SAMUEL HAMER
Samuel
Hamer was born 28 May
1803 in Bolton le
Moors, Lancashire, England,
the son of John Hamer and Jane Bentley. The
Bank Street Presbyterian Church
records his christening on 19 June 1803. The
same records also show three
younger brothers: James, John, and Edward.
“The date 1672 in generally
accepted for the foundation of the Bank Street
Chapel congregation. The
founding families were intermarried and
resided almost entirely in the
better areas to the south of the town...The
growth of the town of Bolton
was based on the textile industry, and Bank
Street Chapel congregation
represented an influential section of the
local population occupied at
all levels in the industry, commerce, and in
the professions.” A Responsible
Society; G.M. Ramsden
Samuel
and Jane Thornley were married 7 March 1824 in
Bolton le Moors. Samuel
worked as an engineer, fixing and maintaining
machinery, and also as a
millwright. Ten children were born to them in
England - John, Martha, Nancy,
Ellen, James, Samuel, Jane, James, Ann, and
Joseph. In 1835, the family
moved to Tottington
(about four miles north
of Bolton), and it must have been here that
they were converted to the
gospel. The British Mission opened in Preston
in 1838, and spread to the
nearby countryside: "Members of the Council of
the Twelve who served missions
to England in 1840-41 found the specific
prophecies of Joseph Smith upon
their heads were fulfilled. Their experience
was like that of the early
Apostles on the day of Pentecost as thousands
recognized their message
and authority and asked them what they should
do to be saved." (Ensign,
July 1987). According to the History
of the Church, in
1840 there was a branch of sixty members in
nearby Bolton. It is not known
when Samuel and Jane were baptized, but their
son John was baptized in
September of 1840 by Robert Crook. John was 16
years old. Samuel was an
officiator as a baptism for Sarah Singleton on
23 November 1841, so he
must have been baptized before that date.
The
Hamer family appears in the English census in
Tottington Mill in 1841.
The record shows:
Saml Hamer, 35, Engineer
The Hamers immigrated to the United States in February of 1842 on the ship Hope. The passenger list for the Hope shows:
Martha Hamer, age 14
The
Hope
sailed from Liverpool on 5 February 1842,
under Captain Soule. There were
270 LDS immigrants. The LDS leader was James
Burnham. The voyage was described
in several journals: "She got out of dock on
Friday 3rd Feb. and she was
towed down the river on Saturday morning by a
steamer about 8 miles and
on Sunday morning we passed the land of
Ireland...We saw a number of fish
called porpoises, and on Wednesday 8th we had
a strong head wind, and Thursday
9th it blew a strong gale of wind...Wednesday
the 2 March the same as yesterday.
I saw one flying fish today and one yesterday.
Saw a vessel at a great
distance we thought making for England. 30
March Wednesday morning the
steam boat Star arrived and took us in
tow about 9 o'clock in the
morning...and took us in tow up the great
Mississippi River and when we
got up the river some distance on Thursday
morning the 31 March we came
in sight of a most beautiful country
diversified with plantations farm
house, sugar manufactories, and beautiful
cottages and wooded on each side
of the river and on 1st April we got to New
Orleans and safe and sound
and on the second April we chartered a steam
boat Louisa commanded
by Captain H.C. Cable to St. Louis." (Richard
Rushton)
The
company of Saints traveled up the Mississippi
and joined the Saints at
Nauvoo. The ship arrived on 1 April
1842. The History of Joseph Smith
records: "About one hundred and fifty Saints
from England, landed in Nauvoo
from the steamer Louisa, and about sixty from
the steamer Amaranth."
Nauvoo
in 1840 had a population of 2,450. The call to
gather brought many hundreds
of English immigrants like the Hamers: "One of
the assignments given the
Council of the Twelve in Nauvoo was the
resettlement of British immigrants.
The Twelve helped newcomers find homes and
land, employment, and temporary
sustenance when needed. So, to serve the
steady influx of Missouri and
British Saints, surveyors in Nauvoo laid out a
plat of four-acre blocks,
each divided into four plots. Upon the city
lots were many small log homes,
some frame and stone buildings." (Ensign,
Sept. 1979). The Hamers
were given Lot #74, a few blocks from the
Nauvoo Temple site, towards the
river. (One of the Hamer's next-door
neighbors, Sarah Granger Kimball,
was responsible for starting the charitable
women's organization that became
the Relief Society. Her house is still
standing, and is part of the Nauvoo
restoration site tour.) Samuel is found paying
taxes in 1842 in the Nauvoo,
Illinois Tax Index, 1842:
Samuel
Hamary, page 226, coordinates 6N8W
Source: Nauvoo, Illinois Tax Index, 1842,
on ancestry.com.
This map shows the location of Samuel
Hamer's property, Lot #74 in
Nauvoo.
It is at the corner of Young and Bain
Streets in Nauvoo.
The Nauvoo Temple can be seen from the
lot, and is located at Lot
#20.
Samuel
worked in Nauvoo as a blacksmith. The
one-year-old baby, Joseph, died in
September of 1842. He is believed to have been
buried on the Hamer's property.
There
is some confusion about Samuel Hamer's death.
The newspaper, the Nauvoo
Neighbor, records the death of Samuel Hamer in
August 1843 of "ague and
fever"- probably malaria. The death is
confirmed by the handwritten Sexton's
list of death. However, there is an
interesting family story, as told by
Samuel's granddaughter, Nellie Hamer Reiser
(the daughter of Samuel Hamer,
Jr.): "I remember having heard my father tell
many stories of his experiences
as an early member of the Church and as a
pioneer. He told us of having
seen the Prophet Joseph Smith lying on the
well curb after having been
killed and having fallen from the window of
the Carthage Jail. Father had
gone with his father and mother to see where
the Prophet was imprisoned,
and arrived just after his cruel death. His
father, who was the only miller
that the Saints had at that time, and suffered
for some time with a weak
heart. He took his wife and his boy home, and
had no sooner reached the
house than he fell dead. The shock of the
Prophet's murder was too great
for him to stand." This story is unlikely. If
it were true his death would
have had to have been in June of 1844, instead
of August 1843 as recorded.
Samuel Hamer, Sr. is not recorded as being
buried in the old Nauvoo cemetery,
but is probably buried on his property in
Nauvoo, which according to the
Nauvoo Restoration Society is now pasture
land. This pasture land is owned
by the LDS church, as part of the Nauvoo
restoration.
Nauvoo Neighbor, death notice for Samuel Hamer
Samuel’s
widowed wife and family were driven from
Nauvoo by the mobs in 1846. They
were heartbroken to leave Samuel and Joseph’s
graves behind as they crossed
the plains. Samuel gave his life for his
testimony, and the impact his
life and death is reflected in the lives of
his descendants.
This plaque at the Nauvoo Pioneer
Cemetery
remembers those who died in Nauvoo.
“And should we die before our journey’s
through
Happy day, all is well.
We then are free, from toil and sorrow,
too
With the just we shall dwell.”
This rose was left in remembrance by a
grateful descendant
on the property Samuel Hamer owned in
Nauvoo.
If you have any
additional information about
this family, please contact me at alice@boydhouse.com.