first instance. Elizabeth was left in the Hammond wagon alone. When the wagon reached the middle of the slough it gave a sudden lurch and a prized bureau containing all of the best clothes in the family wardrobe pitched headlong into the muddy water. After much labor it was rescued but every article had to be removed from it and washed and dried at the next stopping place.
When the Hammonds reached Vermillion they were besieged by millions of mosquitoes. There were so bitten that they became discouraged and were about to return to Wisconsin. but Sunday morning a jolly young Irishman came riding by in a buckboard. He saw their plight and told them to accompany him to Yankton where he could locate them on a homestead where the mosquitoes would not annoy them. They followed his advice and filed on a quarter section of land eight miles northeast of Yankton. The Irishman was named James Walsh, later became the partner of Alanson in the sawmill business in Yankton. In later years he married and lived on his homestead and was a neighbor of Sarah Hammond DeVoe for many years.
At the time the Hammond's filed on their Homestead the government permitted the shanties to be built on the line between the homesteads, so the families built a double shanty with boards upright and the cracks left open to provided better ventilation in summer. Earlier settlers had told Alanson that their was no winter in Dakota until December. So with the families settled, Elizabeth and her children in one end of the shanty and Grandfather and Grandmother Hammond and Charles Fox in the other, Alanson went to Yankton to establish his sawmill business and prepare a winter home for the family.
All went well until one day in early October when the air was soft and balmy. It began to snow gently and increased steadily. The next day the wind rose and a blizzard was in progress. There was nothing to do but for everybody to go to bed and cover up as tightly as possible to keep warm. The snow drifted into the open cracks of the shanty. They were afraid to build a fire for fear the shanty would catch fire from the stove pope through the roof, which was their only chimney. They ate cold food until the storm abated the third day. Elizabeth then baked potatoes in the ashes and Sarah said that, that meal of hot baked potatoes was the best she ever ate. Alanson was terror stricken when the blizzard came on, but he could not find his way to the homestead in the blinding snow. After the storm was over he hired men to help him get his team through the drifts. He was indeed grateful to find that his family had passed safely through a Dakota blizzard. He immediately moved his family and the others occupants to the safety of Yankton and they continued to live there until Elizabeth's death in childbirth in June 1870.
Elizabeth Schermerhorn Hammond is buried in Hammond-Fox block in the Yankton Cemetery. The other occupants of the block are Grandfather and Grandmother Hammond and Charles Fox and his wife Mary Brownson Fox. The block is marked with a large tombstone on which is the name Hammond.
Contributed by: Blanch DeVoe Keith 1886-1961
__________________________________________________________
Elizabeth Schermerhorn Hammond move with her husband and children from Lagrange County, Indiana to Montfort, Wisconsin in 1859, where they lived until 1868, when they decided to try their fortune in Dakota Territory. The were accompanied by Alanson Hammond's father and mother and their orphaned grandson Charles J Fox Jr. then a youth of 19.
Alanson had a team of horses and a covered wagon while the others drove a yoke of oxen hitched to their covered wagon. The progress was slow and they stopped for a few days to visit relatives near Charles City, Iowa. Three weeks after leaving Montfort they arrived at Vermillion, Dakota Territory. The three children of the party enjoyed the trip immensely. Sarah often rode one of the horses or one of the oxen when they were crossing the various sloughs, which were common on the trail across Iowa. There were two sloughs which were especially hazardous to the pioneers. The first was called Purgatory and the second Hell Slough. When they came to Purgatory the men unhitched both horses and oxen and the children drove them to dry land on the opposite side. Ropes were then run through the ends of the wagon tongues and the wagons were towed across the slough. The same procedure was followed in crossing Hell Slough, but the crossing was not as successful as in the first instance. Elizabeth was left in the Hammond wagon alone. When the wagon reached the middle of the slough it gave a sudden lurch and a prized bureau containing all of the best clothes in the family wardrobe pitched headlong into the muddy water. After much labor it was rescued but every article had to be removed from it and washed and dried at the next stopping place.
When the Hammonds reached Vermillion they were besieged by millions of mosquitoes. There were so bitten that they became discouraged and were about to return to Wisconsin. but Sunday morning a jolly young Irishman came riding by in a buckboard. He saw their plight and told them to accompany him to Yankton where he could locate them on a homestead where the mosquitoes would not annoy them. They followed his advice and filed on a quarter section of land eight miles northeast of Yankton. The Irishman was named James Walsh, later became the partner of Alanson in the sawmill business in Yankton. In later years he married and lived on his homestead and was a neighbor of Sarah Hammond DeVoe for many years.
At the time the Hammond's filed on their Homestead the government permitted the shanties to be built on the line between the homesteads, so the families built a double shanty with boards upright and the cracks left open to provided better ventilation in summer. Earlier settlers had told Alanson that their was no winter in Dakota until December. So with the families settled, Elizabeth and her children in one end of the shanty and Grandfather and Grandmother Hammond and Charles Fox in the other, Alanson went to Yankton to establish his sawmill business and prepare a winter home for the family.
