Thomas Hawkins

Thomas Hawkins

Lifespan: 1841 - 1898

Birth: 12 May 1841 in Georgia, USA

Occupation: Unknown

Marriage: Polly C Newton

Children: Dinah Hawkins, Lisa Tisha Hawkins, Wiley Hawkins, Alice Hawkins, Thomas Tommy Hawkins, Alfred Hawkins, Will Hawkins, Harrison Hawkins, Clara Hawkins, Addaline Hawkins, Peter Hawkins, Ransom Hawkins

Parents: William Wiley Hawkins Sr & Adeline Murphy

Death: 4 Nov 1898 in Epps Bridge Crossing, Clarke County, Georgia, USA

Burial: Athens, Clarke, Georgia, USA

Chapter 1: Born of the Land — Georgia Roots (1841–1859)

In the soft hills of Georgia’s cotton country, where the soil bled red and the days rose hot, a boy named Thomas Hawkins came into the world on May 12, 1841. He was born in what is now Barrow County, though in those years, it was still part of Jackson County, a place stitched together by dirt roads, creek beds, and the bitter economics of forced labor.

More Family Members

Join the journey of rediscovering your roots and building stronger family bonds. From fun quizzes to newsletters & virtual reunions, stay connected and celebrate the legacy that unites us all.

William Wiley Hawkins Sr.

A quiet force in Georgia’s rural landscape, William Wiley Hawkins Sr lived a life of labor, legacy, and love through nearly a century of change

Jacob (Jack) Davenport

Born enslaved, Jack Davenport endured the horrors of bondage and emerged from emancipation to build a legacy rooted in resilience. From sharecropping fields to quiet gardening in his later years, he carried his family through Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and loss—leaving behind a lineage of strength, survival, and silent resistance.

Holly Falkner

Holly Falkner weathered the storms of Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and widowhood while raising 17 children in rural Mississippi. A pillar of perseverance, she turned a life of hardship into a legacy of strength, family, and survival.

Harriet Goolsby

Harriet Goolsby was a steadfast Southern matriarch who endured slavery, war, and Reconstruction while raising a large family across rural Georgia. From spinning wool in antebellum fields to witnessing early civil rights sparks in urban Atlanta, she embodied the quiet strength of Black womanhood through a century of profound change.

Robins Davenport

Robins Davenport's life was rooted in the red clay of Georgia—his legacy carried on through generations who remembered the strength of his quiet endurance

Frank Alexander

From Mississippi farm boy to Chicago machinist, Frank Alexander carved out a life of dignity and purpose, raising 13 children while navigating segregation, war, and the rise of Black homeownership. His journey from cotton fields to urban property ownership embodies the triumph of perseverance across generations.

James Samuel King

Owning land during this period was a monumental achievement for an African American man, particularly in the deeply segregated South… the soil on which he had once toiled as a slave now became a place of refuge and promise for his family.

Anne Sorrow

Anne’s strength lived on through the generations—she endured the trials of the early American South and left a lasting mark on Oglethorpe County history.