The progenitor, Andrew Hawk/e of Augusta, Georgia

Scant evidence has been found to date of our Hawk progenitor. First I will list the Georgia records for Andrew Hawk/e, and then a number of 18th century records I have wandered across in my searches of other states.

• Georgia records
  The single linchpin to date is Seaborn Hawk's farm journal statement listing his grandfather as Andrew Hawk, being "among the first setling of Augusta". Mary Bondurant Warren's book on "Bounty Warrants of Washington County, Georgia" lists that Andrew Hawk made application for a bounty warrant on 17 May 1784. There is no evidence he received land from this, however. The next proof is the Nov 1789 advertisement in the Augusta Chronicle, placing Andrew Hawke on "his farm near Augusta". A kind volunteer searched numerous probate and marriage records for me in Richmond County in the summer of 2000, but came up empty of records on any Hawk/e.
• Records in the 18th century from other states.
  1. An Andreas Hook was on the passenger list of the ship WINTER GALLEY captained by Edward Paynter from Rotterdam via Deal, England, on 5 Sep 1738.
  2. An Andrew Hawk was naturalized in Philadelphia on 11 April 1743.
  3. Philadelphia County has warrant and survey records for an Andrew Hawk dated 1734 and 1757.

Sons of Andrew Hawk of Augusta, Georgia

1. Peter Hawk

   Peter may well be the oldest and longest lived of the four Hawk brothers with his age designation of 60-70 on the 1830 census giving a birthyear between 1760 and 1770. This is supported by his poll tax appearance on the 1791 Wilkes tax roll, which required that he be at least 21 (born 1770 or before). Peter is called on the carpet in a 1791 Wilkes court case for owing money to Jesse Heard for tobacco sold in Augusta. He paid poll tax in Wilkes in 1793, and was in the Wilkes militia 1793 - 1794. In 1795 he and Andrew paid tax in Oglethorpe, Captain Thornton's district (others in the district include Joseph Catchin[g]s, Thorntons, Watts, Whatley -- Ornan Whatley and others). He appears in the same Wilkes court case in 1796 and 1797 in Wilkes, then in 1798 again paid poll tax in Oglethorpe. In 1801, 1805, 1809, 1810, and 1815 he is on the Greene tax roll (unknown whether poll tax only or property). In 1805 he drew two blanks in the land lottery, but in 1807 he drew two lots in Wilkinson County. He married Polly Roberts in 1806 in Greene County. February of 1820 "Peter Hawk and wife Mary Hawk" sold 100 acres of land in Jasper County. (Note, he sold land to Abram Dale; in 1832 Jacob Hawk bought some land adjoining land of Dale and Hawk, among others. Together with the following census information we may reasonably conclude that Peter, Andrew, and Jacob physically resided very near one another.) Later in 1820 he is on the Jasper census age 45+, wife age 45+, four boys under age 10, one girl under age 10, no slaves, separated from Andrew Hawk by four dwellings. He would be at least 50 years old at this time, and he and his wife's ages would not support such young children, unless they were grandchildren. In 1821 some of his furniture was auctioned in Monticello to satisfy a claim against him. In 1827 he "tolled" (advertised for sale) a horse in Monticello. Peter is still in Jasper in 1830, age 60-70, no wife, a male age 15-20, another male age 5-10, a female age 15-20, no slaves, and he was very near Ursury (Ursula) Hawk, Andrew's widow.

