Phillip Hamman

Phillip Hamman, Sr. (c. 1753 – August 3, 1832), known as "The Savior of Greenbrier", was an American frontier hero who was commended for bravery in the defence of Fort Donnally of Greenbrier County, West Virginia from a Shawnee attack in 1778. Hamman and John Pryor volunteered to go to Greenbrier County and warn the people of an impending Indian attack by two-hundred warriors. One of Cornstalk's sisters, a friend of the white people, painted Pryor and Hamman's faces as Indians. Even though the Indians had several days' head start, the two were able to get ahead of the Indians and warn the inhabitants of the fort. During the attack Hamman killed one man with his tomahawk as the Indian tried to force his way through the door of the fort. Dick Pointer, an African slave of Col. Andrew Donnally, loaded a musket and shot at the invading Indians until he and Hamman could shut the door, saving the inhabitants of the fort.

Marriage and family
Hamman married Christina Cook (c. 1763 – January 28, 1842), the daughter of "Captain" Valentine Cook (c. 1731 – April 23, 1798) and Susannah Baughman Cook (August 24, 1732 – 1807), on March 3, 1780 at Cook's Fort in what was then Greenbrier County, Virginia (now Monroe County, West Virginia). Christina was born in York County, Pennsylvania. The couple had thirteen children:


 * John (August 19, 1781 – December 1, 1854)
 * Infant son (October 10, 1782 – October 17, 1782)
 * Nancy (born November 19, 1783, date of death unknown)
 * Mary (August 4, 1785 – October 1872)
 * James (August 26, 1787 – 1857)
 * Elizabeth (November 23, 1790 – November 18, 1879)
 * Sarah (born December 23, 1792, date of death unknown)
 * Celia (April 13, 1794 – March 1823)
 * William Cook (June 26, 1796 – October 12, 1870)
 * Jesse Franklin (January 31, 1799 – September 7, 1871), twin of Elijah.
 * Elijah (January 31, 1799 – May 1860), twin of Jesse.
 * Phillip, Jr. (August 28, 1801 – June 21, 1871)
 * Valentine C. (August 15, 1802 – c. 1861)

The family moved from Virginia to Montgomery County, Kentucky in the early 1780s. Hamman and his wife, along with many of their younger children, moved to Alabama between 1821 and 1823.

Massacre near Crab Orchard
In 1782, Hamman, his family, and the Baughman's began their move to Kentucky. Along the Wilderness Road at Dix River, near the town of Crab Orchard in Lincoln County, tragedy befell the party when Indians attacked their camp. Several accounts of this event are recorded in history.

The first account can be found in "Kentucky, A History of the State", published in 1887, in a statement given by Joel Baughman. He states that his grandfather, Henry Baughman, Sr. was killed giving his relatives a chance to escape when Indians opened fire on the group about eight miles above Crab Orchard. Among those killed were: Hamman's unnamed son, only seven days old; Christina's aunt Margarethe Baughman Ferrill and her husband, Jonathan Ferrill; two of Christina's uncles, Jacob Baughman and Hans Henrich Baughman. Christina's maternal grandmother, Margaretha Schwizier Baughman (December 25, 1698 – October 17, 1782) was killed during the attack.

A second account is found in the Draper Collection, Kentucky Papers, Volume 12, page 149, in an interview with George Yocum, Montgomery County, Kentucky. He states, "Phillip Hamman was in the defeated camps on Flat Creek (near Dix River). He, his wife, and little child, were in the company." They had undressed and lain down when the attack began. "He sprang, snatched up the child, and his hid gun, and his wife followed after."

A third account is found in "The Register", Kentucky Historical Society, Volume 36, July 1938, Whitley Papers, Volume 9. It states that "Baughman's Defeat was in October 1782 on the Wilderness Road and at the head of Dicks River. Jacob Baughman and his mother were killed. Mrs. (Christina) Hammans came into Crab Orchard in her linnen Wooley, wounded in the head with an arrow."

