The first thing that I noticed in Gerry's correspondence is the mention of Woodford County, Kentucky! Woodford county brings back so many fond memories for me that I can not help but mention some of what I know and have saved before putting Gerry's information into the post.
Woodford is located very centrally in Kentucky. The county adjoins both Fayette and Franklin Counties which are the counties in which Lexington and Frankfort lie respectively.
Note to me: I will fill this in later with information about Woodford Reserve and the Hawkins family that lived nearby....perhaps some information about the Forks of the Elkhorn Church....perhaps some information about Gene's family who were living nearby in Anderson County....and some of the other Hawkins families and which counties they were living in in the time period. I want to finish going through the newsletters to see if I can find the article about the Woodford County farm that was for sale.
However, now I am going to spend time adding information from Gerry Hawkins who is the genealogy person for kit #335863. Gerry's father is the participant:
[My note: My gut feeling is that William Strother Hawkins born 1816 in Woodford County, Ky was a grandson or gr-grandson of Moses and Susannah Strother Hawkins. Moses and Susannah had four children before Moses was killed at the battle of Germantown. I have documented their names personally from guardianship papers found in Orange County, Virginia. They were William Strother (named after Susannah's father), Moses, Jr, Sarah Bailey (named after Susannah's mother) and Lucy (probably named after Moses's sister, Lucy)Hi,I’ve just started digesting the information found here. It confirms and expands upon what I knew and suspected.Our line goes through William Strother Hawkins (my paternal ggf) ~1816 (Woodford, KY) – 1869 (Mclean, IL). I believe WSH had at least one cousin with an identical name, making the next step difficult. Whoever William Strother Hawkins’ father was, he was one of a group of the Hawkins family of Orange County, VA. .......
My notes in my Hawkins/Bourne data base say:
The Register of the KY State Historical Society, Frankfort, KY says on page 133 that the compiler of the Railey-Randolph notes was a gr-grandchild of this couple. I might want to look at these at some point.
Capt. Moses Hawkins married Susannah Strother.
Children – Hawkins
1. William Strother; married Catherine Keith, born January 1, 1772
2. Lucy; married William George
3. Sarah Bailey; married James Thornton
4. Moses, Jr.; married Sarah Castleman
There is more information about descendents of these children in Millie Farmer's book
Also from the Ky Register: "A few years after the marriage of Susannah and Thomas Coleman they with the four Hawkins children and Susannah's father, Wm Strother, of Orange and his second wife (with whom he had no children) came to Kentucky to live and settled on a large estate near Mortonsville, in Woodford Conty where they all lived and died. When I was a boy I was shown the burying ground that was then in bad shape and it is doubtful if any marks remain to indicate the graves of each".
My footnotes tell me that this last information comes from:
Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society, Frankfort, Kentucky
Vol 16, No 46 pg 93, I viewed it online in Nov 2008 at:
William Strother Hawkins applied for a pension as the only heir of Moses Hawkins. John Sleet signs on the application. This is the John Sleet that is an uncle to the John Hawkins children. John Sleet lives in Garrard County but his will is in Madison County, Ky. (but Elaine says that his will is missing) ]
Some of this group are mentioned in books about the families of that area, including this fragment:Benjamin Hawkins, the grandfather of Ann Reminta Hawkins, was born in Virginia in 1738, theson of Benjamin Hawkins and Sarah Willis. He married Ann Bourne, the daughter of AndrewBourne, in 1764 in Fauquier County, Virginia. In 1789, Benjamin Hawkins together with hisbrother, James Hawkins, departed Virginia and came to Kentucky after they sold their OrangeCounty, Virginia property to the husband of the widow of their brother, Captain Moses Hawkins(killed at Germantown, Pennsylvania in 1777). Thomas Coleman, who bought the land inOrange County, had married Capt. Hawkins’ widow, Susan (Strother) Hawkins in 1783. Later,Moses Hawkins’ widow moved with her second husband from Virginia to Woodford County,Kentucky and then to Franklin County, and there are numerous descendants of Moses Hawkinsliving today in that area. Benjamin and James Hawkins witnessed the will of Moses Hawkins.So I believe I am descended of Benjamin Hawkins (b. 1738 in VA), but possibly from James Hawkins, his brother, or Captain Moses Hawkins, the brother killed in the Revolution. The last seems likely because Moses married Susan Strother, whose father accompanied the Hawkins clan to Woodford to settle, and my ggf’s middle name was Strother. Also the book notes that many of Moses’ descendants continued to live in Woodford County, where my ggf was born. Whichever brother we are from there is apparently another generation in between. Without better DNA it seems unlikely we’ll ever know for certain which brother I am descendant of.
