John Curtis Hammer ⁴³

  General Notes:

On July 25, 1909, John Curtis Hammer was born at the family home in Elba, Nebraska, to John K. and Nora M. Hammer. At this time, father, John K., owned and operated a pool hall and bowling alley in Elba. He also ran a jewelry store for a while where he specialized in cleaning watches. Two years later, on July 4, 1911, a sister, Dorothy Dolores, was born.

When John K. Hammer's father died March 28, 1912, John moved his family to the family homestead near Upland to help his mother operate the farm. Dorthe, John's mother, was set in her old-country ways, and Nora found living there difficult. In 1913, Nora took the children to Michigan to visit her relatives. She was followed a few months later by John.

After moving to Michigan, the family first lived in an apartment in Millington and later on the Fred Welsh farm southeast of Vassar while John worked at carpentry with his brothers-in-law, Fred and Glenn Welsh. During this time, Curtis started school at the Crampton school near Fred Welsh's.

Late in 1914, John's mother, Dorthe, became critically ill, and John and his family returned to the farm near Upland, Nebraska, to take care of her. After Dorthe died on November 15, 1915, John and the family stayed on the farm for two years. Curtis remembers that they had a couple of mules that were used for farming, and they were pretty ornery! They had two or three milk cows and chickens. They had a big corn crib for storage with space between the slats so the air could get in. They would have people come in to help pick the corn they raised. It was picked by hand, and they were paid by the bushel. They had a hand grinder which they used to grind feed for their animals.

Curtis went to the country school there for two years, and Dorthy went there one year. They had a mile and a half walk to school, and of course, they took their lunch with them. It was a quarter-mile walk out to the road because the house and barns were right in the center of the 160-acre farm. This was a typical farm layout as it made the shortest possible distance to all parts of the farm for the horses. A fiddle is still in the possession of Curtis, which his father owned since before he was married. His father enjoyed playing that fiddle, and Curtis remembers having to sit at the old pump organ and "chord" for his dad while he played the fiddle. He said he didn't enjoy doing that!

In 1917, John Hammer sold the family farm and moved into town. In Upland, John worked at carpentry, painting and paper-hanging for several years. At one time, he worked in a shop and built the doors and windows to go into houses. Curtis started third grade in the school in town. He said he liked it because he could walk to school and come home for lunch. The Upland school had all the grades from one through twelve.

After they moved into town, Curtis had a special dog of which he was very fond, but unfortunately, someone poisoned him. They always had a garden. He said most city lots had a back alley, and the garage faced out onto the alley. That left a big back yard for the garden. In Upland in those days, all of the young people had to be off the street by 9:00 PM. There was a curfew bell which was rung at that time each night, and any youngster found out after the bell rang would have to answer to the constable. On November 11, 1918, the end of World War I, they rang the bell so hard in celebration that they broke it. That was the end of the curfew for the town!

On May 18, 1919, Curtis' younger brother, Frederick Cleon Hammer was born. At the time, they were living in the Broderson house in Upland, Nebraska, which was across from the railroad tracks.

Hunting was a favorite pastime with Curtis. He said he had a .22 rifle and a 410. His dad had a 12-gauge shotgun and they had a 20-gauge pump that he would use when they went prairie chicken hunting up near Kearney. He said he would just go out in the pasture with his .22 and watch the gophers stand up beside their holes and pick them off. Walking through the pasture, he would often see jack rabbits running and would shoot them with .22-long shells. When he was in high school, he took his friend, Cuba, out to Sand Creek. She wanted to shoot a shotgun because she had never shot one before. She asked him to hold her back so it wouldn't knock her down. He said that wasn't a good idea, but he would stand behind her and catch her if she fell. She found it wasn't as bad as she had thought. Cuba was older than Curt and had a nice Dodge car. Her folks owned the post office.

Curtis got started in music quite young. He started playing the clarinet in the church orchestra when he was eight. He had a piccolo, but he said, "there were too many jokes about the piccolo." His dad played the clarinet, so he decided to play that instrument, and they got one for him. Cuba taught piano lessons at her parents' home in town. Curtis started taking piano lessons from her when he was quite young, but he found he didn't like that. Cuba also played the saxophone, clarinet and violin, so as Curt got older, they played together quite a bit. They worked up some clarinet duets. "Clarinet Marmalade" was one that he remembers. Curtis played in a group called "The Imperial Five". His mother made the costumes for the five players in red and white material. He made a white light stand with their band's name on it in cutout letters and the light showing through the red paper ⁴⁶

  Noted events in his life were:

• moved to Upland, Nebraska, 1912, Upland, Franklin Co., Nebraska.

• moved to Michigan, 1913, Tuscola Co., Michigan.

• returned to Nebraska, 1914, Franklin Co., Nebraska. Returned to the family farm to care for his grandmother. After she died in 1915, they lived on the farm for two year until they sold it.

• moved into town, 1917, Upland, Franklin Co., Nebraska.

• worked at creamery, Aug 1927, Upland, Franklin Co., Nebraska. Worked at Farmers' Union Creamery in Upland

• Graduation, 26 May 1927, Upland, Franklin Co., Nebraska. Graduated from Upland High School

• moved to Michigan, Oct 1928, Vassar, Tuscola Co., Michigan.

• worked at foundry, 1929, Vassar, Tuscola Co., Michigan. Worked in Erb-Joyce Foundry, Vassar, Michigan

• worked at painting, decorating, 1930, Vassar, Tuscola Co., Michigan.

• worked at electrical const., 1931, Vassar, Tuscola Co., Michigan. Worked at L.E. Meyers, Electrical Construction

• worked at painting, decorating, 1932, Vassar, Tuscola Co., Michigan.

• worked at printing office, 1933-1937, Vassar, Tuscola Co., Michigan. Worked at the Vassar Pioneer Times.

• worked in hardware store, 1938, Vassar, Tuscola Co., Michigan. Worked in DuBois Hardware.

• worked at printing office, 1940, Saginaw, Saginaw, Michigan. Worked at Saginaw Tribune in printing.

• worked for photographer, 1943, Saginaw, Saginaw, Michigan. Worked for Bosch Portrait and Seaman Peters Engraving.

• worked at newspaper, 1944, Saginaw, Saginaw, Michigan. Worked at the Labor News in printing

• worked at printing office, 1945, Saginaw, Saginaw, Michigan. Worked at The Valley Hournal of Saginaw.

• worked at printing office, 1946, Vassar, Tuscola Co., Michigan. Worked at The Pioneer Times.

• worked at newspaper, 1947-1974, Saginaw, Saginaw, Michigan. Worked at the Saginaw News as a printer.

• Bought home, 1950, Vassar, Tuscola Co., Michigan. 115 W. Oak Street, Vassar, Michigan

• Retired, 25 Jun 1974, Saginaw, Saginaw, Michigan. Retired from the Saginaw News

• Sold house in Vassar, 15 Dec 1979, Vassar, Tuscola Co., Michigan.

• moved to Oregon, Jan 1980, Cave Junction, Josephine Co., Oregon.

John married Catherine Mildred Bellamy on 12 Jun 1943 in Vassar, Tuscola Co., Michigan.⁴² (Catherine Mildred Bellamy was born on 4 Nov 1919 in Fremont Twp., Tuscola Co., Michigan,⁴⁴ died on 28 Jun 1991 in Cave Junction, Josephine Co., Oregon ⁴⁵ and was buried on 2 Jul 1991 in Grants Pass, Josephine, Oregon.)