On-Site Drug Testing Fenwick, NJ

Local Area Info: Millicent Fenwick

Millicent Vernon Hammond Fenwick (February 25, 1910 – September 16, 1992) was an American fashion editor, politician and diplomat. A four-term Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey, she entered politics late in life and was renowned for her energy and colorful enthusiasm. She was regarded as a moderate and progressive within her party and was outspoken in favor of civil rights and the women's movement. She was considered the inspiration behind Lacey Davenport, a fictional character in Garry Trudeau's comic strip Doonesbury.

Born Millicent Vernon Hammond, she was the middle of three children born to renowned politician and later Ambassador to Spain, Ogden Haggerty Hammond (October 13, 1869 – October 29, 1956) of Louisville, Kentucky and his first wife, Mary Picton Stevens (May 16, 1885 – May 7, 1915) of Hoboken, New Jersey. Her paternal grandparents were General John Henry Hammond (June 30, 1833 – April 30, 1890), who served as chief of staff for William Tecumseh Sherman during the Vicksburg Campaign, and Sophia Vernon Wolfe (1842 – May 20, 1923), daughter of Nathaniel Wolfe, a lawyer and legislator from Louisville. Her maternal grandparents were John Stevens (July 1856 – January 21, 1895), oldest son of Stevens Institute of Technology founder Edwin Augustus Stevens and grandson of inventor John Stevens, and Mary Marshall McGuire (May 4, 1850 – May 2, 1905). Ogden Hammond and Mary Stevens got married on April 8, 1907 and both derived from families who were heavily involved in history. Ogden Haggerty Hammond was “the son of a civil war general,” and after his father's passing, he “entrenched himself in all aspects of superior life.” Mary Picton Stevens “was the heir to a fortune based largely on real estate holdings in Hoboken, New Jersey." Millicent's father attended school at Yale University and later in life became a New York financier. She had a sister, Mary Stevens Hammond, and a brother, Ogden H. Hammond, Jr. She was also cousins with John Hammond, the well-known record producer.

During World War I, Mrs. Hammond insisted on going overseas to help those who needed assistance in Europe, despite the potential dangers that were affiliated while doing so. When Millicent was 5 years old, her mother perished in the sinking of the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania, which her father survived. When Ogden arrived back home from this tragic event, he did not want to discuss what happened, regarding his wife nor the event, and kept himself busy and distracted by becoming very involved with his work. Everyone, both friends and family, respected his decision and carried on with their normal lives as if nothing transpired. He remarried two years later, to Marguerite McClure Howland, and by that marriage Fenwick had a stepbrother, McClure (Mac) Howland. Marguerite McClure Howland, nickname Daisy, was now Ogden's children's stepmother. However, Daisy was so preoccupied with herself, Mac, and her social status that she spent minimul time with her stepchildren. Millicent and Daisy did not have a good relationship and her father was no help. If there were any family issues going on, Ogden requested that his children would go to Daisy and not him. After their mother's passing, Millicent and her siblings developed a closer relationship, especially the relationship between her and her sister, Mary. In 1918, the trial of the Lusitania took place, as people were suing the ships company for failure to show passengers aboard the safety precautions. Ogden was one of the many people to testify and when the jury reached the verdict, the Hammond's family were each compensated, receiving over sixty-thousand dollars.