[My Note: In my Hawkins/Bourne data base, I have the children of William Strother Hawkins b. 1 June 1772 as: William Strother, Isham Keith, Charlotte Ashmore, Benjamin Dabney, Lucy, Moses, Susan, Katherine Keith, and James Keith.
Here are pages 12, 13 and 15 of the Revolutionary War Pension Document associated with Moses Hawkins. The only problem that I see, is that I am sure that Moses Hawkins, Sr. had two sons: Moses, Jr and William Strother Hawkins. My explanation which is only a guess from what I have read is that Moses, Jr. died relatively young. After his death sources say that his wife and children moved to Missouri. If this happened before 1832, William Strother Hawkins may have considered himself only son of Moses Hawkins, Sr since he was only son still living. Here is what I found on Fold3:My path is therefore Benjamin (b. ~1700) & Sarah Willis à [most likely] Moses (b. ~1740 in VA) & Susan Strother à unknown à William Strother Hawkins (b. ~1816 in Woodford, KY) & Nancy [Brown?] à Gardner Perry Hawkins (b. 1861 Mclean County, IL) & Hallie Chapman (b. 1881? Orleans, NE) à Gardner Perry Hawkins (second) (b. 1921, Stanley, ID) & Eileen Harris (b. 1928, MO) à myself, Christopher’s mother, & 4 others. (My gf was nearly 60 when my dad was born, raising a few eyebrows, and he has a younger sister & brother). My gf was one of 13 siblings and we are just finding a few connections for the first time.Phil posted a picture of himself which reminded me of my dad at an earlier age. Wonder if he is in this line also.-Gerald Patrick HawkinsSanta Clara, CA.
AFTER I wrote the above I found the letter that was written by William Strother Hawkins himself in which he does NOT say only son...he says son and only heir (page 8):
and
With being new to the Hawkins family research I have found that I am a direct descent Captain James Hawkins 4th generation GGF. James was the brother of Moses.
ReplyDeleteWe purchased a small farm that is on, we believe, the location of the original Strothers homestead in Woodford County KY. There are several 'tombstones' on the property althought it's difficult to make anything out on them (or at least we have been told they are tombstones). I am wondering if this is the cemetary. Any clues would be appreciated.
ReplyDeleteI am descended from Moses Jr, he died in 1817 in Woodford County. Last month I was in Versailles and copied the inventory of his estate, and we stopped at the Clear Creek Baptist church where I believe the Strother and Coleman families were members. I would love to know the location of the Strother/Coleman homestead. We will probably visit the area again next year to see our granddaughter at UK. Are you also a Hawkins descendant?
DeleteHello, from the research I have conducted, it appears that our farm / subdivision (it's a group of 10-20 acre farms) is on the location fo the original homestead - essentially the south branch of Craig's creek in Woodford County. I believe the old stone fences on the back of our property actually date to the original homestead. Let us know if you are out this way and we will be glad to show you around. And no, I'm not a Hawkins descendent.
ReplyDeleteThis is very exciting. It is so hard to find the present day location of property based on the early descriptions in deeds and wills that used trees and neighboring property as markers. I will let you know the next time we make a trip to Kentucky. Thank you so much for offering to let us see the property!
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting. My great grandfather was George Hawkins married to Alice Rainwaters. They had a son named James F Hawkins, who is my grandfather. My grandparents are buried in Campground Cemetery in Hart County. I have little to no information regarding George Hawkins, I believe he maybe George W Hawkins. I found a KY death certificate for a George W Hawkins, that lists John W. Hawkins as the father and a Mrs. Thornton as the mother. Seeing the Thornton name here is encouraging!
ReplyDeleteHi, I believe I am also related to the Hawkins family from Fauquier, Virginia. It's so convoluted and complicated though. I know I am descended from an Oliver Hawkins. His son was Oliver Bell Hawkins and his father is said to be William Hawkins.
ReplyDeleteThis is were I am so confused. There is a very famous William - I don't think that one is the one I am connected to. But there was a Rev. William Hawkins - think this might be the one I'm connected to. But here as well, the facts are convoluted. I think it's possible my heritage may go very far back on the Hawkins line. I would very much like to prove these lines. Anyone - please help with information.