Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 05.djvu/167

 HAWKINS

HAWKINS

to the U.S. military academy from New York, July 1, 18.j2, where he remained until Jan. 31, 1855. At the beginning of tlie civil war he w^as appointed from civil life 2d lieutenant in the 6th infantry, April 26. 1861 ; 1st lieutenant, May 14, 1861; was brevetted captain, July 2, 1863, for " gallant and meritorious services in the battle of Gettysburg, Pa.," which he declined; was pro- moted captain Sept. 20, 1863, and was brevetted major, Oct. 11, 1805, for "meritorious services," during the war, which brevet he also declined. He was promoted major of the lOth infantry, Oct. 31, 1883; lieutenant-colonel of the 23d infan- try, Feb. 17, 1889; colonel of the 16th infantry, Aug. 13, 1894, and was transferred to the 20th in- fantry, Sept. 15, 1894. He was commandant of cadets at West Point, 1888-92, and commandant of the infantry and cavalry school at Fort Leaven- worth, 1894-98. He was appointed brigadier- general of volunteers, May 4, 1898, commanded the brigade w^hich captured San Juan Hill, San- tiago, July 1, 1898, and w^as promoted major-gen- eral of volunteers, July 8, 1898. He was promoted brigadier-general in the regular army, Sept. 28, 1898, and was retired Oct. 4, 1898, after forty years' service. He would have been retired for age on November 13 of same year. He was honorably discharged from the volunteer army, Nov. 30, 1898.

HAWKINS, John Henry Willis, temperance reformer, was born in Baltimore, Md., Sept. 28, 1797 ; son of John and Elizabeth ( Dorsey ) Haw- kins; grandson of John and Susannah (Brown) Hawkins; great-grandson of James Hawkins; and great^ grandson of Col. Charles Hawkins of Exeter, England,

who was killed in 1704 while leading his regiment at the tak- ing of Gibraltar. John Hawkins, his grandfather, arrived in Baltimore, Md., from England, Oct. 14, 1773, in company with his nephew Wil- liam. He had a family of ten chil- dren, nine of tliem sons, of Avhom John, the father of John Heniy Willis, was the sixth. John and Elizabeth (Dor.sey) Haw- kins also had ten children, of whom John Henry Willis was the second. He attended the school of the Rev. Alexander McCaine of Baltimore, and became a hatter's apprentice. He was given free use of liquor in the shop and contracted the drinking habit. He joined the volunteer army

in 1814 for the defence of Baltimore, and in the battle in which General Ross was killed he re- ceived a shot tlirougli his hat. In 1815 he joined the Methodist cliurch of which his parents were members. In 1818 his apprenticeship ended and he went to Pittsburg, Pa., where he fomid work, and thence to Cincinnati, Ohio, the following year. Being thrown out of emploj'ment he again contracted the drinking habit, and in 1821 he returned to his houie in Baltimore. On Dec. 25, 1822, he was married to Rachel, daughter of Joseph Thompson of that city, and they removed to Wheeling, Va., where he established a hat manufactory which did not prove profitable. They returned to Baltimore where he struggled against poverty and his passion for strong drink with variable success for several years. In 1836 he turned finally from his evil ways, though still very poor. In April, 1840, the Washington tem- perance society was organized in Baltimore, and on June 14, 1840, he joined the society and started out as a tempei-ance missionary. On Feb. 25, 1841, he spoke of his own experience before the members of the state legislature of Maryland, and it is recorded that " the House was dissolved in tears." In April he spoke in New York in the Green Street Methodist church, and after his address hundreds came forward and signed the pledge. From this time until his deatli he con- tinued his labors, speaking daily and visiting every state in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains and in Canada. He was licensed to preach by the Methodist Protestant church, Boston, Mass., in March, 1842. He died at the residence of his son, the Rev. William G. Hawkins at Pequea, Pa., Aug. 26, 1858.

HAWKINS, John Parker, soldier, was born in Indianapolis, Ind., Sept. 29, 1830; son of John and Elizabeth (Waller), grandson of Jameson and Ruth Ann (Threlkekl), great gi'andson of John and Margaret (Jameson), great^ grandson of Philemon and Mary (Smith) Hawkins, and prob- ably a descendant of William Hawkins, a sea captain, a brotlier of Admiral Sir John Hawkins. He was graduated at the U.S. militaiy academy in 1852; was brevetted 2d lieutenant in the 6th infantry and promoted 2d lieutenant, 2d infantry, June 23, 1854, and was promoted 1st lieutenant, Oct. 12, 1857. He was brigade quartermaster at Washington, D.C, 1861; declined promotion to the rank of 1st lieutenant in the 14th U.S. infan- try. May 14, 1861 ; accepted the commission of staff captain and commissary of subsistence, Aug. 20, 1861, and served in southwest Missouri and west Tennessee, 1861-62. He was chief com- missary on the staff of General Grant at the bat- tle of Pittsburg Landing, April 6-7, 1862. He joined the volunteer army as lieutenant-colonel in the commissary department, Nov. 1, 1862,