Our Family History

The Genealogy of the Durnell and Hammer Families


As Eugene Peterson chronicles the life of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in his “The Message” he paraphrases the first three verses of Luke's gospel with these words.

“So many others have tried their hand at putting together a story of the ... history that took place among us, using reports handed down by the original eyewitnesses.... Since I have investigated all the reports in close detail, starting from the story’s beginning, I decided to write it all out for you ... so you can know beyond the shadow of a doubt the reliability of what you were taught.”

That pretty well sums up what I’m trying to do – record for, and pass on to you, the information I have researched, gleaned, conjectured, and construed about our (your) family's history. I have tried to present more than just the date and place of birth and death of our forebears. At times, that has not been possible. Still, I hope you find (as I have) that our family is a microcosm of American history contained in the journeys of our ancestors, and in the footprints they left behind on the landscape of our land (and abroad).

Please create a user account to the left in order to access our family records. If you have any photos, notes, or stories to add to our database please use the contact form below.

Contact Us

email imageIf you have any questions or comments about the information on this site, please contact us. We look forward to hearing from you.


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Maintained by Dale Durnell.