Hawkins in the Northern Neck

While working on an article for Phil Hawkins' Hawkins DNA Newsletter for the month of May, I found myself talking about the ancestry of my dad's closest DNA match, Gene Hawkins.  Here is what I sent to Phil for his newsletter:

The month of May held a very special event for me!  I visited Gene Hawkins in Warren County, Ohio.  Gene is my dad's closest DNA match.  The celebration took place over dinner at the Golden Lamb with Gene's wife and several of his family and friends.  It was a VERY special evening!  I was in Cincinnati for the National Genealogical Society's Annual Conference only a 35 minute from Warren County.  Gene and I do not yet know who our common Hawkins ancestor will prove to be.  Gene connects to James and Jane Bourne Hawkins who were married in Culpeper, Virginia probably 12 April, 1781.  This couple moved to Kentucky after the Revolutionary War where James Hawkins died 2 Mar 1819 in Anderson County, Kentucky.  

James was the son of Benjamin and Sarah Willis Hawkins.  Benjamin Hawkins died c.1782 in Culpeper County, Va.  My Hawkins line has earliest ancestor, Thomas R. Hawkins who was born c. 1797 in the same general area of Virginia as Gene's early ancestors.  Thomas R. Hawkins lived most of his life in Orange County, Virginia which adjoins Culpeper.  He married Matilda Pinkard in Culpeper County in 1823.  

I believe that it is almost a certainty that Gene and I will find common ancestors in the Northern Neck of Virginia one, two, or three generations before what we know now. Perhaps our connection will be as early as the 17th Century.  Other researchers have told me that Benjamin Hawkins who married Sarah Willis had father, John Hawkins who died bef 1716 in Richmond County, Virginia (a part of the Northern Neck of Virginia).  The below information may or may not relate to Hawkins DNA group #1.  I am mostly brainstorming to see if anyone in DNA group #1 or any other Hawkins DNA group recognizes anyone or anything that might be a clue for all of us.

I found myself wanting to explain a bit about the Northern Neck and Hawkins connections to that area and decided to do that in a new Blog article.  In its most common definition today the Northern Neck consists of the four counties between the Rappahannock and Potomac River, which are Northumberland, Lancaster, Richmond and Westmoreland Counties.

However, for genealogical purposes, we might not want to be so narrow in our looking at the area.  So I am going to include Essex County in my information on this Blog which is just south of the Rappahanock River.  In these very early years Rivers were used for transportation and a neighbor who lived just across the river might be closer in proximity than someone who lived in a place that would have had to be reached via land roads.

You can see where Gene's possible ancestor, John Hawkins,  is said to have died in Richmond County.

Other early Hawkins men that I have looked at are Thomas Hawkins who I call Thomas of Old Rappahanock County.  Since my earliest proven Hawkins ancestor  is Thomas R. Hawkins, you can guess why I might like to look at early men named Thomas Hawkins.  This Thomas Hawkins died in Rappahanock County, Virginia in 1677.

The County of Rappahanock disappeared in 1692.  The part of the County that was north of the Rappahanock River became Richmond County.  The part that was south of the river became Essex County.

There is also a well documented Hawkins family that I call the John and Mary Long family.  It is doubtful that Mary actually had Long as a maiden name.  However,  Hawkins researchers called John's wife Mary Long for so many years that everyone immediately recognizes the family by this title.  This family seems to be found in Spotsylvania County in 1740 when John died.  Other researchers have told me that John migrated to these shores sometime between 1705 and 1720 and settled first in St. Anne's Parish in Essex County, Virginia.  He bought land in Spotsylvania County from Thomas and Larkin Chew 1723-1725.  He is said to have moved to Virginia with his brother, Philemon Hawkins.  This is idea is reinforced by the fact that he named a son Philemon.  Others say that both John and Philemon and their families lived first near Todd's Bridge over the Matapony River in what was then King and Queen County.  If you start at Tappahannock on the Rappahanock River in Essex County on the map below and travel in your mind south on Rt 340 to the Mataponi River, it crosses about the site of Todd's Bridge according to the research that I have done thus far.  If you have trouble seeing the below map, try single clicking on it to get a better view.