Birth4-19-1851, Franklin Co, IN
DeathWhite Cloud, Doniphan County, Kansas, USA
BurialOlive Branch Cemetery, White Cloud, Doniphan Co, KS
Spouses
Birth3-2-1856, Antwerp, Paulding Co, OH
Death3-6-1882, Antwerp, Paulding Co, OH Age: 26
Burial Slough Cemetery, Antwerp, Paulding County, Ohio, USA
Marriage1873, Antwerp, Paulding Co, OH
Notes for William Hawkins
Biography written by Donald Park with significant edits by Evelyn Park Blalock. Please DO NOT publish elsewhere without providing full and proper credit. Thank you.
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William Hawkins was born 19 Apr 1851 in Franklin County, Indiana, the son of Robert Hawkins and Mary Ann Jones Hawkins. His family moved to Paulding County, Ohio, sometime between Apr 1851 and Dec 1863. His father, Robert, enlisted in the Army and was killed 22 Jul 1864 at Atlanta, Georgia. His mother, Mary Ann, initially received a pension of $8.00 per month, which undoubtedly made it very difficult to raise a family with seven children. Mary Ann married Zephaniah Bell on 26 Jan 1873. In that same year, William married Matilda Sines.
William and Matilda had at least three children. They are:
John Hawkins (1874- )
Samantha Ellen "Mattie" Hawkins Park (1880-1949)
Lodenna Hawkins (1881- )
On the 1880 U.S. Census, the family is shown living in Carryall, Paulding County, Ohio, and Matilda was expecting another child. Their youngest child, Lodenna, was born in February 1881, but the joy of this event was soon replaced with grief. Matilda's sister Harriet died of tuberculosis in March 1881. From other deaths in the area, it appears that an epidemic occurred during that year. Matilda also succumbed to the disease, dying in March 1882. Her mother followed soon thereafter, dying in June 1882. It is presumed that Matilda's infant, Lodenna, also died about the same time, as the only evidence of her existence is her birth record.
As the Census records for 1890 were destroyed, it is difficult to trace what happened to son John immediately after Matilda's death. It is known that daughter Samantha Ellen went to live with Matilda's sister, Samantha Jane Sines Bell, and the Bells raised Samantha Ellen like a daughter. Very little is known about what role, if any, William had in raising Samantha Ellen. Samantha Jane Bell and her husband, Lovirus Addison Bell, moved to White Cloud, Doniphan County, Kansas, and William Hawkins arrived there many years later, appearing on the 1910 U.S. Census residing with the family of his son, John Hawkins, who had apparently remained in contact with members of the Hawkins family and joined them in Kansas.
Family tradition is that William Hawkins was a day laborer during his working career. In his later years, he reportedly spent his time either in the saloon or in the livery stables in White Cloud. Nobody in the family who knew him wanted to talk much about him and inquiries in White Cloud, Kansas, about him went unanswered.
The children and grandchildren of Samantha Ellen Hawkins Park knew Samantha Jane Bell as "Grandma Bell." Grandma Bell frequently called Samantha Ellen "Little Mattie," which undoubtedly was a reference to Samantha Ellen's mother and Samantha Jane's sister, Matilda.
Notes for Matilda (Spouse 1)
Matilda was known as Mattie. Her daughter was called Little Mattie by Matilda's sister Jane (Grandma Bell), who raised her.
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Biography researched and written by Evelyn Park Blalock. Please do not publish elsewhere without providing full and proper credit. Thank you.
NOTE: The opportunity to view additional original vital records has resulted in revisions to this biography (Aug 2015).
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William Hawkins and Matilda Sines were married on 9 November 1872 in Whitley County, Indiana. By 1874, they had moved to Ohio, where their children were born.
Matilda delivered her third child, Lodenna, in February 1881, but the joy of this event was soon overshadowed by grief. Her sister Harriet died during childbirth a month later, in March 1881. Matilda fell ill the following winter, and died from consumption in March 1882. Her mother, Belinda, followed soon thereafter, dying in June 1882. It is presumed that Matilda's infant, Lodenna, also died about the same time, as the only evidence of this child's existence is a birth record.
These deaths all occurred in a one year period, within 4.5 miles of each other. Family notes place the burials together, with stone markers. Belinda's father, John Sines Sr, was buried in this same cemetery several years later.