The portrait of Capt. Elnathan Hammond is now owned by the Newport Historical Society.


The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 30 (1876), p. 26:
“A record of fine genealogical interest exists in the Memorandum Book of Capt. Elnathan Hammond, of Newport, R.I., who lived an esteemed citizen of that town, and died there May 24, 1798, at the age of 90. His descendants cherish his memory with peculiar regard, retain his portrait, point to his former residence still standing in Thames Street, recall his character as a sea captain in the best commercial period of the town, and his active interests in the congregational church. The book is a reverend relic, preserved in Vermont in the family of the grandson and namesake of the original owner, now in the keeping of his only surviving great-grandson here, at the age of eighty. Its leather binding and metallic clasp and uneven margins indicate age and wear, its contents recall a historical period, and special and various personal tastes. It is a pocket memorandum book, of which this is the first inscription in respect to date:
Elnathan Hammond, his memorandum Book, Febr 1755. Memorandum of some things I have observed, yt. I think remarkable, and of some things I have thought so in course of my reading.
…On an initial fly-leaf is formally inscribed:
This Memorandum Book I have given to my grandson, Elnathan Hammond, May ye 15th, 1781, and I desire that he may have the possession of it after my Decease: Witness my Daughter Elizth Sprague. ELNATHAN HAMMOND.
Page 31:..’My son John Arnold Hammond with his wife and two children a son and daughter, a negro boy and negro girl, with all his household goods, provision(s) and some stock, removed from Hence and sailed for Cornwallis, in Minis in Nova Scotia to begin a settlement there, having the last summer lived and taken up a right of land there and made some preparation for a settlement.(‘)
“This paragraph following his marriage and death in the record, contains the only allusion to the children of John Arnold Hammond; it is continued for a line or two in cipher. His wife, Mary Scott, is spoken of by the descendants as a niece of Benjamin Franklin.” (This 1876 article is the earliest known publication stating that Mary Scott Hammond was the niece of Ben Franklin. The letters of Benjamin Franklin contain references to Elnathan Hammond and John Arnold Hammond.)


History & Genealogy of the Descendants of William Hammond of London, England by Roland Hammond, David Clapp & Son, printers, 1894:

ELNATHAN HAMMOND.
"He was a sea captain in the merchant service, sailing from Newport, his place of Residence. His descendants cherish his memory with peculiar regard, retain his portrait, point to his former residence still standing in Thames Street, recall his character as a sea captain in the best commercial period of the town, and his active interests in the Congregational Church.

"To the Memorandum Book kept by him, beginning Jan. 1, 1737, are the descendants of William of London indebted for the accurate information they possess of their early ancestors. Except for the Genealogical history contained in this book. the line of William of London would have been inevitably swamped in the line of "William of Watertown," Mass. This valuable relic is a pocket memorandum book, long preserved in Vermont in the family of the grandson and namesake of the original owner, now in Possession of Rev. John D. Hammond of San Francisco, Cal., a descendant of Capt. Elnathan Hammond.
The first inscription in respect to date in this revered relic reads:
"Elnathan Hammond, his Memorandum Book, Feby 1755. Memorandum of some things I have observed, yet I think remarkable and of some things I have thought so in the course of my reading."
On the fly-leaf is formally inscribed:
"This memorandum Book I have given to my grand-son, Elnathan Hammond, May ye 15th, 1781, and I desire that he may have the possession of it after my Decease: Witness my Daughter Elizth Sprague.
Elnathan Hammond"
"The portion of the book which with Genealogists has gained in vitality by time, is of course that in which the family history is disclosed, nor in this probably is the spirit misrepresented, which in a patriarchal way provided the mode of preserving it. The grave of Capt. Hammond, in the old Burying ground (Newport) is with those members of his family, finding their place in dust with his own, while traces of his filial spirit, in this record restore the place of his ancestral line in remembrance, and that of his venerated ancestors who brought it over."