USA > North Carolina > Historical sketches of North Carolina : from 1584 to 1851, Vol. I > Part 71
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Colonel Philemon Hawkins, Jr., had seven sons and five daughters, who all lived to be grown. The sons were William, John D., Joseph W., Benja- min F., Philemon, Frank, and George W. The six youngest sons all gradu- ated at the University of North Carolina. The daughters were Eleanor, who is now the widow of the late Sherwood Haywood, of Raleigh ; Ann, who mar- ried William P. Little, late of Warren; Delia, now the widow of the late
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Stephen Haywood, of Raleigh; Sarah, who was the widow of the late Colonel William Polk, of Raleigh, and Lucy Davis Ruffin, who was the first wife of the late Louis D. Henry, of Raleigh.
. Colonel Benjamin Hawkins left one son and five daughters; only three daughters are now living. He was raised to habits of industry and economy, but he possessed a liberal spirit, which he inherited from his parents, who possessed and practiced it in an eminent degree. No private house in North Carolina was more extensively known, and none where more enlarged hospi- tality was dispensed, than at the house of the late Colonel Philemon Haw- kins, Sr.
In the early education of BENJAMIN HAWKINS, he was sent to the best schools the country afforded. There were then no academies near at. hand, and no college in the State. The nearest college was William and Mary, in Virginia, but in the estimation of his father, Princeton College had the pre- ference, and, therefore, he and his younger brother, Joseph, were sent to that institution. There they remained until the war of the Revolution suspended the exercises, at which time, Benjamin and his brother Joseph were members of the Senior Class. Colonel Hawkins, when he left college was a ripe scho- lar of his grade, and understood and spoke French well. The intercourse which General Washington had with the French officers, and not being able himself to speak French, rendered it necessary he should have some mem- ber of his family to aid hin in that particular. He formed an acquaintance with Colonel Hawkins and pressed him into his service as a member of his family, where he remained some time. He was at the Battle of Monmouth with Washington, in 1779, and in many other situations before and after that battle. The servant who attended upon and belonged to Colonel Hawkins at that battle, was freed in 1801, and lived upwards of forty years afterwards.
In 1780, Colonel Hawkins was chosen by the North Carolina Legislature, commercial agent to procure all things needful, home or abroad, for the use and support of the war, and defence of the State. During this time he acted as aide-de-camp to Governor Nash. As commercial agent, he repaired to the island of St. Eustatia, to procure arms and munitions of war. In that cha- racter he purchased many articles, and put them on board the vessels of a then rich merchant of Newbern, North Carolina ; John Wright Stanly, father of the late John Stanly. These vessels and cargoes were captured by the Bri- tish vessels of war, and that capture ruined the great fortune of the unfortunate Stanly, who sought redress at the hands of the State of North Carolina, but was refused it, when it should have been allowed him. Mr. Stanly then brought suit against Colonel Hawkins in his individual character, which took its turn in the courts, creating some excitement. But the court decided (1st Haywood) that the purchases and contracts of the State's agent, did not bind him individually.
On the 13th of May, 1782, Colonel Hawkins was elected by the General Assembly a member of Congress to the old confederation for one year, and was re-elected on the 14th of May, 1783, for a like term, and was present at Annapolis in that year, being the memorable Congress before whom General Washington appeared, to lay down his commission as Commander-in-chief of the American armies.
