Thomas Hawkins of Old Rappahannock County and friends and relatives

Back in 2012, Steve Riggan and I were exchanging information about Thomas Hawkins of Old Rappahannock County and the Thornton and Catlett family.  I don't think that I wrote a blog post at the time, but I was reviewing what I know and wanted to put some ideas down to mull and ponder.

The blog post that I wrote last year about Hawkins/Catlett/Rowzee connections is ( I should have reread it a bit before starting on this....I think that I repeat some of the information here):

http://marshamoses.blogspot.com/2013/01/hawkinsrowzeecatlett-connections.html

Here is a URL for a transcription for the will of Elizabeth Underwood Taylor Slaughter Catlett Butler.
http://www.combs-families.org/combs/assoc/u-butler.htm

in which she names Thomas Hawkins as a cousin.  However, we all know that Cousin was a bit of a loose term in those days....still it certainly indicates close connection of some sort whether it be an actual relative or not.  This site does not claim to know who the parents of Elizabeth were.  Although it seems that Elizabeth's mother, Margaret,  had marriages to: Underwood,  Upton,  Lucas after  Elizabeth's father was out of her life.  Elizabeth names Edward Rowsee as brother, so perhaps Margaret was first married to a Rowsee?  I just looked on the Northern Neck mail list archives and Kathleen Much explains these connections as:

Her "brother Edward ROWZEE" was her husband John CATLETT's half-brother.
"Cousin Captain Thomas HAWKINS" would have been her husband's cousin on the
mother's side (John CATLETT's mother was Sarah HAWKINS).

Elizabeth married next Col. John CATLETT:

05 Jun 1663-4 (Rappa. Co VA Records 1656-64, p. 326) Mrs. Margaret UPTON als LUCAS to "Francis SLAUGHTER, Junr., Son and heir unto my Son in Law Francis SLAUGHTER, deceased," one cow & increase… if Francis SLAUGHTER, Junr. dies bef 21 years, then to be disposed by "my Daughter Elizabeth CATLETT his lawful Mother… s/Margt [ML] LUCAS. Wits/Allex. FLEMING, John DANDY. (Underwood, Fothergill & Sparacio).  (From the above URL)

Thomas Lucas names his son-in-law as John Catlett in his will dated 14 Oct, 1669.  So it looks to me that it is very likely that Elizabeth Underwood Taylor Slaughter Catlett Butler may certainly have been Thomas Lucas' daughter. ... or perhaps he considers John Catlett to be his son-in-law because Thomas Lucas is married to Margaret who is the mother of Elizabeth.  Either way, their is a strong connection between the Catlett/Hawkins/Lucas family here.

my Beloved husband, Amory BUTLER, Sole Executor and Guardian to my Children and my cousin, Captain Thos. HAWKINS my brother, Edward ROWSEE and Mr. Daniel GAINES, overseers of this my will… provided that if my Executor do not Educate & keep them well that then Mr. Daniel GAINES shall have Guardianship of my Children my sd Executor allowing him a sufficient maintenance for their well being and education according as my Overseers and Executor shll agree and if they do not what the Court shall determine for the same and if Mr. GAINES shall dye my desire is that my Cousin HAWKINS do take the Children 

And in the same time frame as I was chatting with another Hawkins researcher,  I became aware of another family interconnection with this group:  Moseley.  This researcher descends from William Moseley who married Hannah Hawkins.  (I have filed his contact information with keyword Moseley)  It seems that two of Thomas Hawkins' children intermarried with the Moseley family.  Hannah Hawkins married William Moseley while her brother, John Hawkins, married Elizabeth Moseley.  (other researchers tell me that the Moseley siblings were both the children of William and Martha (Brasseur) Moseley also, as per a book "Moseley-Shelp Family" by Shiela Shelp Moseley 1995.


I found quite a bit of information about the Hawkins/Rowzee/Catlett family at the following URL:

http://gedcom.surnames.com/burgess_jim/np234.htm

This information includes research that takes Sarah Hawkins and Catlett back a generation or two in Great Britain before three of her children came to these shores.  It also mentions a book written by researchers in the early 1900's about the Catlett family.

OK....I have just a couple more thoughts before I throw up my hands as I usually do on all of these early Hawkins families.  One is that I have heard from a researcher who believes that his family descends from the Thomas of Old Rappahanock County through Thomas' grandson, Thomas, (son of John) who is said to have married Ann Covington.  This man believes that his ?-gr-grandfather was Young Hawkins---a son of Thomas and Ann Covington Hawkins.  If my memory is right, Young is found in Bedford County, Virginia.   This researcher has relatives who are male and carry the Hawkins surname.  I need to follow up on making sure research is OK and get a DNA participant to participate.

