Any info on a Michael Hawkins, Loyalist, under Major Ward's command, 1777

[hawkhawk]

I am researching the family name of Hawkins. I have traced the name as far as a Michael Hawkins who was a native of New Jersey. Michael Hawkins was Loyalist under Major Ward's command. He was wounded defending a blockhouse in 1777. He emigrated to N.B. in the May fleet of 1783. I got this information off of a memorial he wrote when he was requesting land in Douglas Parish, N.B. on May 1, 1788. The memorial is as follows:

To His Excellency
Thomas Carleton Esquire
Lieut. Governor and Commander in Chief over the Province of New Brunswick
Chancellor & Vice Admiral of the same &c &c &c

                                                                          The Memorial of Micheal Hawkins
Most Humble Sheweth

     "That your memorialist is a Native of New Jersey but Join'd the Royal Army early in the late Rebellion and in 1777 engaged in Major Ward's Company of Refugees and in the defense of the Block House he received a wound from which he was disabled for nine months. That he emigrated to this Country in the May Fleet 1783."

      "That your memorialist has never obtained any Land whatsoever from Government but as Lott No. 10 the Madam Rishvie Granted to Robert McCargo, but is now unoccupied by the deat of said Robert McCargo last Spring. Your memorialist Humble pray's that Your Excellency would be pleas'd to assign said Lott to Your Memorialist and his Quota of Land."
           St. Mary's
           1st of May 1788

In other other deeds I have on record, Michael Hawkins continues to request land that was granted to the late Corps of New York Volunteers. So I am wondering of Michael Hawkins was a Loyalist from the late corp of New York Volunteers of Major Ward's Company of Refugees?

There are records of his wife being Leany(Eleanor) Brewer.

I can't seem to find records of Michael Hawkins from New Jersey born around 1750. Any help or comments would be much appreciated.

J.

[Perry C Brewer]

Hi Hawk.  Like yourself, I have been researching this particular gentleman for some time now. There is some information to suggest that Micheal may have of originated from Essex County, NJ. Not definate though. Merely suggestive. An Uzal Ward's name appears in the confiscations lists of Refugees. this being the Major Ward mentioned in the petition. Interestingly enough and Uzal Ward did marry a Racheal Brower on Sept 6th 1783. This date would be ''AFTER'' the May date mentioned in the petition for Micheal Hawkins arrival in the province of New Brunswick. To be fair there were several Uzal Wards which adds to the confusion on both sides, British and American. However  Major Ward was evacuateing refugees so it is not a hard stretch to see him returning for more refugees throughout 1783. There was also a Jacob Brower mentioned in the confiscations lists in fact the same list as Uzal Ward. This Jacob Brower is summised to have married Agness Allen and first settled at Swan Creek, Burton Parish with Adolphus Brower who is the reported brother of Elinor Brower who married Micheal Hawkins. Whether by coincidence or not, an Uzal Ward also settled in Burton very close to Adolphus Brower and John Allen. thus suggesting a group of refugees from a same general area. As you know Adolphus Brower later used Micheal Hawkins name as a wittness and signer to his deed which reads as follows: 

To his Excellency Thomas Carleton Esq.
Liuetenant Governor and Commander in Chief
in and over the Province of New Brunswick
Chancellor and Vice Admiral of the same Etc Etc Etc.

    The Memorial of Deolph Brower one of his Ma
jesties Loyal subjects and having no land finding lott No.
Four of the Block Granted to the late Guides and Pioneers not
improved by reason of Mistake Soloman Fairley has settled on
No. Two of sd Block. Your Memorialist has made conciderable
improvements on sd Lott and sowed & Planted and Humbly Pray
your Excellency to take it into your wise consideration and
Grant him said Lott and as in duty bound shall ever Pray

                                                 Deolph Brower
May 31st 1793
Wittnesses
A. Husband
James Sisson
Soloman Fairley
Peter Allen
Edward DeVolle
Michel Hawkens

( EDITORS NOTE:  On the back of the Petition was written as shown next below: )

Deolph Brower
asks for No 4   Block No 3
re granted in the Grant to
John Parker and others
Queensbury