On the 21st of March, 1785, being then a member of Congress, he was ap- pointed by Congress, having been unanimously nominated by the whole North Carolina delegation in Congress, a Commissioner, together with Daniel Carrol and William Perry, to treat with the Cherokees and all other Indians south of them. He was also appointed by Congress, same year, as a commis- sioner, associated with Gen. Andrew Pickens, Joseph Martin, and Lauchlin McIntosh, to negotiate with the Creek Indians. They concluded the treaty of Galphinton, and in the same commission they concluded the treaty of Hopewell with the Cherokees. He was again elected a member of Congress in 1786, to serve until the first Monday of March, 1787. In 1789, he was elected to the Senate of the United States, together with Samuel Johnston, Esq., the two first Senators chosen by North Carolina under the Federal Constitution, and he was qualified and took his seat the 13th of Janu-
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ary, 1790. In the classification he was allotted to serve six years. By' the General Assembly, who elected these two Senators, Governor John- ston was elected on the first ballot, and the contest for the other was be- tween Colonel Benjamin Hawkins and Colonel William Blount, afterwards Governor Blount of Tennessee, and Senator from that State in the Congress of the United States. These two gentlemen, before this conflict, had been par- ticularly friendly, had served together frequently in the Congress of the Con- federation, and in other stations. This contest was waged by their friends, not by themselves. In fact, each had a brother in the Assembly, and they were both men of influence in that body. When Colonel Hawkins was elected, it was against his wishes, as he disliked strife, such as he saw this contest would lead to. But his elder brother, Colonel Philemon Hawkins, Jr., willed it otherwise, and so the election was decided .. This election produced a breach among old friends, that was never after healed. They never after looked with a friendly eye upon the elder members of the Hawkins family. The after generations of both families inculcated a warm friend- ship for each other, which ripened into marriages. That friendship still exists, and is much valued on both sides.
Colonel Benjamin Hawkins served out his full term of six years in the
- Senate, but it was known for some time before the end of that period, among his friends, that General Washington was importuning him to accept the agency of superintending all the Indians south of the Ohio. He by no means solicited that appointment. On the contrary, he was induced to accept it only at the particular desire of the President, and much against the wishes of his friends and relatives, who never doubted his ability, but they believed it would be such an abstraction from civilized life, and such a close connection with savages, that, although his purpose was predicated upon patriotism and an extended benevolence, yet the task for a man of refinement, in the possession of an ample fortune, would be so onerous as to render his situa- tion extremely uncomfortable. During the time of his service in the Senate and before, when at home he lived with his father and mother (their only' child), he was the delight of their declining years, and his father's house being the seat of hospitality, it was much frequented by visitors of all sorts, and from various parts of the world. Exiled Frenchmen of distinction, during their Revolution and the reign of Robespierre, sought an asylum in the United States, and in this agreeable and hospitable retreat their sorrows found sympathy and repose.
Being then a man of fortune, surrounded by all the comforts of life, he was the idol of his parents and relatives, and particularly acceptable to every- body., Their regrets at his acceptance of the agency may be estimated by their reflection of his transfer from the Senate of the United States to a dweller among savages. His administration as agent is left to history, and fortunately, enough of his writings were `preserved from the flames which burnt, accidentally, his house, shortly after his death, as well as that there are yet living in Georgia, and elsewhere, men who shared his munificence, and witnessed his rare and transcendant attainments, his high and amiable. qualifications, and his unbounded philanthropy and patriotism, to enable history to perpetuate his name. He has done much to establish the.topo- graphy of Georgia, and left many valuable materials for her history, which. have been embodied to that end. Many volumes of his manuscript writings were destroyed, it is supposed, when his house was burnt, but the indefati- gable antiquarian, J. K. Teft, Esq., Corresponding Secretary to the Georgia Historical Society, writes to a relative of Colonel H. in North Carolina, that the Society have in their possession eleven volumes in manuscript, of his writings, which are in preparation for publication, which were procured with great earnestness and solicitude as valuable monuments to the renown of the author, and use to the history of Georgia. And that part of the series relating to topography, has been published at the private expense of Mr. William B. Hodgson, a member of the Society, and a gentleman of profound erudition, who says, their intrinsic worth, coming from a man of such Roman virtues, made it a labor of love to him.
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To show his lack of solicitude for office, the archives at Washington show that he tendered his resignation to every President, from Gen. Washington to the time of his death, but not one of them would accept it, telling him he must remain, that his services were indispensable: These flattering replies made by all the Presidents of his time, caused him to continue to bear the burdens of holding on, the easier, and thereby only was he kept so long in the arduous duties of Indian Agent. It was extensively known for many years he wished to leave the Agency, and during the administration of Mr. Jefferson, a recommendation was got up in favor of another person to be his successor, which was presented to him. , Mr. Jefferson replied he saw there was no difficulty to get a successor, but the difficulty was to induce him to hold on, and so long as that could be done, no successor would be appointed.
