Charles Goodrich Hammond was born in Bolton, Connecticut on June 4, 1804. He was the eldest son of Chester and Fanny Goodrich Hammond. A few years later, the family moved to Smyrna in New York. His father helped establish a new church in the community and Charles would be converted in 1816 at the age of twelve. Charles was educated locally and also began teaching others, including in Whitesboro, New York. In 1825, Charles moved to Canandaigua and worked in a mercantile business. Charles met his wife, Charlotte, in Whitesboro and they were married in August 1827. They remained active members of Whitesboro until they moved to Detroit in 1834. While in Detroit, they joined the Presbyerian church and Charles was elected an elder. Charles, along with others, helped the building up of Union City, Michigan in 1836. His parents would join him at a farm they jointly purchased that same year. His father would eventually become a deacon for a church started in the area. Charles was elected Auditor General of the State of Michigan for a time and then as the collector of the port of Detroit. In 1852, he became the Chicago manager for the Michigan Central Railroad and remained intimately connected with the city for the rest of his life. He worked for other railroads until 1865, when his health began to fail. He took a few years off, exploring Europe, and by 1870 was back in Chicago where he would live for the rest of his life. In 1875, he withdrew from most business practices and focused on city and church life. He died on April 15, 1884.

Eliphalet Wickes (E.W.) Blatchford was born on May 31, 1826 in Stillwater, New York. His parents were the Rev. John Blatchford and Frances Wickes Blatchford. The Blatchfords moved to Chicago and then later to Missouri where John Blatchford served as president of Marion College. E.W. Blatchford returned to Illinois in 1845 to attend Illinois College. After college, he started and eventually achieved enough success with his lead and linseed oil manufacturing company to buy out his partner and reorganize the company as E.W. Blatchford and Company. In 1858, he married Mary Emily Williams and the two had seven children together. Throughout his life, Blatchford was a noted philanthropist and leading Congregational layperson. He served as the president of the Chicago Theological Seminary for over 40 years and as vice president of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, devoting himself greatly to missionary work. He also played a central role in establishing the Newberry Library in Chicago, where the majority of his family papers now reside. E.W. died in Chicago on January 14th, 1915.

In 1852, Blatchford became friends with Charles G. Hammond. The two remained close friends until Colonel Hammond’s death in 1884. From the late 1880’s onward, Blatchford worked closely with Hammond’s brother, H.L. Hammond on the creation of a memorial biography, “The Memorabilia of Charles G. Hammond”, which was completed in 1889.