Ninth Generation

296. Benjamin Hawkins Sr.^874,1146 was born about 1708 in Virginia Colony, Richmond Co..^874,884 The first legal court appearance for Benj is in 1729, he would be 21 now - extrapolating back for approx. birth year gets 1708.
He died in 1782 at the age of 74 in USA, Virginia, Culpeper Co..⁸⁷⁶ On 2 May 1716 Henry Wood Sr.'s petition for "tuition of an orphan boy named Benjamin Hawkins" was rejected after Richard Butler stated that John Haskins [Hawkins] and his wife Elizabeth, both deceased, had left their two youngest sons, Benjamin and James, to James Butler (brother of the petitioner Richard Butler), that James Butler was now deceased, and that the childen were to be bound to Richard Butler until they were twenty-one with John Willis (undoubtedly John Jr.., Sarah's brother-in-law) as Butler's security (Rush 92)..

By 1736 Ben1 joined his brothers Wm1 and John1 in Orange Co. in the area of Chestnut Mts (Clark Mts now).

May 28, 1767 a portion of land owned by John Spotswood was seized at his death for repayment of debts. Guardians of John's son Alexander are selling the seized land for best possible price. Benjamin Hawkins is buying part of the said estate lands.
Description: lying in county of Orange and bounded as follows: Beginning at a gum and poplar and white oak stump on the Rapidan River Corner to Mrs. Willis thence with her lines South Sixty one degrees East one Hundred and ten poles to a locust thence with Thirty six degree East Forty eight poles is a .....to a coner of said Willis and Waugh. Thence up that branch with Francis Moore. (Lucy, Ben's daughter, married Francis Moore.)

Most of the Hawkins/Bourne line and Benjamin and Sarah Willis Hawkins lived up near the Rapidan River and in Culpeper on the other side of the Rapidan....except, for Benjamin and Ann Bourne Hawkins who moved down close to Barboursville in the area of Cameron Mt.

Sarah Willis and Benjamin Hawkins Sr. were married about 1734 in Virginia Colony, King George Co..^876,884

297. Sarah Willis was born about 1716. She died after 1782 at the age of 66.

Children were:

i.
Mildred Hawkins was born about 1734 in Virginia Colony.¹¹⁴⁷ She died about 1815 at the age of 81 in USA, Virginia, Amherst Co..
ii.
Benjamin Hawkins II was born on 16 June 1738 in Virginia Colony, Fauquier Co..⁸⁷⁶ or 1736 He died on 30 November 1806 at the age of 68 in USA, Kentucky, Mercer Co..¹¹⁴⁸ He had his estate probated in May 1807 in USA, Kentucky, Mercer Co., Harrodsburg. Inventory of the personal property of Benjamin Hawkins as reported by the commissioners
appointed by the Mercer County, Kentucky court ,May session, 1807. Benjamin's son, Andrew
Hawkins, was Administrator.

Three beds and furniture, one chest, one table, one desk, one cupboard, one table and table furniture, eight chairs, smoothing iron and shovel, one handsaw, three foils, two chisels, shears, old books, two plows, two adzs, crosscut saw, whipsaw, log chain, double trees, one wagon and gear, one old sorrel mare, one old gray horse, sorrel mare and colt, sorrel horse, bay horse, twenty three hogs, eleven more hogs, one spotted cow and yearling, two steer yearlings, two heiffers, one black cow and calf, one white-faced red cow and calf, one red white Barker cow and calf, one yearling heiffer, twenty eight sheep, one two year old bay filly, one two year old sorrel horse, large kettle, one small kettle and pot, one bake oven, pot hooks, one pot rack, pails, piggins and sifter, one loom, one grindstone, and saddle bags.

Total value was appraised at 190 Pounds, 10 Shillings, and 6 Pence. Benjamin and Ann went from Orange Co., Virginia to Mercer Co., KY sometime after 1788 as a land Transactions in Orange County lists the following sale:
1788 Benjamin Hawkins and Ann his wife
James Hawkins and Jane his wife sell to Thomas Coleman 370 acres on Rapidan River Close to Willis and Waugh. It is part of the 40,000 acres formerly granted to Spotswood.
Most of the Hawkins/Bourne line and Benjamin and Sarah Willis Hawkins lived up near the Rapidan River and in Culpeper on the other side of the Rapidan....except, for Benjamin and Ann Bourne Hawkins who moved down close to Barboursville in the area of Cameron Mt.