2. Jacob Hawk

   Jacob's first appearance is in the 1805 Greene County tax roll, and he is also listed on the Greene rolls in 1809. I do not yet know whether he is listed for poll tax only, or owned land and/or slaves. He is further listed in 1805 in Greene Co. as drawing a blank in the land lottery of that year. In 1811 Jacob "and wife Katherine" sold 175 acres of land in Greene County. In 1814 he and Rebeckah Hawk requested letters of administration on the estate of William Hawk of Morgan County. (Note that, although Jasper adjoins Morgan, William's lot 277 in Morgan was far north of this border.) In 1815 he bought 100 acres in Jasper County. I have an unconfirmed note that he sold land in 1816 in Jasper. The 1820 Jasper census shows Jacob, age 45+, his wife, age 26-45, no children, and 13 slaves, 7 employed in agriculture. He appears on the Greene tax roll in 1822, unknown specifics. There are references in 1828 and 1829 in the Georgia Journal, for land being auctioned in Monticello (county seat of Jasper) "adjoining lands of Jacob Hawk". The 1830 Jasper census lists Jacob age 40-50, and wife age 40-50, a female 20-30, a female child 5-10, and 21 slaves (11 of which are children). Quite possibly the young woman is his daughter and the child his granddaughter. In 1832 Jacob was a fortunate drawer in the Cherokee land lottery, living in Jasper, and listed as "Jacob Hawk, sol." Revolutionary soldiers are listed as "r.s." so I wonder if Jacob served in 1812 or simply in the militia at some point. Also in 1832 Jacob bought 60 acres in Jasper. In 1838 he sold 120 acres in Jasper, part of which adjoined the land of William Tucker - any relation to Mary and Nancy Tucker who married Daniel and James Hawk in 1832/1833? In 1839 he sold land "known by my Murder Creek plantation where I formerly resided". Jacob does not appear in the 1840 census. **CORRECTION AND UPDATE** Jacob appears in the Randolph County census, living in the town of Cuthbert, age 50-60, wife same age, farming with 23 slaves. They are still there in 1850, and Jacob is shown as born in MARILAND and Catharine in Va. He was not easy to find as the last name was recorded and indexed as HANKS. By 1860 Catharine is listed as head of household at age 72, farming, with real estate valued at $5500 and personal estate valued at $32000. There are other Hawk listed in Randolph, sometimes misrecorded as HANKS or HANK, and these may be Jacob and Catherine's children. John Hawk is listed in 1840, and Thomas Hawk in 1850. Thomas' son Thomas F. Hawk is apparently the grantor on the 1889 deed of Jasper County disposing of the old Sallie Hawk lot to Mary Newton.

   From these established facts I will draw a brief narrative. Early tax lists are often incomplete or missing, so we cannot say with certainty that Jacob turned 21 in 1805. However, in the absence of other evidence I will make that assumption. This pegs Jacob's birthyear around 1784. The significance of this is that in 1820 Jacob would be 36, squarely in the middle of the 26-45 range which is shown for his wife, but in conflict with the 45+ age shown for him. I am willing to accept the 45+ census age as an error. And in 1830 he would be 46, agreeing with the 40-50 age range shown for him. In 1840 he would be 56 which falls in the given 50-60 bracket, and in 1850 he'd be 66 although his age there is shown as 60. (Catherine's age too is flaky.) Jacob was a significant land owner and probably a farmer as early as 1811 when he sold acreage in Greene, and his land and occupation passed to Catherine who continued farming until her death. Further points of research on Jacob are probate records of Randolph after 1860; tax records of Jasper from 1807 through 1840 to see when he owned land there (and how much, and how many slaves); the actual tax records of Greene, to determine when he is listed as a landowner; Greene deed records to trace his land transactions; Greene probate records; Randolph tax and deed records beginning perhaps around 1830; and Cherokee County deed and tax records to determine how Jacob disposed of his land lot there.

3. Andrew Hawk

   According to Seaborn's diary there were two Andrews: Seaborn's father and his grandfather. At this point I cannot draw a line between the two so I will not attempt to do so. On May 17, 1784, a Washington County bounty warrant was recorded for Andrew Hawk. No notation was made on the size of the warrant, nor that it was purchased (a nominal fee was required). In November 1789, Andrew Hawke tolls a brown steer that wandered into his pasture near Augusta. Seaborn reflects that his grandfather was involved in "the first setling of Augusta", and it is quite possible that his grandfather remained and died in Augusta/Richmond County, and that it was the son Andrew that continued on into the later records. In 1791 Andrew Hawk is listed on the Wilkes County tax rolls with 400 acres of second quality land in district MM (present day Taliaferro County) and no slaves. He is again listed in 1792 with the same information, but in 1793 he has moved to district GG (present day Greene County), now has 200 acres of second quality land, and no slaves. Note that Peter is listed near Andrew in each of these records but Peter never owns land. In 1795 Andrew paid tax in Oglethorpe County, with Peter Hawk, and an interesting variety of neighbors in the district including Thorntons and Whatleys. No idea if he paid property tax or not. Andrew next appears 1798 in Oglethorpe County tax records, and from this point forward I do not know if he owned any land or slaves, just his presence in the lists. (Note that Ornan Whatley, Sr. died in Oglethorpe in 1798; his daughter Rebeckah Whatley would have been 12yo at the time. It would be interesting to follow the estate administration records forward and see if/when her name clicks over to Rebeckah Hawk.) In years 1801, 1805, 1809, 1810, and 1815 Andrew is on the Greene County tax rolls. The lottery records of 1805 in which he drew a blank confirm his presence in Greene. In July 1819 Andrew has a letter left at the post office in Madison, Morgan County.

