Erin says: My great great grandfather was Richard B Hawkins from Cannon Co. Tn, he and his family moved to Parker Co. Tx sometime in the early 1900s.Our Short Mountain tour a while back was a wonderful experience. We found the grave sites of Joseph T and Eliza Hawkins ( my great great grandparents ) buried in the shadow of Short Mt at the Banks Presbyterian Church and Cemetery. Many of their children are buried there too. I held in my hands church records dating back to the 1840's from The Short Mountain Methodist Church, where we all met. My great great great grandfather, John Hawkins, helped establish this church, along with many other relatives that married into my Hawkins lineage.
And Bret has explained that his family were found for 4 generations in the Cannon/DeKalb/Warren County area of TN. Unfortunately, I was unable to find a good photo/map of the area, and so I'll wait until Bret has a chance to send us photos from his recent trip to the area.
It would seem from my looking around that Woodbury in the below map would give you an idea of the general area in Tennessee in which Short Mountain is located as Woodbury is smack dab in the middle of Cannon County.
And the below map gives one a bit of an idea of the topography of the area:
Bret says: 4 generations- my father ( Jessie Allen Hawkins ), grandfather ( Willie Richard Hawkins ), great grandfather ( Joseph Irvin Hawkins ), and great great grandfather ( Joseph T. Hawkins ) all lived in the Short Mountain area of Tennessee. I still had aunts and uncles living atop Short Moutain when I was growing up. I and have very special memories of that magical ( magical to me ) place.
The Tennessee Encyclopedia says about Short Mountain: A noted feature of the Eastern Highland Rim landscape of Middle Tennessee is Short Mountain. Located in northeastern Cannon County, the mountain looms above adjacent portions of DeKalb and Warren Counties as well.
Bret sent the following about the trip to Short Mountain:
Kent Blanton's father who is in his 80's, remarked how much my cousins (who joined us for the trip) and I looked like all the Hawkins he knew growing up on the mountain. Since then, I have made 2 more trips up there, and have found my great great, and great great great, grandparents on my father's mother's side, W.W. Masey and his parents, Micajah and Mary Masey. Micajah's ( pronounced "my cage ah" ) headstone has fallen over and broke in half, and I plan to fix that. They are buried at the Preston Cemetery, and his headstone is facing the peak of Short Mt.
I have become almost certain that John Hawkins was Joseph T. Hawkins' dad, and therefore my third great grandfather, as he had a land grant for a 100 acre section of Short Mt, right in between the 2 peaks. Relatives of mine had grants for the rest of the mt. I have other cousins who I have found through DNA matches that are coming from Virginia and New York in May to visit their ancestral home.
One thing is for sure... at least 5 generations of my Hawkins family ( my father, his father, his father, his father, and his father: Jessie Allen, Willie Richard, Joseph Irvin, Joseph T. and John ) all lived on Short Mountain. They were farmers and moonshiners, settled that area, helped create Mechanicsville ( a small hamlet at the base of Short Mt ), started the Short Mt Methodist Church, and many of my Hawkins cousins are still up there. I grew up visiting my aunts and uncles on Short Mt, all the way up to the late 70's. Then all my immediate Hawkins passed away. But it has reclaimed me. The pull is strong. I get up there as often as I can ( it's an hour drive from my house ). If you scratch Short Mountain soil, us Hawkins bleed.
Shirley Brooke added the following about Erin's line:
And Bret added about the Stone family:
The Stones are from an area very close to Short Mt. A short hike, or a even shorter mule ride. Charley Stone is a DNA match of mine. His g grandmother was Angie Wire Hawkins- a branch of my family that settled a couple of miles away from Short Mt. They would tie in with Erin Colby's branch.
Our Short Mountain tour a while back was a wonderful experience. We found the grave sites of Joseph T and Eliza Hawkins ( my great great grandparents ) buried in the shadow of Short Mt at the Banks Presbyterian Church and Cemetery. Many of their children are buried there too. I held in my hands church records dating back to the 1840's from The Short Mountain Methodist Church, where we all met, that my great great great grandfather, John Hawkins, helped establish, along with many other relatives that married into my Hawkins lineage. Kent Blanton's father ( the Blanton's married into us )in his 80's, remarked how much me and my cousins who joined us for the trip, looked like all the Hawkins he knew growing up on the mountain. Since then, I have made 2 more trips up there, and have found my great great, and great great great, grandparents on my father's mother's side, W.W. Masey and his parents, Micajah and Mary Masey. Micajah's ( pronounced "my cage ah" ) headstone has fallen over and broke in half, and I plan to fix that. They are buried at the Preston Cemetery, and his headstone is facing the peak of Short Mt. I have become all become almost certain that John Hawkins was Joseph T. Hawkins' dad, and therefore my third great grandfather, as he had a land grant for a 100 acre section of Short Mt, right in between the 2 peaks. Relatives of mine had grants for the est of the mt. I have other cousins who I have found through DNA matches that are coming from Virginia and New York in May to visit their ancestral home. One thing is for sure... at least 5 generations of my Hawkins family ( my father, his father, his father, his father, and his father: Jessie Allen, Willie Richard, Joseph Irvin, Joseph T. and John ) all lived on Short Mountain. They were farmers and moonshiners, settled that area, helped create Mechanicsville ( a small hamlet at the base of Short Mt ), started the Short Mt Methodist Church, and many of my Hawkins cousins are still up there. I grew up visiting my aunts and uncles on Short Mt, all the way up to the late 70's. Then all my immediate Hawkins passed away. But it has reclaimed me. The pull is strong. I get up there as often as I can ( it's an hour drive from my house ). If you scratch Short Mountain soil, us Hawkins bleed.
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