Frederic Ketcham Hammers, an able Wichita lawyer, is a descendant of Revolutionary ancestors, the Hammers family, which is of German descent, having been established in the Virginia colony prior to the Revolutionary war in which members of the family fought. He was born in the village of Panola, Woodford county, Illinois, Feb. 15, 1866, a son of George Evans and Mary (Ketcham) Hammers. The father was born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, Oct. 9, 1839, and was the son of Joseph Thomas and Phoebe (Evans) Hammers, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. The paternal great-grandfather of our subject was Peter Hammers, who died from an attack of measles at the age of eighty-two. Mary (Ketcham) Hammers was born in New Jersey and died in Panola, Ill., in 1868 when her son Frederic was but two years old. She was the daughter of Rev. Frederic Ketcham, a Baptist minister and a graduate of Hamilton College in New York state. After her death the father married Rachel Evans, who proved a real mother to the orphaned boy. They are both living and now reside on a farm near Clearwater, Sedgwick county, Kansas. Mr. Hammers has one full sister living. She is Jennie H., the wife of W. G. Hull, a farmer of Wichita. He also has three half-brothers and two half-sisters, viz: Brice E. Hammers of Guthrie, Okla.; Robert J. and Lewis A. Hammers of Clearwater, Kan.; Nannie, the wife of John McQuillan of Clearwater, Kan.; and Miss Phoebe Hammers, who is at home with her parents.

When Frederic was ten years of age he accompanied his father's family to Kansas. They located on a farm in Sumner county, where he was reared. He was the recipient of splendid educational advantages having attended both Washburn College at Topeka and the University of Kansas at Lawrence in pursuit of his literary education, and was graduated at the latter institution in 1896 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. His training for law was received at the University of Kansas, and in 1898 Mr. Hammers came to Wichita and spent one year in the office of S. B. Amidon, the county attorney. On Jan. 6, 1899, he was admitted to the bar and since that date has been successfully engaged in his profession in Wichita and has gained a representative and remunerative practice. He is associated with others of his profession as a member of the Sedgwick County Bar Association. He has made some judicious investments in Wichita real estate and now owns some valuable properties in that city.

On Feb. 26, 1902, Mr. Hammers was married to Miss Gertrude Calhoun, a native and a resident of Wichita. Mr. Hammers is a Democrat in his political allegiance, and both he and his wife are members of the College Hill Congregational Church.