MRS. MARTHA B. HAMMOND—
Born at "Hillside", Permanente Creek, Mountain View
Bio- Sawyers
SURNAMES: KIFER, SNYDER, KENDALL, HAINES,
A womanly woman, cultured and refined, was the late Mrs. Martha B.
Hammond, a native daughter of Santa Clara County, who was born at
"Hillside," the old home of the Snyders, on Permanente Creek near
Mountain View, February 24, 1863. She was a daughter of John and Martha
(Kifer) Snyder, pioneers of the county, who are elsewhere represented
in this work. Of their five children, Martha was the next to the
youngest and enjoyed her youth to the fullest; being fond of the great
outdoors she had much pleasure as she grew to womanhood at Hillside,
especially when driving over the splendid roads of Santa Clara County
with her favorite horse. After completing the San Antonio grammar
school, she entered the College of the Pacific, where she continued her
studies with great credit to herself until just before graduating, she
was married November 17, 1881, to Dr. W. H. Hammond, who was born in
Ohio, but reared in Iowa. •He received a good education and taught
several terms in the Hawkeye State and then came to Santa- Clara
County, teaching in the San Antonio district, and it was then he became
acquainted with the Snyder family. He had always a predilection for the
study of medicine and with that end in view, he continued to teach to
obtain the funds to put him through medical college. Entering Cooper
Medical College in San Francisco, he was duly graduated with the degree
of M. D. A post as government surgeon was offered him by the King of
the Hawaiian Islands, which he accepted and soon after his marriage to
Miss Snyder, they sailed for Honolulu. On his arrival he was stationed
on the Island of Kauai, where he practiced medicine as well as filling
the duties of his post for more than a year. While living there, their
daughter, Muriel, was born. Mrs. Hammond, owing to her great love of
her home, was naturally homesick and longed for the lovely Santa Clara
Valley, particularly the Permanente Creek region of her childhood, with
its beautiful foothill mountain scenery, so Dr. Hammond resigned his
position and they returned to California, where he located in San Jose
and engaged in the practice of medicine. He served ably as county
physician for two terms. Having had a seige of pneumonia, his
subsequent exposure in his night work forced him to retire. Mrs.
Hammond had received from her father, a ranch on Permanente Creek and
there they built a residence and here Dr. Hammond rested comfortably,
but the disease had made too great inroads on his health, and he passed
away in June, 1893, about two years after he had retired. He was a man
of fine education and address, was a Mason and Odd Fellow and was also
prominent in medical societies. After his death Mrs. Hammond continued
the improvement of her place, setting out orchards and vineyards; later
the vineyard died and she continued orcharding, having about one-fifth
of her 163-acre ranch in prune orchard. The place is beautifully
located, twelve miles west of San Jose, being watered by Permanente
Creek, so named because it is always flowing. A ditch has been
constructed to take the water out of the creek above the ranch for
irrigating the orchard.
Mrs. Hammond was a great lover of nature and particularly was she fond
of roses, her grounds being well laid out with an abundance of roses
predominating. Her younger sister, Letitia, who had resided with her
mother, had become Mrs. Kendall, so Martha Hammond took up her home
at Hillside as a companion to her mother and there she was called to
the world beyond January 29, 1909, her interment being at the Snyder
family plot at Oak Hill Cemetery. She was a woman of affable and
graceful manners, dearly loved by all who knew her, and her loss was
deeply felt by all. She was a fine Christian character, although not an
active member of any denomination. Her only daughter, Muriel May, owns
her mother's ranch and continues the care of the place; she plans
enlarging the orchards materially, and having the same love of nature,
delights in caring for the roses and lovely trees of her mother's
planting. She was educated at the Washburn School in San Jose, and was
married in 1906 to Raymond T. Haines, an orchardist, and besides
operating the home ranch he also owns a ranch at Coyote which he cares
for. Their union has been blessed with one child, a daughter, Althea.
Revering her mother's memory, whose earnest desire was for her daughter
always to keep the ranch in the family, Mrs. Haines naturally takes
much pride in carrying out her mother's plans.
Eugene T. Sawyers' History of Santa Clara County,California, published by Historic Record Co. , 1922. page 1109