   In 1820 Andrew is on the census in Jasper County, age 45+, wife age 26-45, 5 children under age 10 and 3 more under age 16 (4 boys and 4 girls), and 6 slaves. He is only a few dwellings from Peter Hawk. Using Seaborn as the starting point I can assert that Andrew's daughters were Emala Hawk Phillips w/o Joel C. Phillips, Nancy and Sarah/Sally who remained spinsters, and Carrie Hawk w/o L. S. Pow. Two of Andrew's sons were Seaborn and Tillman D., but the other two are unknown. Andrew and is wife Ursula seem to have remained here in Jasper until they died. The Georgia Journal records Andrew in Jasper County in 1824, 1825, and 1826. In 1829 "Uzzah" (Ursula) Hawk is received into Providence Baptist Church but there is no mention of Andrew. In the 1830 census "Ursury" is the head of household at age 40-50. Ursula is listed as 50-60 in 1840 and age 68 in 1850 (therefore born c.1782), and born in Virginia. Taking the 68 back to 1820 she would have been 38 at the time, and her oldest child could easily have been up to 22 years old - so it is quite possible there were other children not reflected in the 1820 census. Andrew then evidently died between 1826 and 1830.

4. William Hawk

   William's first mark on papers is the 1805 land lottery in which he drew a blank, and in the 1805 Greene tax rolls. In 1808 he sold land in Greene. In 1809 he owned 200 acres of land and 6 slaves in Morgan County, lot 277, adjacent to Ornan Whatley's lot 278. William again appears on the Greene rolls in 1810. The following year, 1811, he bought 187 acres in Greene in January, then "William Hawk and wife Rebecca" sold land in Greene in December. He was back in Morgan in 1812, owning no land but 7 slaves. In 1814 Rebeckah and Jacob Hawk filed for letters of administration on the estate of William Hawk. His estate was later evaluated at about two thousand dollars, with the value residing almost entirely in the slaves, and no real property. In 1820 the orphans of William Hawks drew a land lot in Early County.

   In many ways, William is the most frustrating of these Hawk brothers. He died far earlier than anyone else, and he is the one I believe I am descended from. Note the 1811 proof that William's wife was Rebecca.

Other Early Hawks

1. John Hawk

   The records I have on John may refer to more than one man. The first record is for an 1802 birth as listed in a bible. The next is an 1818 Jasper County marriage to Piety Jones, probable daughter of Jesse Jones of Elbert County (formerly part of Wilkes), and some relation to Seaborn Jones of Washington County, probably the namesake for Seaborn Jones Hawk. The same year John placed and advertisement in the Georgia Journal, and he was living in Jasper County at the time. Still in Jasper, he won land in Irwin County in the 1820 draw. Piety is named as an heir to Jesse Jones' estate in 1822, and this is the last record I have of her. John had left a letter at the Monticello post office in 1825. I next have an 1830 Greene Co. marriage of John Hawke to Mary Head. In 1832 John again was lucky in the land lottery, receiving a lot in Cherokee County, and he was living in Greene County at the time. There is no record of him on the 1840 census. The 1844 LW&T of Thomas Head of Putnam County lists John as a witness - but not Mary (wonder if Mary had died). He is on the 1850 census in Putnam County (no family) and in 1860 in Jasper County (no family, occupation overseer), and falls off the radar screen at that point. There is an unknown John Hawk listed in Randolph County in 1840, which may be a son of Jacob's. My speculation is that John may be the oldest surviving child of the four Hawk men.

2. Thompson Hawk
3. Hampton Hawk
4. Warren Hawk
5. Tillman Hawk
6. Seaborn Hawk