In the year 1801, the first year of Mr. Jefferson's administration, Colonel Hawkins' previous commission having expired by its limitation, he was reap- pointed, and as joint commissioner with General Wilkinson and General Andrew Pickens, to negotiate treaties with the Chickasaws, Choctaws, and Natchez.
He had long been in bad health, from exposure, and had so often deter- mined to resign, and leave the burdensome charge of Indian responsibilities, that at the close of his life, Government seemed willing, from his declining health, to give him up. But when he died he was still the agent, having called to his assistance his nephew, Capt. Philemon Hawkins, son of Colonel Philemon Hawkins, of Warren County, North Carolina, who at the close of the war in 1815, resigned his commission in the army as Captain of Artillery, and at the particular request of his uncle had joined him as assistant agent. Captain Hawkins was also in bad health, having taken cold in the military service, which settled on his lungs. He lived some months only after the death of his uncle, discharging the duties of agent. Governor Mitchell, of Georgia, was then appointed, and before his installation, Captain Hawkins died. And subsequently, when Governor Mitchell took charge of the Agency it was neces- sary he should have reference to and possession of some documents among the . papers of Captain Hawkins, then at the Agency, in his trunks ; and Governor Mitchell wrote to Governor Hawkins in North Carolina, who was the executor of Captain Hawkins, as also of Colonel Benjamin Hawkins, for permission to go among the papers to procure them, which request was complied with. Gov. Mitchell did notremain long in the Agency, and was succeeded by Colonel John Crowell. Against his administration there were objections and remonstrances made to the Government by the Indians and others, in 1825 ; one of these was signed by Benjamin Hawkins. This caused the misconception that it was Colonel Benjamin Hawkins, and that he was alive at that time. Whereas the Benjamin Hawkins who signed the remonstrance was a half-breed Indian who assumed the name. There was also a William Hawkins and a John Hawkins, names assumed by the Indians out of veneration and affection for Colonel Hawkins, possessing not a drop of his blood in their veins. It is well vouched for that he would never permit an intercourse of that sort, for many reasons, well known to his friends. He was of opinion it was essential to Indian government that no such familiarity should be tolerated.
No man was more exemplary in many respects, and particularly for eco- nomy and judicious management of his pecuniary affairs. By this means he always had a moneyed ability to administer to his munificence, and to keep within liis income. He inculcated and practiced the maxim that, any article was too costly to be purchased at any price, however small, if it was not needed for use or speculation.
When Colonel Hawkins resolved to accept the Agency in 1796, he cast about in his mind how he should dispose of portions of his estate to be left behind him. He had understood that his youngest brother, Joseph, who had given him his estate, had intimated in his lifetime a desire in some shape that his elder brother Philemon, should have a large body of land lie owned in the adjoining county of Franklin at a mere nominal price. This land he would and did convey to his brother Philemon, and for the nominal consider-
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ation only, though his brother by no means desired it; for the mere legal consideration was too far short for a fair equivalent, and the moral induce-" ment insufficient to compel such a course. But so it was done, and nothing short of it would satisfy Colonel Benjamin Hawkins.
He had a niece married to a man in moderate circumstances. He moved him and his family to his large Roanoke estate, and put them in possession of every- thing there as they stood, negroes and all, and gave them the free use of all until called for. They kept the estate in this way for many years, until Colonel Haw- kins concluded to remove his negroes to his residence in the Creek nation, where he established a model farm. There he cultivated extensively, made large crops of grain, which had become in great demand to supply the immense emigration to the Territory, now the States of Alabama and Mississippi, and on to New Orleans. He owned mechanics of various kinds ; he built mills, houses, wagons, fixtures, and implements of all sorts suited to the demands of the country. He had a large stock of cattle, which the Indians were scru- pulous to protect while he was alive, but when he died they stole them with- out limit. He built a bridge across the river at the Agency, and had a gate upon it to separate his cows and calves. He had at one time upwards of five hundred calves. The milk was extensively taken from the cows, and the butter taken from it by a machine operated by horse power. Colonel Haw- kins possessed in a high degree not only science to conceive anything he desired, but practical common sense necessary to its full achievement. This addition to his great energy of character created success.
