 At the time of his death they were living in the family house at the corner of 7th Street and Grand Avenue.In a will, he bequeathed his estate, valued at $400,000, to his wife and his daughter.In 1865 Hammel was elected to the first Kern County Board of Supervisors upon that area's organization as a county., and he was later elected to represent the 2nd Ward on the Los Angeles Common Council for two one-year terms between 1882 and 1884.