Person:Jonas Hawkins (1)

   Excerpts from HAWKINS From Tipton County Indiana A Migrating American Family 1861-2001 by Phillip A. Hawkins ©2002.

     Jonas, born in Warren County, Ohio on 20 July  1857, was the first American Hawkins that was not raised in the Quaker Church. His father, Charles, died when he was one year old, and three years later his mother, Martha (MIlls) who had grown up in Tipton County, Indiana, remarried. She, with her new husband Nathan Cook, and Jonas moved from Warren County, Ohio to Huntington County, Indiana. 
     Jonas, due to the very poor health of his stepfather  was compelled to leave school early in order to take care of the home farm, and he early learned what it was to work in the fields. He was practically the head of the family from age 13 on. 
     At age 18, Jonas came to Tipton County, and rented  land from an uncle, whom  I believe was Jehu, and I feel that it was the same land he later inherited and purchased. In 1878, at age 21 he inherited the land from his grandfather’s will, and in 1882 paid uncles Jehu and Elijah for deed to the said 160 acres.  
      Louisa’s aunt ran  a boarding house, where Jonas stayed when he first came to the county, and Louisa worked for her as a hired girl. One Valentine’s Day the dessert was a cake that had been decorated with little candy hearts. Jonas kept one of the "I love you" hearts, wrapping it in a napkin, and later presented it to Louisa with his marriage proposal. They were married on August 4, 1881, in a field in Tipton County, where they found the minister helping with the threshing. Louisa sat in the carriage while Jonas stood at her side.  
     Louisa and Jonas raised 10 children, and became the largest landowners in Liberty Township with 900 acres. Jonas served an appointment as Township Road Superintendent, and in 1915 served in the Indiana State Legislature as the Senator from Tipton and Hamilton Counties.  
     Jonas was a man of integrity, and had inherited, probably from his Quaker roots, a strong sense of moral responsibility.  In 1924, while serving as President of the First National Bank of Tipton, there was a depression and the bank failed. Jonas felt that he had not properly supervised the loan officer, who had made a number of bad loans. There was no legal liability upon the three stockholders, but when the other two did not join in restitution, Jonas took it upon himself to ensure that no depositor lost any money. He mortgaged the land and personally repaid the depositors 100% on the dollar. Later, in the 1930’s when he divided the land among the children, it still carried a mortgage that was not retired until the 1940’s. 
      Jonas died at home June 10, 1940 at age 83. He was a kind man of even temper that seldom raised his voice. 

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     The glaciers, thousands of years earlier, had leveled the high hills and gouged shallow depressions that over time had been filled by erosion and dead vegetation. It was a land of shallow lakes, swamps and wetlands, and some of the largest hardwood trees in America. The "Big Woods" was a forest swampland with only a few small clearings between the West Fork of the White River to the south, and the Wabash River to the north. The future Liberty Township was primeval virgin land; inhabited by bears, timber wolves, timber rattlers, and the dreaded panther. It was as wild as when the Indians first came.  
     Tipton County was formed by a decree of an Indiana State Law, in 1844, from the northern portion of Hamilton County, and the southern portion of the Great Miami Indian Reserve. At that time, when Tipton  became the 89th county in the state of Indiana, there were nineteen states in the Union. The northern 2/3 of the county, taken from the "Old Reserve" had no permanent Indian villages but it was the hunting grounds of the Miami, Delaware, and Pottawatomie tribes. The southern 1/3 of the new county contained only a few settlements due to the harshness of the land, and for some time it was not considered a good place for new settlements. In 1846 the Indians were moved, under duress by the Army, west to Kansas; but nearly half of them, those with some white blood, or who owned land, or had influence with authorities were allowed to stay. When the Indian lands were offered for sale in 1847 the "wild land where fallen trees and beaver dams held the water in overflows and swamps" was still the hunting grounds of those Indians that had not been moved.  
     Due to the dense forest and swamp, transportation was by horse, and baggage had to be by pack-horse. The first roads were short, crooked paths through the trees and around the pools, generally following the Indian trails. Even following the Indian trails, it was hard to keep man and horse dry.  
     In 1849 Liberty Township was formed from half of Wildcat Township to the east, and a portion of Prairie Township to the west. A year later, the census of 1850 recorded 26 homes and 144 inhabitants within the new township, and E. M. Sharp had plotted a new town that was named Sharpsville. In 1854, Sharpsville’s streets were still full of stumps and logs, but there was a railroad , and the new town contained 200 people. Harrison Burns, in 1855, wrote that the spring and summer were very wet, and that the entire county was covered with water. It was impossible to haul anything. There was a great deal of malaria, nearly every one had the “ague”. He stated, "I have seen a team with an empty wagon stalled in the streets of Sharpsville."  
     Sometime during this period, Jehu Hawkins (Jonas’ uncle) purchased 160 acres in section 11, 22 north, range 4 east of Liberty Township. In 1861, Jehu sold this land to his father, Henry, for $800. The land, located at the east end of the “1/2 mile dirt road”, is the 160 acres later inherited and purchased by Jonas. 
     Gradually, "dirt roads" were built on each line of the mile square. The trees were cut to make a path sixty feet wide while the stumps. cut low enough for the wagon axles to clear, were left in place. In the spring and after heavy rains the people were "mudded in", and sometimes a good wheat crop could not be hauled to market.  
     Jonas came to Tipton County in 1875. In 1880, the first county road was graveled, parts of the land had been cleared, open ditches were cut to enable tile field ditches to function, and people were astonished at the land’s high fertility. In the ensuing  years, Jonas, with the Turners, Mills, Spauldings, Hendersons, Pratts, Jarretts, Darks, Days, and Sleeths turned a wilderness into the most productive county in the state of Indiana.

