Benjamin F. Hawkins
 

Among the most progressive and substantial agriculturists and stock men of Boone county is Benjamin F. Hawkins, who is now living in retirement in Whitestown, Worth township, spending his declining years in quiet and comfort, a man who has so lived that he can say in the twilight of his years that he is satisfied with his existence. He does not present any exceptional experience; he merely reflects the sentiments of a large number of the noble, silent men, scattered here and there, who silently think and silently work and whose achievements no newspaper chronicles. Carlyle, the great English author, tells us that these men are the salt of the earth, and adds, "A country that has none or few of these is in a bad way. Like a forest which had no roots; which had all turned into leaves and boughs; which must soon wither and be no forest. And woe for us if we had nothing but what we can show."

Mr. Hawkins comes of a fine old Southern family and evidently inherited many praiseworthy traits from them. He was born in Marion county, Virginia, in 1849, and is a son of Simeon H. and Eliza Ann Hawkins. Grandfather Hawkins was an Englishman and he married a French woman. Our subject's maternal grandfather was born in Germany and from that country, where her ancestors on both sides had long resided, she emigrated to America. The parents of our subject were both born in what is now West Virginia, but was at that time a part of the Old Dominion. There they were reared and married and established their future home and there the father's death occurred about 1888.

Benjamin F. Hawkins grew to manhood in Virginia and there received hieducation in the common schools. Later he came to Indiana and settled in the southern part of Worth township, Boone county, where he began farming and became owner of two hundred acres of fine land which he brought up to a high state of cultivation and improvement and which he still owns, and for many years he ranked among the leading agriculturists of Boone county. On his place is to be seen a handsome residence and large barns and outbuildings and always good grade of live stock, but about nine years ago he retired from the active work of the farm and removed to Whitestown where he now resides in one of the best homes in the township. He keeps his farm rented, merely overseeing it in a general way. He has spent over a thousand dollars in improvements on his place during the past two years.

After locating in Boone county and becoming well established here, Mr., Hawkins returned to Virginia, for his bride, Nancy Meyers, who was born in Virginia and there grew to womanhood and was educated. She is a daughter of a highly respected family of Virginia.

Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hawkins, named as follows: Eunice J., thirteen years of age; Myrtle M., ten years old; and Gleona, who is now eight years old. They are all attending school, at this writing in Whitestown.

Fraternally, Mr. Hawkins belongs to the Masonic Order.
 

Source: "History of Boone County, Indiana," by Hon. L. M. Crist, 1914.

Transcribed & Submitted by: Connie Taylor - February 24, 2007