Second thought is the Butler connection.  Is it just coincidence that there is a Butler connection between two of the early Hawkins lines that I look at?  The couple from whom many of our DNA group #1 descend:  John and Elizabeth (Butler?) Hawkins who died in what was probably a epidemic in Richmond County, Virginia c. 1716 leaving orphans in the care of Richard and James Butler.  Even if Elizabeth was not actually a Butler, there is a clear close connection between this Hawkins family and the Butler family)

 John Hawkins’s will in Richmond County wills and Inventories 1709-1717 p. 235  names now wife Elizabeth Hawkins, sons William, John and Benjamin.  Asks Richard Butler and James Butler to take 6 children.  If Henry Wood, husband of Sarah Willis Wood Hudson Tuberville) will take William and teach him trade of plasterer.  Asks Richard Butler to take son John, and daughter Sarah, and daughter Elizabeth.  Asks James Butler to take son Benjamin and son James and taht they live with him until they reach 20 years.  Asks John Suttle, his freedman, to complete the crop.  will proved March 7, 1715.  he names friend Isaac Arnold executor and the will was witnessed by Isaac Arnold, Rebecca Butler and John Suttle.  Richmond County Court Minutes 1711-1715 p. 485 at a court of May 1715 John Davis has suit against Isaac Arnold, ex. of John Hawkins for 700 pounds of tobacco to be paid out of the estate of the deceased.

My notes indicate that at the time of their death, Elizabeth and John Hawkins were living in Hanover Parish, Richmond County which later became King George County after their death.

Do I know where Thomas Hawkins/Rowzee/Catlett families were living in the timer period in which I am looking at them?  Yes.

Fred Duncan has helped me explore the idea that these families were in an area around Occupatia Creek

On 20 Sep 1698 Rachel and sons John and Samuel, and son-in-law Edward Martin purchased adjoining plantations from John Hawkins, only son and heir of Thomas Hawkins of Occupacia. This information is filed in mailbox labelled Fred Duncan in my mail program.

Associated with Occupatia Creek were the lands of Richard Lawson, James Gaynes, Peter Johnson, Wm. Lowry, Geo. Morris, Wm. Moseley, Peter Rucker,  John Weir, Thos. Hawkins, Richard Coleman, Ralph Rowzee, Augustine Smith, Farmer, John Warren (Warring, now spelt Waring), John Pyne (Payne), Robert Payne, Geo. Eaton, John Gillett, John Phillips, John Watson, Phillip Rowsey, John Johnson, George Pley, Henry Berry, William Gray, Henry Tandy, Alex. Newman, Valentine Allen, Cornelius Nowell, and Hugh Owen.

( I looked in old e-mails and this was also from Fred Duncan)

The below is taken from a slide show that I use for my own information.  It shows corroborates Fred Duncan's information that these families were living near Occupatia Creek in this time period.  

Occupatia Creek

Amazing photo of the mouth of Occupatia Creek found at:

http://us.geoview.info/occupacia_creek_and_the_rappahannock_river,60267950p

I found helpful information at:  http://www.steppfamily.com/abeland.html

I found the map that was on the site that has link just above on the American Memory site Library of Congress (Jed Hotchkiss collection)  http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/map_item.pl

Map of part of Essex, King and Queen, and King William Counties / made under the direction of Capt. A.H. Campbell, Chief Topographical Dep't ; traced from a map now in progress ; approved April 21st 1863 by Abert [sic] H. Campbell, Cap. T.Eng. & Chief Top. Dep. D.N.Va. ; copy certified Oct. 22nd 1863 Eng. Office 2nd. Corps, Jed Hotchkiss, Capt. & top. eng.

Unfortunately this map does not take the creek out to the Rappahannock River.  However, it does give me the feeling that I am on the right track.  

Below is a map that shows the distance between the two areas that these two Hawkins lines were living....Hawkins/Rowsey/Catlett c. 1660 would have lived near where the Red marker is on the below map.....John and Elizabeth Hawkins who are ancestors of many of the Hawkins DNA project group #1 at the time of their death c. 1716 would have been just north west of this area in what is now King George County.  A time difference of 50 + years....one or two generations.....

.  Just to refresh my memory here is what King George County looks like now:

Is there a relationship between these two groups?  Lots of research to be done.



In 2017 I am reading Dorothy Wulfeck's book:  Hawkins in Virginia, North Carolina and Kentucky.  I am going to copy her paragraph here from:

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89062867205;view=1up;seq=33