June 10 1793


END:  As you will notice. Adolphus was asking for land Lott # 3 and 4 ,some 10 years later beside, or very near to, Micheal Hawkins who was on Lott # 10 of the Guides and Pioneers block. This information is significant in placing these families as very likely relatives. This was a common practice amongst the Loyalists. I would however suggest that if you are looking for a Loyalists label for Micheal Hawkins that would go without saying. Yes he absolutely was a Loyalist. The fact that he was a refugee is irrelevant. His serving in the army sealed that deal.  I am a bit hung up though on Micheals reported age and birth as 1750 and death in 1845. 95 years old is very possible but seemingly unlikely. My guess for what its worth is That  Micheal was likely born about 1759 or 60.   His pension return of 1838 suggests that he was at least 75 to 78 years of age. It also specifically mentions that the list is comprised of soldiers that fought in the Revolutionary war. Finding his actual petition for that pension would answer a lot of questions. Those are very descriptive and specific. I hope that some of this may help. Let me know and we will see what else there is here in my files.   Thanks PCB

[hawkhawk]

Hi Perry,

It is great that someone else is trying to search for this Michael Hawkins. I know the lead researcher for the Hawkins family tree, Alan Hawkins, started this in 1971 with Michael Hawkins and to date I don't think he has gotten any further. I can't get in touch with him to ask him about it.
I do have some info that might interest you however. Michael Hawkins married Eleanor Brewer.  I found a family tree on www.ancestry.ca for Eleanor Brewer and it states that her fathers name was Adolphus Brewer and her mother's name was Mary Allen. Adolphus was born in 1750 and died in 1800. Eleanor's grandfather was Adolph A. Brouwer . Adolph married Elizabeth Lassing. Notice how the name has been changed from Brouwer to  Brewer? Also, there are records of Brewer being spelt Brower.

It is interesting that you said that the Ward mentioned in Michael's land petition was Uzal Ward. I originally thought that but I posted a question about Michael on a N.B. Genealogy website and I got this reply: I will post my question and reply below:

Question:

I am researching the family name of Hawkins. I have traced the name as far
as a Michael Hawkins who was a native of New Jersey. Michael Hawkins was
Loyalist under Major Ward's command. He was wounded defending a blockhouse
in 1777. He emigrated to N.B. in the May fleet of 1783. I got this
information off of a memorial he wrote when he was requesting land in
Douglas Parish, N.B. on May 1, 1788. The memorial is as follows:

To His Excellency
Thomas Carleton Esquire
Lieut. Governor and Commander in Chief over the Province of New Brunswick
Chancellor & Vice Admiral of the same &c &c &c


The Memorial of Micheal Hawkins
Most Humble Sheweth

     "That your memorialist is a Native of New Jersey but Join'd the Royal
Army early in the late Rebellion and in 1777 engaged in Major Ward's Company
of Refugees and in the defense of the Block House he received a wound from
which he was disabled for nine months. That he emigrated to this Country in
the May Fleet 1783."

      "That your memorialist has never obtained any Land whatsoever from
Government but as Lott No. 10 the Madam Rishvie Granted to Robert McCargo,
but is now unoccupied by the death of said Robert McCargo last Spring. Your
memorialist Humble pray's that Your Excellency would be pleas'd to assign
said Lott to Your Memorialist and his Quota of Land."
           St. Mary's
           1st of May 1788

In other deeds I have on record, Michael Hawkins continues to request land
that was granted to the late Corps of New York Volunteers. So I am wondering
of Michael Hawkins was a Loyalist from the late Corp. of New York Volunteers
of Major Ward's Company of Refugees?

There are records of his wife being Leany(Eleanor) Brewer.

I can't seem to find records of Michael Hawkins from New Jersey born around
1750. Also, I am wondering if Hawkins is Dutch or German and perhaps a
mis-spelling occurred? Any help or comments would be much appreciated.

Jaime Hawkins


Reply:
Hi Jaime
 
Carol Karels forwarded me your message in the hopes I may be of some assistance to you.
 
