H is for HAWKINS - #AtoZChallenge

I have fallen behind on the April A to Z Blogging Challenge, but I'm going to stick with it until I get it done. At this point, and will all I have on my plate right now, that will probably be sometime in May but I will get through the alphabet!

H is for HAWKINS

In my 20+ years of doing genealogy research I've discovered many family lines of which I had no prior knowledge. One of those - and perhaps the most surprising - was my European HAWKINS line, which began with the uniting of my 2x great grandparents, Anna Green and Nathaniel Hawkins. Here follows a research timeline of the life of my great-great grandfather, Nathaniel.

Timeline for Nathaniel Macon Hawkins

Created by Renate Sanders (gg-granddaughter)

1830  - Nathaniel is born to parents Philemon and Jacobina (Sherrod) Hawkins in Louisburg, Franklin County, NC.

1840 - Age 9 - At home with parents in Franklin County.

1850 - Age 20 - Nathaniel lives at home with his parents and 6 siblings; Arch (22), Madison (21), Lucy (19), Fanny (17), Mary (12), Benjamin (10). Nathaniel’s father, Philemon, is enumerated as “Hotel Keeper”. Nathaniel is a “farmer”. (None of his siblings are noted to have jobs, which is interesting. Also, I wonder where the farm was?) Others listed are most likely boarding in the hotel, and at least some of them appears to work there. They are:

Sidney Jeffries (Clerk), Samuel Perry (physician), Edward Lawrence (Surgeon Dentist), Lanu?z Wynn (17), Edward Ratley (table servant)

1856 - July 2nd - Nathaniel’s father, Philemon, dies.

1860 - Nathaniel lives in Louisburg with his now-widowed mother and 3 siblings, Fanny, Mary, and Benjamin. His occupation is given as “Negro Trader”. His mother, Jacobine, is now the Hotel Keeper.

Nathaniel owns real estate valued at$625, but has a personal estate valued at $8140. Jacobine’s property is valued at $12,050, and personal estate at $4000. Nathaniel’s brother, Madison (a farmer), and his wife, Truxilla, live on the next property.

The 1860 Slave Schedule shows Nathaniel as owning only one slave - a 15 year old female. (I presume this to be Anna Green who will become the mother of Nathaniel’s children.) The young woman is enumerated in Franklinton, and appears to reside on some type of property with slaves of other owners. (Perhaps a work-farm of some type?)

1863 - Emancipation Proclamation

1864 - John Wesley Green is born to Anna and Nathaniel. This is my great-grandfather.

1865 - Emancipation of Slaves

1868 - Elizabeth “Bettie” Green is born to Anna and Nathaniel

1870 - Nathaniel (enumerated as “Nat”), remains single and lives alone in a neighborhood surrounded by blacks. (Anna and the children are listed in a different household, several pages away.) His occupation is now listed as, “trader”. His real estate is now valued at $4850, and his personal estate at $1200. (Family lore says that Nathaniel “put Anna and the children up” in a nice two-story home, which his family kicked her out of after his death, so perhaps that house is a part of that real estate which is being accounted for here.)

1871 - Annie B Green is born to Anna and Nathaniel.

1873 - William Adam Green is born to Anna and Nathaniel.

*Confusion - Nov. 5, 1873 Bastardy bond implicates JJ Murphy as the father of Anna’s child. Nathaniel signs the document (presumably as a witness). On the same date, in the exact same language and handwriting, another bond implies that Nathaniel has fathered a child with Alpharetta Dent, and is signed also by JJ Murphy. Alpharetta Dent and her children live on the same land as JJ Murphy, who is single, and all of her children are mulatto, just as Anna’s are. (This researcher believes that the names were just inadvertently switched by the clerk who was filling out the paperwork. William Green named Nathaniel as his father on several documents, and all of Alpharetta Dent’s children named James Jasper Murphy as their father on marriage and death certificates.)l

1876 - Mary Helen “Pidgy” Green is born to Anna and Nathaniel

1879 - Esther Green is born to Anna and Nathaniel (Family says that Esther may not have been Nathaniel’s, because she was darker-skinned, but until proven otherwise, I will count her as his.)

Feb. 1879 - Nathaniel dies. Cause of death, as reported in newspaper obituary, was “a very severe attack of pneumonia”.

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Evidentiary documents related to Nathaniel Hawkins: (Copies in my possession)

*Davis & Roads, January 4, 1865 - Promissory note to pay $585.00 for hire of negro man, Jess for the year. Signed by NM Hawkins, M. Hawkins, and PB Hawkins (Settled as part of estate on Oct. 28, 1881. Paid in full ($11.75)

*Nov. 1872 - Promissory note: Mr. Davis Spencer to Mr. Nat Hawkins for CJ Outlaw for carrying telegram at the death of Mr. Reid.

*1873 - “I CJ Outlaw paid Nat Hawkins $2.00 in money. The said Nat Hawkins was on his way to Raleigh and promised to credit my note with the same on his return.”

*1879 - 1882 - Statement of account with O.L. Ellis, M.D: Shows Nathaniel’s care and prescriptions in July 1878, and Feb. 1879. This shows 23 months interest and full payment of $9.65 by Nathaniel’s estate in 1882. On 2/24/1879, he was charged $5.00 for a consultation with Drs. Foster and Clifton. On that same date, he was billed $1.00 for “bleeding self”. (This is the same date as the charge for the burial suit. Nathaniel died that same day.

*Yarborough & Co. - Feb. 24, 1879 - Bill for burial suit ($23.50) - See below.

* Letter of Administration - Franklin County Probate Court, March 29, 1879: This document states that Nathaniel died intestate, and names Phil B. Hawkins as administrator of his estate. (This is Nathaniel’s cousin, Philemon, who married Nathaniel’s sister, Fanny.)

*Franklin County Superior Court (no date/year given) - PB Hawkins, admin of NM Hawkins against PB Hawkins and wife, Fanny Hawkins, Mary M Hawkins, BF Hawkins, Madison Hawkins and others, and BF Hawkins guardian ad litem for the infant defendants, Henry M. Hawkins, Nathaniel Williams, Hawkins Williams, and Mary G. Willaims. (This an answer to a complaint, apparently in an ongoing court case to settle Nathaniel’s estate. As yet, I’ve not located the original complaint.)

*Receipt for payment to Yarborough & Co. from estate of NM Hawkins (for burial suit) - Sept 22, 1889.

Undated Receipt: Received of PB Hawkins, admin for NM Hawkins, $5.00 in payment offer for appearing as attorney for the guardian ad litem for the infant Cris(?) Outlaw (?) in a proceeding to (??) real estate assets. BB Massenburg


Sources:

Information for for this article was obtained by this researcher, Renate Y Sanders, using data from the 1840, 1850, 1860, and 1870 Censuses on Ancestry.com, and via personal visits to the following:

North Carolina State Archives 109 E. Jones St., Raleigh, N.C. 27601

Franklin County Register of Deeds 113 S. Main St., Louisburg, NC 27549
Franklin County Courthouse 102 S. Main St., Louisburg, NC 27549


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