Just before the holiday I thought I would share a few fun HAMM family facts that I found in the Taylor County (Wisconsin) history book. For those who don’t know, the Hamm’s lived just outside of Medford:

In 1878…At this early date Main Street looked more like a country road, with its stumps, and a slab and saw dust fill on the north end. This side walks for years were made of planks; and the ones in front of stores were on different levels…The appearance of Main street, then, was anything but citified. Among the new arrivals this year, were T.H. Fredricks, Jos. Hirsch, J. Hirsch, George Hamm, Mrs. John Kuse, C.J. Boeckler, Peter J. Olson, and John Raths. A school was built at Whittlesey, with Miss Whippler finishing the first term in June. [pg33] 

The roads out of town were possibly usable two or three miles each way but the one south in the vicinity of the Hamm farm, was muddy even in summer. [pg39] 

Rev. B. Ungrodt came here from Cape Colony, South Africa in 1881, and served for many years as the first pastor of the Immanuel Lutheran church. Chas. Faude, Henry Schoeplke, George Hamm, Wm. Thielke, F. Krueger, and Daniel Schief were among his early parishioners. [pg49] 

The first man to make a business of delivering milk was Geo. Hamm who was followed for many years by Mrs. Carl Kuehn. [pg123]