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| During his time in Altoona Reverend Hamma became the President of the General Synod in 1897. |
Rev. Michael Wolfe Hamma (1836-1913) | Historical Archaeology at Wittenberg:
Rev. Michael Wolfe Hamma (1836-1913)
Rev. Michael Wolfe Hamma is one of Wittenberg’s most famous graduates. He dedicated his life to service as a Lutheran pastor and a patron of Wittenberg’s theological education. Hamma Divinity School is named in honor of him. The first two buildings that housed the Hamma Divinity School were built with funds donated by Rev. and Mrs. Almira Hamma and his second wife, Mrs. Clara Hamma.
Reverend, Michael Wolfe Hamma, D.D. was born in Richland County, Ohio, on 25 December 1836 to David Hamma and Susanna Wolf Hamma. David Hamma’s father, Balthazar Hamme, fought in the Revolutionary War from 1777-1778 in the 1st Battalion, 4th Company, York County Militia. David changed the spelling from Hamme to Hamma sometime before he married Susanna on 8 November 1821. The Hammas had eight children, six sons and two daughters. The first seven children were born in York, Pennsylvania, and the family then moved to Richland, Ohio, sometime in 1832-1836, where Michael, their last child was born. The family lived three years in Richland, Ohio, before moving once more to a sixty-acre farm near Yellow Springs, Ohio. This is where David and Susanna lived the rest of their lives and buried; their grave markers are still present at Glen Forest Cemetery in Yellow Springs, Ohio.
After growing up in Yellow Springs, Ohio, Michael Hamma continued his education at Wittenberg College where he received his A.B. in 1861 and graduated from the Seminary in 1862. He received his license from the Miami Synod in 1862 and ordained by the same in the following year. During the time before his ordination, Reverend Hamma married his first wife Almira V. Crothers on 9 February 1862. The marriage license indicated they were married in the State of Ohio, Clark County Probate Court.
Almira was born 28 May 1840, in Frankfort, Clinton County, Indiana, to John P. and Elizabeth Crothers, a wealthy family. The Crothers family moved sometime in 1850-1860 from Indiana to Springfield, Clark County, Ohio according to the 1860 Federal Census and Almira was the eldest of five daughters.
From 1862-1863, Reverend Hamma was pastor in Euphemia, Ohio just north of Lewisburg near Dayton. On 26 November 1862, Ellie E. Hamma was born, the couples’ only child mentioned. Ellie lived only nine months and died on August 8th in 1863 and the reason for the infants’ death not given. The burial was at Roselawn Cemetery, Lewisburg, Preble County, Ohio, USA, at Plot: Section 1, Row 60, and Grave 26. No other records indicate Rev. Hamma fathered other pregnancies or other children.
In 1863, Reverend Hamma became pastor in Bucyrus, Ohio about half way to Lake Erie from northern Columbus and served until 1867. During this time, Reverend Hamma received his A.M. from Wittenberg College in 1864. Another move came in 1867 to Reading, Pennsylvania where he became pastor for two years until 1869 when he and Almira moved back to Springfield, Ohio where he served as pastor of the English Lutheran Church (now the First Lutheran Church) until 1878. It seems Reverend Hamma was quite an international traveler. Almira, was mentioned on her husband’s passports on a few occasions, suggesting she may not have accompanied the Reverend on all of his excursions. A passport of Almira Hamma’s gave an address that she was from the County of Clark, in the State of Ohio, in 1872. The Hammas traveled to Europe spending several months in Norway and Sweden, and letters from Reverend Hamma, part of Wittenberg University’s archives, are written about travels to Palestine and other areas of the Middle East as well. Reverend Hamma even wrote a poem about the sphinx in Egypt. In 1871, Reverend Hamma became president of the Wittenberg Synod and in 1876; Reverend Hamma received his Doctor of Divinity (D.D.) from Wittenberg College.