Col. Benjamin Hawkins, in the year 1797, wrote to his brother, Colonel . Philemon Hawkins, and desired him to send him his son William, then a law student under Judge Williams at Williamsboro', to aid him in his Indian department ; and intimated as he had no family, he wished him as one to share his toils, and to profit by their joint efforts in the character of a son. William Hawkins accepted the call and aided his uncle in the depart- ment for two years, as assistant agent, when Colonel Hawkins was of opinion that a young man living so long among Indians, might acquire a manner unsuited to polished life. He therefore prevailed with his nephew to visit Philadelphia, and live in that fashionable city, and renew some of his former studies, particularly his French, in 'a society where the opportunity for conversation in that language, would enable him the better to accom- plish it. After remaining there near two years he returned to North Caro- lina, and circumstances and incidents occurring, he, in the meantime, got married, and, of course, declined to join his uncle in the Indian depart- ment. After awhile, Colonel Hawkins married and had children. William Hawkins knowing the extreme punctiliousness of his uncle never to create an expectation without fulfilling to the letter its object, he wrote him that he remembered with grateful recollection all his past favors, and his intima- tions to give him all his property, but since that time circumstances had greatly changed ; he now had children of his own, who were the natural objects of his bounty; the promise to him was at a time anterior to that, and predicated upon the assumption of his never having children; that he understood it in this light, and would view it in no other, and desired espe- cially that his uncle would view it in the same light, protesting a total un- willingness to have any part of his estate, and released him from all moral obligation growing out of that promise. , Nevertheless when Colonel Haw- kins died, who had not seen his nephew for many years, he left a will dividing his estate equally between his wife, his six children, and his nephew, giving each an eighth part, and leaving him, moreover, his sole executor. His estate was worth about One Hundred and Sixty Thousand Dollars. As additional evidence of his disinterestedness, Micajah Thomas, who had married his, sister Ann, and received by her a handsome. patrimony, and who had died long before, leaving no child, and was a man of very large fortune, he sent especially for, Col. Hawkins when upon his deathbed to visit him. He told him on his arrival he had sent for him to write his will and to give him a large portion of his estate. Mr. Thomas was surrounded by many respectable
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friends at the time. Colonel Hawkins told him he would write no such will; that he valued his friendly feelings thus expressed, but that he was sufficiently provided for, and as Mr. Thomas had blood relations he advised him to give his estate to them. When Mr. Thomas found he could not get him to accept of the offered, legacy he entreated him to accept of five hundred guineas, - which he also positively refused, and wrote his will giving his property to his relatives.
Colonel Hawkins possessed in a high degree the happy turn of character to make himself acceptable, and a favorite with everybody. He stood par- ticularly in that relation with General Nathaniel Greene, and when that dis- tinguished officer desired to go South to look out for a new residence in the year 1785, he went to see Col. Hawkins, and staid with him until he prevailed with him to accompany him. They explored as far South as St. Augustine, and General Greene finally selected a residence upon one of the sea Islands upon the southern coast of Georgia.
It is a well known trait in the Indian character, that whenever war is waged in their neighborhood, their restless temperament will cause them to take part. When General Jackson was carrying on the Creek war, it was thought by the Government, and so advised by Colonel Hawkins, that a regi- ment should be raised of the friendly Indians to keep them in check and from going over to the enemy. Colonel Hawkins was Colonel-commandant, and the celebrated half-breed, McIntosh, was Lieutenant-Colonel of the regi- ment.