There are some problems with Michael's 1788 petition, notably that he claims to have enlisted under Major Thomas Ward in 1777.  That would have been quite impossible, as the corps which Ward commanded did not exist until 1780, and Ward himself was not major until 1781.  The most famous action of the corps was the defense of a blockhouse built at Bull's Ferry, New Jersey, across from New York City.  However, no one by the name of Hawkins appears on either of two lists of defenders of that post at the time of the battle on 21 July 1780, or on two subsequent lists dated March 1782.  There was someone in the 1780 battle named Michael Heagan, which is in the neighborhood, but he was not wounded in the attack.  There are two partial lists of men who left for Nova Scotia in 1782 under Ward, and no Hawkins there.  Most of the Refugees who served under Ward sailed from Staten Island for Nova Scotia in October 1782. 
 
There were several blockhouses built and manned by Ward's corps, and several actions involving them.  Without Hawkins listing a date however, it is impossible to say which action he is referring to.
 
As to the reference to the New York Volunteers, I believe that refers to wanting land that had been allocated to that corps, but not fully occupied.  That was a common occurrence.  The only Hawkins in the New York Volunteers was a Samuel Hawkins who served in the corps until he deserted on 27 June 1783.
 
Have you read our new book, The Revolutionary War in Bergen County?  I have a chapter in there on Ward's unit, which may give you further info on your ancestor's activities.  If you have not purchased it yet, it is available for immediate shipping by visiting my website:
 
Loyalist Institute: The Revolutionary War in Bergen County
 
The website will also give you further info on the corps itself:
 
Loyalist Institute: Index to Loyal Refugee Volunteers History
 
You may want to investigate if Heagan and Hawkins are the same.  How, I cannot pretend to tell you.  Its certainly a chance though.  I have no further info on Heagan.
 
Best of luck in your research.
 
Kind Regards,
 
Todd W. Braisted
IVBNNJV@aol.com
www.royalprovincial.com


So Todd seemed to think Michael was under the Command of Thomas Ward, which I guess would be impossible but if it was actually an Uzal Ward then that changes things. Now I know Alan Hawkins found a piece of paper in an old Hawkins family bible that gives an idea that Michael was born around 1750.

 It says:
".....your grandfather (meaning Michael Hawkins) died about 1845, about 95 yrs old....and your grandmother name Eleanor  Brower died about 1837 age 74 years."

So that is why I presumed Michael was born around 1750. However. If this paper was right then Michael was the same age as Eleanor's father. That is a bit strange, so maybe you are right and he was born later.

I find this a fun interesting investigation and if you need any help please count me in.

Jaime Hawkins

[Perry C Brewer]

Hi Jamie
   Thanks for the additional info. Yes. I have all of the Adolphus line and then some in my files. At one time as you stated I also was convinced of the Thomas Ward connection however did come to the same conclusion as your answer mentioned. Here is an interesting newspaper obit article on George Hawkins the son of Micheal and Elinor Hawkins. dated Feb 4th 1891. It reads as follows:
   

Daniel F Johnson : Volume 91 Number 938

Date : February 2, 1894
County : York
Place : Fredericton
Newspaper : The Gleaner

The language of the text is the original used in the newspaper entry and as transcribed by Daniel F. Johnson. Records acquired by the Provincial Archives are not translated from the language in which they originate.