BENJAMIN HAWKINS OF MERCER COUNTY, KENTUCKY

Benjamin Hawkins, the grandfather of Ann Reminta Hawkins, was born in Virginia in 1738, the
son of Benjamin Hawkins and Sarah Willis. He married Ann Bourne, the daughter of Andrew
Bourne, in 1764 in Fauquier County, Virginia. In 1789, Benjamin Hawkins together with his
brother, James Hawkins, departed Virginia and came to Kentucky after they sold their Orange
County, 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 in
Orange 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 Hawkins
living today in that area. Benjamin and James Hawkins witnessed the will of Moses Hawkins.

In 1790, Benjamin and James Hawkins both appeared in Fayette County, but sometime before
1800, James moved to Jessamine County while Benjamin settled in Mercer County. Benjamin
Hawkins died in Mercer County about 1806, and although he left no will, there is an inventory of
his personal estate recorded in May 1807 on file at the Mercer County courthouse in
Harrodsburg, Kentucky. The Hawkins farm was situated on the waters of the Kentucky River in
the northeastern corner of the county very near the Anderson County line. The village of Salvisa
was located a few miles away, named after the nearby Salt and Levisa rivers. (The name of the
Levisa River was later changed to the Kentucky River.)
After Benjamin Hawkins’ death, his oldest son, Andrew, purchased the property from his
siblings in 1811, but it was Andrew’s brother, Francis Hawkins, who eventually bought the farm
and lived there. He and his wife, Permelia, reared all ten of their children including Ann
Hawkins, who became the wife of John S. McGee. Francis Hawkins died on June 14, 1869, and
one of his sons, “A. L.” Hawkins, bought out his brothers’ interests and continued to reside on
the farm raising another generation of the Hawkins family on the home place.

The old home place was eventually sold to Robert Stratton in the 1920’s, and his descendants
still own the farm today. The original Hawkins farmhouse is still standing, although no longer
used as a dwelling. According to one of the present owners, the house was originally built as a
two-story log structure in the shape of a “T,” but later in its history, the logs were covered with
clapboard siding and the rear extension was torn down.. There are two stone chimneys, one at
each end of the house, and the family cemetery is situated on a little knoll approximately 200
yards away. The cemetery is outlined by a dry-stack stone wall, now partially collapsed, and
contains several graves, only three of which are marked with inscribed headstones. The marked
graves are those of Francis Hawkins, his wife, Permelia, and their son, William. It is believed
that both Benjamin Hawkins and his wife, Nancy Ann Bourne, are buried there. The house and
cemetery are located on Short Road just a few miles north of Salvisa.

The following excerpt was taken from a personal letter dated December 26, 1968 and written by
David Hawkins of Shreveport, La. addressed to Wyatt Shelly of Lawrenceburg, Ky. and on file
at the Anderson Co., Ky. public library.