This regiment was in the service of the Government a considerable time. Colonel Hawkins, at his own private expense, relying to be remunerated by Government, provisioned and supplied it, in great part, with provi- sions, munitions, &c. He had large herds of cattle, large quantities of grain to furnish needful supplies, and doubtless had and kept necessary and proper vouchers, as he was a man of great system, to cover and set forth his expenditures. But his house was accidentally burnt, shortly after his death, destroying many of his vouchers. Had he been alive to settle his own mat- ters, his knowledge might have supplied, in a degree, the loss of his papers. This worked a great loss to his estate. His executor had great trouble to settle his accounts, owing to this loss of papers, making a loss to his estate of many thousand dollars. His accounts had to pass the scrutiny of the First Auditor of the Treasury,* who had filled that appointment from the time the Government first went to Washington, and who was so watchful of the people's money, he was of opinion, in the construction of a statute, he must look to the letter, and not at all to the equity, or common sense meaning of it. For instance, in construing the act of Congress, giving pay for the loss of horses in the Florida war, he decided it did not extend to mules, because a horse was not a mule. Before this gentleman, the executor of Colonel Benjamin Hawkins had to appear for a settlement, and by that settlement his estate did lose, owing to the loss of papers and this rigid ex- actness, a large amount expended in behalf of the American people. Thus ended the career of a man who may well be said to have filled, in the stations to which he was called, and in private life, the measure of his duty; and after passing through the many scenes of a long, a laborious, and active life, closed his career of usefulness to his country and to his fellow man with an honor and a reputation which deserves to be recorded for future example to the living. "History is philosophy teaching by example."
The celebrated French General, Moreau, when an exile in this country, had to pass, on his visit to New Orleans, the residence of Colonel Hawkins, and thereby made his acquaintance at the Agency. He became suddenly so impressed with him, and captivated by his powers in conversation, beau- tifully expressed in French, that he sojourned with him a long time, and after leaving him he pronounced him the most remarkable man he had found in America.
The late Peter Hagner, Esq.
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The publication of the writings of Colonel Hawkins, are in progress under the guidance of the Georgia Historical Society. His writings upon the subject of Topography and the Indian character, and his writings called " A Sketch of the Creek Country," have attracted particular admiration. The latter has been published under the name of the Georgia Historical Society, but at the private expense of William B. Hodgson, Esq., a gentleman of fortune and great learning, who remarks that its usefulness may be estimated by its having been copied in manuscript, in these times when printing has so many facili- ties, into five copies.
Colonel Hawkins' treatise upon the subject of Indian Language, sent. by him to Mr. Jefferson and by him to Mr. Gallatin, was held by both of these gentlemen in the highest estimation, and is expected substantially to appear in the writings of Mr. Gallatin, which occupied him to the time of his death, upon'the character of the Aborigines of America. But Mr. Jefferson knew and appreciated Colonel Hawkins at a very early period. It is known that he kept a journal, systematically arranged, and headed by the name of every State in the Union, beginning with Massachusetts in which, among other things, he recorded the names of the persons, and their recommendations, for appointment to office. In 1789, under the head of North Carolina, upon the subject of the appointment of Federal Judge for the State, Mr. Jefferson remarks, " Hawkins recommended John Sitgreaves as a very clever gentle- man, of good deportment, well skilled in the law for a man of his age, and, should he live long enough, will be an ornament to his profession. He was appointed, Spaight and Blount concurring."
This scrap-book of Mr. Jefferson's was purchased of his executor the last year of President Polk's administration, and by him shown to the author of . this Memoir.
NATHANIEL MACON was born, lived, and died in Warren county. His long and successful career in public life has rendered his name known in the annals of the State and nation; and his peculiar course of policy has been stamped upon her history.
His ancestors were from Virginia. He was born in this county in 1757.
His early youth was marked by diligence ; a generous frankness of cha- racter ; an inquiring mind for information ; and a sturdy independence in thought and action.
He was sent to Princeton College to complete his education ; the troubles of the Revolution closed the halls of science ; he returned home, and volun- teered as a private, in the service of his country, in a company commanded by his brother .*
This position he preferred to that of an officer, which was tendered to him. This perversion from the ordinary ambition, so natural to men, was remark -- able in his whole after life; he seemed as free from this, as from the thirst for gain ; since for his services in the field, he refused and never received a cent from his suffering country .; It would seem by his whole career, that neither the love of fame, nor the acquisition of wealth, had any influence upon his well-balanced mind. His country was in danger ; her liberties in peril. This he knew, and to her services he devoted all the energies of his mind and body. He loved his country as a fond son loves his venerated mother ; and what son would require any reward for defending this mother, in poverty and in distress, from injury or insult, beyond the consciousness of having done his duty ?
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