Nelson Charles Erb Hamm

1909-1974

Nelson Charles Erb Hamm (Bud) was born in Wheeling, WV, on July 10, 1909, the son of Frank Conrad Hamm, 1881-1935, and Grace McKain Hamm, 1883-1962.

 

Bud, Pap to his sons, was a strapping 5'10" lad, who grew up in his father's and uncles construction trade.  Hamm Brother's construction began with the emigration from Germany in 1869 of their father, Edward Robert Hamm, 1850-1913.  Edward settled in Fulton, on the outskirts of Wheeling, where he became the seven-time mayor and built many private homes and some of Wheeling's landmark buildings, including the Children's Home at Leatherwood Lane, St. Michaels Catholic Church, the new Wheeling News Building, the prominent steeple of St. Mathew's Episcopal Church, and others.  On October 12, 1874, Edward was naturalized as a US Citizen.

 

Pap considered Jim and later, John, as his helpers and taught us many things about construction during our childhoods.    Whenever Pap wanted us to fetch or hand him a tool, he would say, "Lend me that hammer", rather than hand it to me; and when he would confirm our understanding of something he had just taught us, he would say in German, "Verstehen?", understand?, a throw-back to his German upbringing.  Whenever we complained about having to work long hours with Pap on construction projects around our home, he would tell of how he had to oil paint the trim on buildings that the Hamm Brothers had built, nearly steel-wooling off all the paint between the many layers until he achieved a "baby's bottom" smooth finish.  John remembers fondly the last such project at Hawthorn Ct. in the early 1970's and how familiar it was to work side-by-side with Pap.

 

Speaking of his German upbringing, Bud had fairly strong preferences and opinions as the result of his years with his father, Frank Hamm.  Jeanne, our Mama, would say that Bud wanted soup on Wednesdays, and roast beef on Saturdays, every week.  He did not, however, want fish on Fridays, because he had his fill of that in his Catholic household as a boy.

 

While Bud was raised Catholic, his Mother and her Parents, Ma and Pa McKain, who lived in the Hamm household in their later years, were Methodists.  Bud's Pap didn't like Ma's meddling, and the story is that Bud's Pap had a floor register open at the bottom of the stairs while he was working on it, when Ma came down but failed to see the hazard and fell in, breaking her leg.  Pap's response was to say,"It served her right for not looking out where she was going".  Those must have been challenging days.

 

After attending Elliott's Commercial College in Wheeling, Bud worked as a salesman for NCR, National Cash Register Company, and later for the Scott Lumber Company, where he became their Comptroller.  He retired from Scott Lumber in 1970, just four years before he died on March 17, 1974.  Bud's first Granddaughter, Katie Hamm was born four months later, on July 13th.

 

The year before his death, Pap visited John and Mary Pat several times, while Jeanne was in New York buying for The Clothes Tree.  During those visits, Pap was most helpful with the plans for his son's and daughter-in-law's new house.  On one trip with Pap to Hechingers, a local chain that was similar to today's Home Depot, I thought Pap was going to expire from his excitement to see the scale of such a construction and home projects business, huge by comparison with his Ohio Valley Scott Lumber stores.

 

Bud Hamm taught his boys how to build things, skills that have served us well ever since.  He taught us to be frugal, however Jim seemed to have learned those lessons a bit more than John.  Bud Hamm was rather provincial, and that lead to several ongoing conflicts; but all-in-all, he was a good father, whom we loved and miss very much.

John reflecting on his parents values for education

 

Please submit additional material for inclusion in this Website to:

john.hamm@mac.com