"...a descendant of the Benjamin Hawkins who was a brother to my ancestor (Capt.) James. Benjamin came to Ky. with James in 1789 after the two sold out their Orange County, Va. property to the husband of the widow of Captain Moses Hawkins (killed at Germantown in 1777). Thomas Coleman bought the land in Orange and had married Moses' widow Susanna (Strother) Hawkins in 1783. From other sources (undocumented) I am informed that Benjamin was born in 1738. He married Ann Bourne (dau. of Andrew Bourne, d. 1788) in Fauquier County, Va. in 1764. He was in the 1790 census of Fayette with James and didn't show up in Jessamine (where James then lived) in 1800. Recently I have discovered that he died in Mercer in 1807. There is an inventory there in the May court of that year and his children are listed as Sarah (married Reuben Boston in Orange 1783) and other daughters whose names I don't have together with sons Andrew, Francis, Benjamin, Abraham, and John. You will find these in the Mercer censuses except for Andrew who shows in 1830, 1840 and 1850 censuses for Anderson. He was 78 in 1850.
"The disappointment, if such it is, is that Benjamin, so far as I know, wasn't in the Revolution. He was around 40 during the war. "My reason for the digression about Capt. Moses Hawkins early in this letter is that I believe that he was related to Capt. James and Benjamin. James and Benjamin witnessed his will, and , as noted above, my ancestor very definitely sold land to his widow's husband. Moses' widow moved with her second husband to Woodford County and the family was later in Franklin. There are doubtless numerous descendants in that area. The reason that I am going to such length is that Moses Hawkins name is well known in genealogical circles. The DAR book of Patriots lists him as born in Culpeper County, Va. 1748. Very likely his ancestry has been run down by descendants - and it may well be the key to mine.
"The Bourne papers in the Kentucky Historical Society in Frankfort are supposed to contain a list of names of Hawkins who were related to Capt. Moses' son, William Strother Hawkins, who was born around 1771-2. He made the list in his lifetime and it passed through various hands before ending, I am told, in the records at Frankfort. I have written the Society but so far haven't received an answer as to the availability of "the list." It dealt only with Hawkins kin to William S. Hawkins who were then living in Kentucky - before 1858, the time of his death."
iii.
Rachel Hawkins was born about 1740 in Virginia Colony, King George Co..
iv.
Lucy Hawkins was born about 1742 in Virginia Colony, King George Co..⁸⁷⁶
v.
Jane / Jenny Hawkins was born in 1748 in Virginia Colony, King George Co..⁸⁷⁶ She died.
vi.
William Hawkins¹¹⁴⁹ was born on 17 December 1749 in USA, Virginia, Harrison Co. (now W.VA).⁸⁷⁵ He died in 1818 at the age of 69 in USA, Kentucky, Jessamine Co..⁸⁷⁵ Wm, son of Benjamin and Sarah, wife Bourne, moved to Ky. and died there.
William and Elizabeth lived in Harrison Co., Virginia/West Virginia, then Jessamine Co, KY. Wm and Betsy left for KY around 1788. His brothers Ben and James too.
Sold land to Lewis Willis in 1790
Jessamine County
Deed Book B, p. 328. John, Benj., and Jas. Hawkins, Polly Barnett, John Barnett, Willis Hawkins and Sally Hawkins, chdn. of Eliz. Hawkins, dau. of Andrew Bourne of Culpepper Co., Va., to our bro., Moses Hawkins, P of A to recover slaves let us by our grandfather, Andr. Bourne; 27 Feb., 1808; s. and ack. by John Barnett and Willis and Sally Hawkins only and rec. same.
148
vii.
Capt. James (W.?) Hawkins.
viii.
Capt. Moses Hawkins was born on 4 October 1750 in Virginia Colony, Culpeper Co..⁸⁷⁶ He served in the military American Revolution between 1774 and 1777 in Virginia.^878,1150 14th Virginia Regiment
William Strother Hawkins, heir, received on 17 July 1786 warrent no. 3326 from the Commonwealth of Virginia for 4000 acres of land due Moses Hawkins, dec'd, who served three years as a Captain in the Virginia Continental line.
Hawkins, Moses, esf Orange Co., VA; KIA Battle of Germantown; BLW1847 issued 5/16/1832 to eldest s & only heir William S who afb 1831 Woodford Co, KY when he res there c35 years; AFF then there by Francis Moore that he kin to sol & had previously res near him in Orange Co, VA; several persons mbnn/o Bedford Co, VA, obtained BLW1449 fraudulently based on sol RW svc; QLF states sol KIA 10/4/1777, md Susanna Strother, & their ch were Sarah Bailey, William Strother, Lucy & Moses Jr; QLF states sol b Culpeper Co, VA; QLF 1924 from desc Sarah Thornton (Mrs. Charles R) Moore, Dallas, TX. F-BLW 1847 R1228 He signed a will on 16 April 1777 in USA, Virginia, Orange Co..¹¹⁵¹ Book 2, pg 522. Witnesses were James, Benjamin, and Sarah Hawkins. The children were under ten in 1785. Moses died on 4 October 1777 at the age of 27 in USA, Pennsylvania, Germantown.⁸⁷⁶ He died in the battle of Germantown.