Two 1880s Covers to Williamsport, PA

Thomas H. Hammond
Thomas H. Hammond was born in Macclesfield, England, April 1, 1856, and died June 4, 1934. He came to this country at an early age, as we find that he was naturalized September 11, 1880. The certificate of naturalization was signed by Hugh H. Cummin, as Judge of the Courts, and by Adam Fullmer as Prothonotary. He was educated in the Williamsport public schools and attended Dickinson Seminary. He read law with H. T. Ames and was admitted to the bar, December 1, 1883. He formed a partnership with his preceptor, which continued until the death of Mr. Hammond.
For some five years after his admission to the bar, Tom taught school, but from the time the partnership was formed until his health failed, forcing a partial retirement, he engaged in active practice. Mr. Ames was the trial lawyer of the firm and Mr. Hammond was the office lawyer. Mr. Hammond was a Republican, a member of the Ross Club, the Scottish Rite, and Lodge No. 397. For many years, he served as a vestryman in Trinity Episcopal Church.

At that time Ames and Hammond was one of the oldest law firms in the city. Herbert T. Ames had been elected Mayor of Williamsport on the Prohibition ticket in 1930. His partner, Thomas H. Hammond, was a lay leader in the Episcopal church, and had amassed a comfortable fortune through his practice and investments. These two men were then located on West Third Street, opposite the Court House, and they gave office space to Judge Williams. He was admitted to practice in Lycoming County on May 5, 1930, upon motion of Mr. Ames.
In 1930 the firm moved to 465 Pine Street and Judge Williams went with them. In 1931, Mr. Hammond died, and in 1932, Judge Williams became a partner of Mayor Ames. This partnership continued until the death of Mr. Ames, in 1936, after which Judge Williams practiced by himself and later, associated with the late Arthur McKean, the only member of our bar to be killed in World War II while on active duty.

In 1884 he took into his office a young Englishman, Thomas H. Hammond, who had devoted part of his time to school teaching, as an equal partner. Mr. Hammond was usually occupied in real estate and business matters, while Mr. Ames was busy in court. Mr. Ames did not know how to handle money nor invest it, primarily because he was not interested in the worldly value of things, but gave most of it away to others and to institutions. Although both Mr. Ames and Mr. Hammond earned nearly the same amount of money as lawyers, Mr. Ames died at 92 leaving an estate consisting of only a few houses, while his partner, Mr. Hammond, was reputedly worth approximately half a million dollars, in 1930. The firm of Ames & Hammond occupied the same quarters on West Third Street for 41 years, when a proposed sale of the building compelled them to move to Pine Street, opposite the Rialto Theatre.

JOSIAH HOWARD, Cameron county, was born in Williamsport, Lycoming county, Pa., January 3, 1861; educated in the public schools, graduating in 1880; removed to Emporium, Pa., in 1887, since which time he has been engaged in the lumber business as a member of the C. B. Howard Company, with saw mills at Emporium; was elected burgess of Emporium borough In 1902; elected to the House of Representatives in November, 1904.