Hammond was born in New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts.
He practiced medicine in Reading, Vermont, but afterward studied law and followed that profession at Cherry Valley.
In 1825, he was appointed one of the commissioners in the settlement of the claims of New York State against the Federal Government.
In April 1825, he was appointed one of three State Road Commissioners, the other two were Nathaniel Pitcher and George Morell.
These commissioners had to "explore and cause surveys to be made of a route for a State road from some point on the North River to some point on Lake Erie, through the southern tier of counties."