Seth A. Hammel, M. D., a physician and pathologist of Topeka, was born in that city, May 22, 1879. He is a son of George M. Hammel, a well known merchant tailor of Topeka who was born in Württemburg, Germany, Oct. 14, 1849, and immigrated to America in 1867, when eighteen years of age. He had learned the tailor's trade in his native country and in 1877 he located in Topeka, where he has ever since conducted a merchant tailoring establishment.

In 1878 he was united in marriage with Nancy Ellen Gatewood, a native of Washington, Ind., where she was born in 1859. She died June 13, 1887, leaving four children—two of whom still survive her: Dr. Seth A., and George Frederick, a stereotyper in the office of the Topeka State Journal.

Dr. Seth A. Hammel was reared in Topeka and was educated in its public schools, graduating at the high school in 1898. During the Spanish-American war he served as hospital steward of the Twentieth Kansas regiment and spent sixteen months in the service, nine of which were spent in the Philippine Islands.

While pursuing the study of medicine he was employed in a drug store and became a registered pharmacist. He obtaind[sic] his professional training in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Chicago, Ill., in which school he graduated in 1904. For a year and a half following his graduation, he served as an interne in the Chicago Polyclinic Hospital. In February, 1906, he entered upon the general practice of medicine in Topeka, and while he does a general practice, he is a specialist in pathology, in which branch of the science of medicine he has achieved eminent success. He is a member of various medical associations including the Shawnee County Medical Society, the Kansas State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. He is surgeon of the Kansas National Guard, with the rank of first lieutenant. In fraternal circles he affiliates with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and with the Knights of Pythias.