The author has done limited research on the Hammock family but there are several websites and books that are available. For example, the following three books are now out-of-print but copies can be found in public libraries, college libraries, state archives and local historical societies. The later two can also be found online. All of these books are written by cousins of the author - descendants of many of the same Wilkes County, Georgia families. Ms. Wynn traced our Hammock line back to late 1600s Old Rappahannock County in Virginia (Part of the area now simply known as the Northern Neck).
- "Hammock Cousins" Hammack and Hammock Families in England and America, 1569-2010", 2011, by Thomas Daniel Knight. Thomas Knight is a former Rhodes Scholar and presently is a professor of history at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He is from LaGrange, Georgia. Although this book pertains mostly to Hammack/Hammock family history, it does include quite a bit of history about our shared COMBS and JACKSON families. This book can be found at the Georgia Archives and quite likely at other college libraries or archives locations as well. If one wishes to learn about the early history of our Hammack-Hammock family, this book would serve the researcher well.
- "Wandering Back", 1955, by Henry Franklin Hammack. The author found this at the GA Archives and it also can be found digitized at some online websites.
- "Southern Lineages", 1940, by A. Evan Wynn (Ms. Adaline Evans Wynn) This book can be downloaded from online sources. According to one source, the information found in this book was handed down over several generations to Ms. Wynn who decided to publish the knowledge.
It appears that the wife of Philip Combs, Sr., (Revolutionary War soldier) was Abigail Hammock. According to Thomas Daniel Knight (See below), Abigail was the daughter of Benedict Hammock, Sr. (1696-1702) of Virginia. Abigail was the sister of Benedict Hammock, Jr. who married Mary Combs, a daughter of Philip Combs, Sr. Both Philip Combs, Sr. and Benedict Hammock, Jr. wound up living next to one another in Wilkes County, Georgia. Several other members of these families as well as cousins also wound up in Wilkes County. Another interesting connection to the author is that Abigail's 1st cousin (Robert Hammock) married Millenor Jackson, the sister of the author's 4th great-grandfather Daniel Jackson, the Revolutionary War soldier. There were several Hammock-Combs, Jackson-Combs, Hammock-Jackson marriages that the author noted during his research.
Listed below is a brief synopsis of the Hammock-Combs family as it relates to those that were early settlers of Georgia and those that are also the author's ancestry. As such, please do not consider this as a complete study. For more in-depth research, please see the books noted above.
There were two known Hammock brothers whose descendants were early settlers of Georgia and they were the sons of William Hammock and Christian Middleton. This William is sometimes referred to as William "The Elder" and he was the son of William "O" Hammock and Grace (lnu). The two sons were Robert Hammock, Sr. and Benedict Hammock, Sr. and several of their descendants lived closely together in Wilkes County, GA. Note that William and Christian had other sons and there were numerous other descendants but the author is only showing the relevant family lines to his own family due to time and space constraints. For more details on all of the children and descendants, please refer to the books shown above.
Selected descendants of William "The Elder" Hammock and Christian Middleton who came to Georgia:
- Robert Hammock, Sr. (~1704-~1786) born and died in VA. He married Ann Lambert.
- Robert Hammock, Jr. (1737-bef. 1800) married Millenor Jackson. Millenor was the daughter of Edward Jackson and Lucy Parrish and she was the sister of Daniel Jackson the Revolutionary War soldier who served with Elijah Clarke's Georgia Refugee unit. See the author's research on Daniel and the JACKSON family HERE. The Hammocks and the Jacksons likely knew one another while in Amelia County, VA.
- Hugh Hammock (~1732-~1783) born in VA and died in Wilkes County, GA.
- Robert Hammock (III) (~1737- bef. 1800) born in VA and died in Wilkes County, GA
- Benedict Hammock, Sr. (~1702-~1766) born and he probably died in Amelia County, VA. He married Elizabeth (Lewis?)
- William Hammock (~1730-~1808) born in VA, died in Wilkes County, GA.
- John Hammock (~1736-~1776) born in VA, died in NC.
- Christian Hammock (~1723-1775) born in VA, died in NC.
- Lewis Hammock (~1724-~1744) born in died in VA.
- Abigail Hammock (~1739-~1775) born in VA, died in SC or GA. She married Philip Combs, Sr. See the author's research on the family of Philip and Abigail Hammock Combs HERE.
- Benedict Hammock, Jr. (~1732-~1787) born in VA, died in Wilkes County, GA. He married Mary Combs who was probably the sister of Philip Combs, Sr. Mary is said to have died in 1811 in Greene County, GA. Benedict was in Georgia at least as early as 1775 - see the military record below.
- Patsy Hammock (~1758-~1807) born in VA, died in Lincoln County, GA.
- John C. Hammock (~1760-~1813) born in VA, died in Greene County, GA.
- Benjamin Hammock (~1773-~1850) born in VA, NC or SC, died in GA.
- William Hammock (~1775-?) born in VA, NC or SC. Died unknown.
- Benedict Hammock, III (~1775-~1826) born in VA, NC or SC, died in GA.
- Elizabeth Combs Hammock (1778-1822) born in NC, SC or GA, died in GA. She married William Evans, Jr., son of Lt. William Evans, RS.
- Robert Hammock (~1760-~1823) born in VA or NC, died in GA. He married Nancy Combs, the daughter of Philip Combs, Sr.
Benedict Hammock provided provisions for Col. Benjamin Few's Wilkes County Militia
(GA Archives)
Benedict Hammock's 1785 plat for 300 acres on the Rocky Creek branch of Little River adjoining Philip Combs, John Combs, John Russell, Abraham Sylva and Manson
Benedict Hammock's 1785 plat for 200 acres on the Rocky Creek branch of Little River in Wilkes County, Georgia adjoining John Combs, George Gresham, Abner Webster, Solomon Thornton, Murray and Manson's mill.
(GA Archives)
(GA Archives)
1785 plat for 920 acres on Little River issued to John Hammock adjoining William Leverett, William Walker, Thomas Leverett and P. Smith
(GA Archives)
Old photo of Benedict Hammock's 1700s era log cabin in Wilkes County, Georgia
(From the book by Robert Willingham, "We have this heritage")
Cabin of Benedict Hammock, Jr., Wilkes County, GA
Note the porthole to the left of the chimney.
(Author photo, 2017)
Wilkes County Militia Record
(History of Wilkes County book)
Georgia Historic Newspapers
- A Thomas Hammock died in 1814 and his widow was named Margaret.
- Land records exist dated 1789 and 1806 naming a William Hammock with his wife being Betty Ann.
- A Robert B. Hammock married a Mary Combs.
- A Mary Polly Hammock married a John Jackson in 1800.