While the terrible storm of Monday night and Tuesday last was raging, there died at the Mouth of Keswick one of the oldest residents of that part of York Co. George HAWKINS was born at Keswick in May 1808 and was brought up there. His father died at the age of 91 and his mother at the age of 82. [/b]In the year 1829 or 1830 he married Miss Rebecca WHITE, daughter of the late Thomas WHITE of Keswick and by her had eleven children. Of these seven are still living Thos. HAWKINS, Minneapolis, Minn.; Michael HAWKINS, Los Angeles, California; Jonathan HAWKINS, Mrs. Fredk. DUNPHY and Amreth HAWKINS of Keswick; Mrs. Thos. KING of Fredericton and Mrs. Fraser DUNPHY of Keswick. In 1846 he found his second wife in the person of Miss Susan TODD, a native of the parish of Douglas who survives him. From this union were born fifteen children, eleven of whom are now alive. They are Mrs. Starr AGNEW, Mrs. M.E. JENNINGS, Charles HAWKINS, Mrs. Alex. GRANT, James HAWKINS, Miss Lillia HAWKINS, Ernest HAWKINS, Edgar HAWKINS, Mrs. Fred LAWRENCE, Henry HAWKINS and S.L. Orland HAWKINS; the last names who is 20 years of age being the youngest. Mr. Hawkins has two younger sisters surviving him, Mrs. Chas. TOZER of Keswick and Mrs. Wm HALLET who lives in the Northwest of Canada. There are about 100 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren living. About six years ago Mr. Hawkins was stricken with paralysis and lay incapable of motion for some time. However, he regained control of the greater portion of his body. Two years ago he was again stricken down with paralysis and from this stroke he recovered only sufficiently to be moved from room to room. On last Sunday eve., to the surprise of the family, he got up from bed and ate tea with them. About 8 o'clock he asked to be taken back to his room and never left it again. He suffered a good deal on Monday and throughout Monday night and on Tuesday morn. at 9 o'clock he passed away. Owing to the severity of the storm the members of his family could not reach the house and arrangements could not be made for the funeral until yesterday. The remains will be interred in the cemetery at Keswick on Saturday 1 p.m. Mr. Hawkins became a member of the Free Christian Baptist Church when a young man and held the office of deacon for many years. Mrs. Hawkins was attacked by la grippe early last week and her husband's death was such a shock that she became much worse and is now lying at the point of death. Four other members of her household are also down with this disease.

END. 

   Notice how the article states that Micheal passed at the age of 91. and Elinor at 82.   A far cry from 74 as you mentioned and 95. The transcription can be seen online at the NB archives under newspaper articles. If you need a direct link I can provide that for you here. This suggests  that Micheal was born around 1754 55 while Elinors death would have occured in and or about 1845 also according to her birthdate.
    Uzal Ward did return eventually to New York and lived out his life there.  He posted 2 petitions here with the most prominent being in Sunbury county NB. I have a photocopy of his original petition here. He is also listed in a Feb 23 1884 newspaper article here in NB as being a Loyalist and being from Essex county New Jersey. The list was printed from an original document. It reads as follows: (In Part)

Daniel F Johnson : Volume 62 Number 306

Date : February 23, 1884
County : Saint John
Place : Saint John
Newspaper : The Daily Sun

con't'  ...  Uzal WARD, Ebenezer WARD, John WHEELER, Nathl. WILLIAMS, Garret WOUTERS, Peter WOODS, George WELLES, Thomas WHITE, Hugh WALLACE, James WILSON, George WARNER all of Essex Co;

          The fact that Micheal Hawkins was listed as a refugee could mean that his name would not appear on a soldiers list. The same as Adolphus Brower. However he could be on the rations list found at the Carleton Papers, Public Archives of Canada Microfilm #M367. I will take a peak and get back.


Micheal is listed as a Loyalist in the Book
The Loyalists of New Brunswick    By: Esther Clark Wright   1981
All Rights Reserved    First Edition May 1955    Second Printing February 1972
Third Printing February 1977    Fourth Printing March 1981   Paperback
Printed By Lancelot Press    Hansport, N,S.   COPYRIGHT, CANADA, MCMLV

The BOOK: THE NEW BRUNSWICK LOYALISTS
From Page 290 We Read the following:
THE NEW BRUNSWICK LOYALISTS
Hawkins Micheal           N.J.          AL ?                           Kes.

His place of Origin was New Jersey.

     In summation. During the war often times these refugees and former soldiers were behind the lines somewheres within New York City. Active soldiers were even more hard to track and trace given that they were all over the place as part of their duties. In Adolphus Browers records he was one of the refugee's behind the lines within NYC. That is well documented. as well as his mother and future father in law.
    I am not fully convinced that Elinor was even closely related to Adolphus. That needs more positive proof. I am sure that you can relate to what I am saying. Everything seems to be pointing to Morris County, Even though Adolphus and Mary were both from Bergen Co. They also did have realitives in Morris.   Anyhow. enough for now.  ttul  Pear