He was a United States Senator and the Governor of South Carolina. Catharine FitzSimons married South Carolina Governor James Henry Hammond in 1831. James Hammond's political and financial future was ensured by his marriage to the young heiress, for she brought to the marriage her 7,500 acre Silver Bluff plantation at Beech Island, South Carolina, across the Savannah River from her uncle Oswell Eve's "Forest Hall" plantation. The area of Silver Bluff 13 miles south of Augusta, Georgia was named by Dr. Henry Woodward because of the glittering mica that once sparkled along the banks of the Savannah River. Catherine also brought to the union some 10,800 acres of additional plantations, livestock, slaves and fine furnishings. In 1855 James Hammond purchased "Redcliffe" the Beech Island plantation home of Dr. Milledge Galphin, which became their principal residence. Beech Island was named "Beech Highland" for the Beech trees on the high terrain. The cockney English accent dropped the “H” sound, thus Highland became pronounced Island, but is not on an island. "Redcliffe" still exists as a historic site in Aiken County, South Carolina, and is now open to the public. The "Hammond Cemetery” is across the Savannah River from the Cottage Cemetery.
James Henry Hammond arrived at Silver Bluff Plantation in 1831 and took possession of the property that his wife Catherine Fitzsimons inherited from her father Christopher Fitzsimons (of Charleston) after his death in 1825. George Galphin had established an Indian Trading Post at Silver Bluff in the mid 1700s. As Hammond's wealth and position grew, so did his plantation lands. In 1855, he acquired Redcliffe Plantation in Edgefield County as the place of the new family estate while the lands and slave quarters that made all the new found opulence possible, were still eight miles to the south at Silver Bluff Plantation, Cathwood Plantation and Cowden Plantation in Barnwell County.