All went well until one day in early October when the air was soft and balmy. It began to snow gently and increased steadily. The next day the wind rose and a blizzard was in progress. There was nothing to do but for everybody to go to bed and cover up as tightly as possible to keep warm. The snow drifted into the open cracks of the shanty. They were afraid to build a fire for fear the shanty would catch fire from the stove pope through the roof, which was their only chimney. They ate cold food until the storm abated the third day. Elizabeth then baked potatoes in the ashes and Sarah said that, that meal of hot baked potatoes was the best she ever ate. Alanson was terror stricken when the blizzard came on, but he could not find his way to the homestead in the blinding snow. After the storm was over he hired men to help him get his team through the drifts. He was indeed grateful to find that his family had passed safely through a Dakota blizzard. He immediately moved his family and the others occupants to the safety of Yankton and they continued to live there until Elizabeth's death in childbirth in June 1870.
Elizabeth Schermerhorn Hammond is buried in Hammond-Fox block in the Yankton Cemetery. The other occupants of the block are Grandfather and Grandmother Hammond and Charles Fox and his wife Mary Brownson Fox. The block is marked with a large tombstone on which is the name Hammond.
Contributed by: Blanch DeVoe Keith 1886-1961
Elizabeth Schermerhorn Hammond move with her husband and children from Lagrange County, Indiana to Montfort, Wisconsin in 1859, where they lived until 1868, when they decided to try their fortune in Dakota Territory. The were accompanied by Alanson Hammond's father and mother and their orphaned grandson Charles J Fox Jr. then a youth of 19.
Alanson had a team of horses and a covered wagon while the others drove a yoke of oxen hitched to their covered wagon. The progress was slow and they stopped for a few days to visit relatives near Charles City, Iowa. Three weeks after leaving Montfort they arrived at Vermillion, Dakota Territory. The three children of the party enjoyed the trip immensely. Sarah often rode one of the horses or one of the oxen when they were crossing the various sloughs, which were common on the trail across Iowa. There were two sloughs which were especially hazardous to the pioneers. The first was called Purgatory and the second Hell Slough. When they came to Purgatory the men unhitched both horses and oxen and the children drove them to dry land on the opposite side. Ropes were then run through the ends of the wagon tongues and the wagons were towed across the slough. The same procedure was followed in crossing Hell Slough, but the crossing was not as successful as in the first instance. Elizabeth was left in the Hammond wagon alone. When the wagon reached the middle of the slough it gave a sudden lurch and a prized bureau containing all of the best clothes in the family wardrobe pitched headlong into the muddy water. After much labor it was rescued but every article had to be removed from it and washed and dried at the next stopping place.
When the Hammonds reached Vermillion they were besieged by millions of mosquitoes. There were so bitten that they became discouraged and were about to return to Wisconsin. but Sunday morning a jolly young Irishman came riding by in a buckboard. He saw their plight and told them to accompany him to Yankton where he could locate them on a homestead where the mosquitoes would not annoy them. They followed his advice and filed on a quarter section of land eight miles northeast of Yankton. The Irishman was named James Walsh, later became the partner of Alanson in the sawmill business in Yankton. In later years he married and lived on his homestead and was a neighbor of Sarah Hammond DeVoe for many years.
At the time the Hammond's filed on their Homestead the government permitted the shanties to be built on the line between the homesteads, so the families built a double shanty with boards upright and the cracks left open to provided better ventilation in summer. Earlier settlers had told Alanson that their was no winter in Dakota until December. So with the families settled, Elizabeth and her children in one end of the shanty and Grandfather and Grandmother Hammond and Charles Fox in the other, Alanson went to Yankton to establish his sawmill business and prepare a winter home for the family.
All went well until one day in early October when the air was soft and balmy. It began to snow gently and increased steadily. The next day the wind rose and a blizzard was in progress. There was nothing to do but for everybody to go to bed and cover up as tightly as possible to keep warm. The snow drifted into the open cracks of the shanty. They were afraid to build a fire for fear the shanty would catch fire from the stove pope through the roof, which was their only chimney. They ate cold food until the storm abated the third day. Elizabeth then baked potatoes in the ashes and Sarah said that, that meal of hot baked potatoes was the best she ever ate. Alanson was terror stricken when the blizzard came on, but he could not find his way to the homestead in the blinding snow. After the storm was over he hired men to help him get his team through the drifts. He was indeed grateful to find that his family had passed safely through a Dakota blizzard. He immediately moved his family and the others occupants to the safety of Yankton and they continued to live there until Elizabeth's death in childbirth in June 1870.
Elizabeth Schermerhorn Hammond is buried in Hammond-Fox block in the Yankton Cemetery. The other occupants of the block are Grandfather and Grandmother Hammond and Charles Fox and his wife Mary Brownson Fox. The block is marked with a large tombstone on which is the name Hammond.
Contributed by: Blanch DeVoe Keith 1886-1961
Family Members
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See more Hammond or Schermerhorn memorials in:
- Yankton City Cemetery Hammond or Schermerhorn
- Yankton Hammond or Schermerhorn
- Yankton County Hammond or Schermerhorn
- South Dakota Hammond or Schermerhorn
- USA Hammond or Schermerhorn
- Find a Grave Hammond or Schermerhorn
Records on Ancestry
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