FAMILY WEB

GENETIC PARENTS

Father: Unknown

Mother: Unknown

GENETIC CHILDREN

Son: James Hawkins (bef.1785-1823)

Daughter: Hannah Hawkins

Daughter: Elizabeth Hawkins Overstreet (c.1787-1835)²

Daughter: Martha (Patsy) Hawkins Overstreet (c.1790-aft.1850)

Son: John Hawkins (bef.1791-c.1840)¹

Daughter: Ann W. Hawkins McAshford/Ashford (c.1795-?)

Son: Thomas W. Hawkins (1795/6-c.1870)²

Daughter: Catherine Hawkins Singleton (1798-1870)²

Daughter: Sarah Hawkins Hayden (c.1798-aft.1817)¹

Son: Allen Withers Hawkins (1800-aft.1844)

Daughter: Eleanor Hawkins Davis (c.1802-aft.1850)²

Son: William Henry Hawkins

Daughter: Mary (Polly) Hawkins Reed (c.1810-aft.1850)

Son: George Giles Hawkins (1810 -1887)¹

Son: Porter Hawkins (bef.1823-1867)¹

OTHER RELATIONS

Siblings: Unknown

Wife: (1) Ann (Nancy) Withers

(2) Margaret (Hayden) Singleton

BASIC DATA

Name: John Hawkins

Born: 1760/65, probably in Virginia

Died: 1823 at Jessamine County, Kentucky

Buried: unknown

HISTORY

Occupation: farmer; ferry operator

Marriage data: (1) 1782/85, possibly in Stafford County, Virginia

(2) 14 October 1815 in Jessamine County, Kentucky

Miscellaneous: Not much is known for sure about John Hawkins, but several authors have done research and made some conjectures. He may have been the son of William and Elizabeth (Bourne) Hawkins. William and Elizabeth's children were said to have been John, Benjamin, James, Polly Barnett (wife of John Barnett), Willis, Sally, and Moses. In 1808 in Jessamine County, Kentucky, the heirs of Elizabeth Hawkins of Culpeper County, Virginia, were attempting to recover some slaves. The heirs were the same as listed above. If John, the father of Hannah, was indeed the son of William and Elizabeth, his maternal grandparents were Andrew and Jane (Morton) Bourne of Culpeper County.

It is known that John married Ann (Nancy) Withers about 1782-85, possibly in Stafford County, Virginia, where Nancy was born. The young couple may have started immediately moving west. Stafford County is an eastern Virginia county. A John Hawkins was listed in Kegley's list of Virginia Militia in Captain Looney's Company of Botetourt County, a central county, along with Thomas and Giles Hawkins, possibly relatives. John later had two sons with those names. He may have moved to Kentucky in 1789 or 1790 and settled in the Jessamine County area, then still Fayette County.⁴

There were several activities accomplished by a John Hawkins in early Kentucky. It is unknown whether any of these activities were performed by the correct John for this genealogy. The activities are mentioned here as possibilities for further research. A John Hawkins was said to have represented Fayette County in the Virginia Legislature while Kentucky was still a part of Virginia, and later represented Fayette County in the first General Assembly in Kentucky. The Assembly met in Lexington, and he was on the committee that selected Frankfort for the capital. He also represented Jessamine County in several sessions after it was formed. He presided at the first meeting of the Masons when they separated from Virginia and formed the Grand Lodge of Masons of Kentucky.² There was a John Hawkins appointed as one of the Jessamine County commissioners to value certain lands taken by the sheriff under execution. The first order ever made by the court of record in Jessamine was to appoint these commissioners. The date was 26 March 1799. A John Hawkins served in the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1806 and 1811.¹

After Nancy died, her father, John Withers, named his son-in-law, John Hawkins, as a legatee when he wrote his will which was probated in Jessamine County in 1818.⁴

John married Margaret (Hayden) Singleton in Jessamine County on 14 October 1815. Margaret's brother, Jesse Haydon, as well as the groom, provided the bond to assure the court that there was no impediment to the marriage. Margaret was the daughter of Mary and Ezekiel Haydon of Spotsylvania County, Virginia, and was the widow of Edmund Singleton.² She came to the marriage having had eight children with her first husband.⁴

Mary Lee Mahin, a Jessamine County genealogist for many years, says that John owned a ferry and operated it on the Kentucky River where now the Brooklyn Bridge, a part of the Harrodsburg Pike, crosses the river. In 1817, John Hawkins, et al, were commissioners of the estate of Nathaniel Drake and sold land to George Smith.³

When John died, he did not leave a will. The appraisement of his estate was on 28 August 1823. The value was $12,000. Most of his lands were in the western part of Jessamine County on Clear, Jessamine, and Hickman's Creek. Margaret, his widow, waived her right to administer the estate on 18 August 1823, and asked that James Hawkins administer.² Margaret later married for the third time -- to Samuel H. Craig. 

Sources:

¹Young, Bennett H. A History of Jessamine County, Kentucky.

²Bates, Lily Hazel. Young-Hawkins Genealogy. 1976 (found at KY Historical Society Library, Frankfort.)

³Jessamine County Deed Book E, p. 56.

⁴Henning, Eugene Albert. Henning-Mappin with Related and Connected Families. 1976/1982.

INDEX OF FAMILY SURNAMES

TOP OF PAGE

Back to Judith Holden Dixon home page

To see an explanation of Family Web pages, see The Family Web