A fourth account is told in the Dickey Diary, Lee College Archives, Jackson, Kentucky. Rev. Dickey interviewed William Jackson Cope in 1898 and he told of his grandfather's immigration to America from Germany. He said his grandparents were camped by the river and a dog started barking. Someone cried, "That dog is barking at Indians." The Indians then attacked the camp an it was a fearful slaughter. The Indians ripped the bed tickings, and feathers were flying everywhere.

Greenbrier Petition of 1784
In early 1784, Hamman and John Pryor petitioned the Virginia House of Delegates for a rewarding of a tract of land for heroic services rendered while saving the Greenbrier Settlements from Indian massacre. The petition was rejected.

Friendship Church
On September 11, 1827, Friendship church was organized at Fackler and Hamman was ordained its first pastor. The church adopted the principals of the Duck River Association. The church minutes extend from its date of organization in 1827 up until 1873. Hamman and several other family members were among the first charter members.

Hamman's 1830 toast
On Saturday, July 3, 1830, the fifty-fifth anniversary of American independence was celebrated at Bellefonte, Jackson County, Alabama, at which among other participants were several Revolutionary patriots. After the reading of the Declaration of Independence by Henry F. Scruggs and the delivery of an oration by Hon. Samuel Moore, the company sat down to a plentiful dinner. After this many patriotic toasts were drunk. Only one, and that because of the historic fact it evoked, is here reproduced:

Death and legacy
Hamman died on August 3, 1832 near Fackler, Jackson County, Alabama. Hamman was buried first on his plantation near Fackler, and later was reburied at the Valley Head Cemetery in DeKalb County, Alabama on March 2, 1972, along with his wife, Christina Cook Hamman. A U.S. government marker was issued for Hamman noting that he served in the "12th Virginia Regiment" in the Revolutionary War. An identical marker was purchased for Christina Hamman noting that she was born in York County, Pennsylvania. in 1763 and died in Valley Head, Alabama, January 28, 1842.

In 1938, Greenbrier County, West Virginia celebrated its 160th anniversary with a pageant entitled "Greenbrier on Parade." In the pageant, Phillip Hamman was portrayed by James Preston, Jr. as one of the defenders of the attack on Fort Donnally.

In May 1962, the Col. George Nichol's Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a bronze historic marker on the courthouse grounds of Montgomery County at Mt. Sterling, "honoring soldiers and patriots of the Revolutionary War", the name of "Philip Hammon" was among those included on the marker. However, the marker incorrectly states that Hammon was buried in Montgomery County.

In 1971, The Phillip Hamman Family Association of America was organized by descendants of Phillip and Christina Hamman, with the main objective to gather and publish a family tree and locate and preserve the gravesites of Hamman and his wife.

On September 1, 1971, the Tidence Lance Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution of Scottsboro, Alabama dedicated a roadside marker to Phillip Hamman. It reads: "Phillip Hamman, 'The Savior of Greenbrier'– Born 1750 in the Palatinate Germany–Married March 3, 1780 in Greenbrier Co, Virginia to Christina Cook, born 1763, died January 28, 1842 and is buried in a double grave with her husband one mile north of this spot. Nine years an Indian Spy & Scout, Colonial Soldier, Revolutionary War Hero. He died August 3, 1832 in Jackson County. Here rest in peace: A Noble Man, A Gracious Lady."

Another historical marker honoring the Revolutionary War exploits of Phillip Hamman is located six miles west of Lewisburg, West Virginia at the intersection of a road leading to the Fort Donnally site. It reads: "BORDER HEROES – Before the Fort Donnally attack, settlements had been warned by Philip Hammond and John Pryor, scouts at Point Pleasant, who made up as Indians by Nonhelema, the sister of Cornstalk, passed and outran the Indians."

On December 13, 1978, The Phillip Hamman Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution was organized at Fort Payne as the 81st chapter in Alabama with 28 members.

The Phillip Hammond (or Hamman) Chapter of the Children of the American Revolution was organized in Jackson, Breathitt County, Kentucky.

DNA Profile
Genetic testing of patrilineal descendants of each of Phillip's sons shows his Y-DNA haplogroup to be G2a3b1 Phillip Hamman Phillip's 5th great grandson, Shane Hamman, is one of the greatest ever powerlifters and still holds many national and world records for weightlifting.