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Obituary, The Tipton Daily Tribune, Monday evening, June 10, 1940, page 1, 2nd column top.

                              Liberty Township Pioneer Passes Away at the Age of 83.
                                                        Ill Several Months.
                          Deceased Was One of the Largest Landowners in Tipton County.
 
     Jonas E. Hawkins,, respected, and Prominent Farmer, and One of the Largest Landholders in Liberty township, died at his home east of Sharpsville shortly after noon Monday. He had been in declining health for the past several months. Three weeks ago He Was Brought to the Emergency hospital for treatment but expressed a desire to return home and had been bedfast since that time. Mrs. Hawkins also has been ill for a number of weeks.
     Mr. Hawkins was one of the best-known men in the County. For several years he served as president of the now defunct First National Bank in Tipton and in 1915 was elected as joint representative to the Indiana state legislature from Tipton and Hamilton counties, on the Republican ticket. Many years ago he also served as road superintendent Of Liberty township. 
     Mr. Hawkins was the proprietor of almost 1,000 acres of land In Liberty township, making him one of the major landholders in the county. He made his start with, 40 acres, two and one-half miles East of Sharpsville, inherited from his father, who died when Jonas was about a year old. 
     Jonas E. Hawkins was born July 20, 1857, in Warren County, Ohio, the only child of Charles and Martha (Mills) Hawkins. He removed to Huntington County, Indiana while still a very small child and then came to Tipton county when he was 18 years old. He rented a farm from an uncle and operated it for three years when he inherited the farm from his father, and then proceeded to buy 80 acres more. On August 23, 1881, Mr. Hawkins was united in marriage to Louisa Turner and they went to homemaking a mile from the present homestead east of Sharpsville Mr. and Mrs. Hawkins celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary last fall.
     To this union was born 10 children of whom five daughters and two sons are still living. They are Mrs. Ulysses G. Henderson and Mrs. Emery R. Darke of Sharpsville; Mrs. Isaac M. Henderson of Oklahoma City; Mrs. Samuel R. Bollenbacher of Sharpsville, and Mrs. Haines W. Sleeth of Sharpsville, and Harry and James Mont Hawkins also of Sharpsville. Also surviving are 20 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. 
     Mr. Hawkins was a member of the Presbyterian Church and so assisted in moral and civic development of his community that he became one of the most respected and honored me in the country. The body was taken to Leatherman-Morris funeral for preparation and will be returned to the late home Monday evening where friends are invited to call. 

Funeral services will be held at 1030 Thursday morning and burial will follow at Sharpsville. .....................

Last Will And Testament Of Jonas E. Hawkins.

I, Jonas E. Hawkins, a resident of Tipton County, Indiana, desiring to make disposition of such estate as I may own at the time of my death, do hereby make, publish and declare this to be my last will and testament hereby revoking all former wills by me made.

Item 1: I will that all my just debts be paid as speedily as practicable.

Item 2: I will, give and bequeath to the Presbyterian Church of Tipton, Indiana, the sum of $200.00 Dollars.

Item 3: After Compliance with Item 1 and 2 hereof, I will, give and device and bequeath all the rest and residue of my estate remaining of every kind and character and wheresoever situate to my wife, Louisa R. Hawkins, in fee simple absolute.

Item 4: I hereby nominate and appoint my daughter Nellie A. Henderson and my son, James M. Hawkins, executors of this my last will and testament.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 15th day of August 1939.

Jonas E. Hawkins.

The above instrument in writing was read and signed by Jonas E. Hawkins and by him declared to be his last will and testament in our presence, and we, at his request, in his presence and the presence of each other have subscribed our names as attesting witnesses thereto this 15th day of August 1939.

John R. Nash,  Alfred W. Bolton.  Filed in open court. June 17, 1940, John R. McNeal, clerk Tipton C. C.
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     Appearing before Frank B. Russell, judge of the circuit court of Tipton County, Proof of Will was "subscribed to and subscribed by the said Alfred W. Bolton," and was duly admitted to probate. Signed by John A. McNeal, County Clerk of said Court at Tipton, Indiana the 17th day of 1940.
                                                                                                   Phillip A. Hawkins 18. August 2012.
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From The Tipton, Indiana Tribune, 1 July 1966, page 17. “the First National Bank, an outgrowth of the original Tipton County Bank founded by Shirk, was reorganized in 1909 under the leadership of Jonas Hawkins, president, O. P. Campbell, vice president, and John R. Nash, cashier. .... they operated until 1927 when Deposit Liabilities of the Bank Were Assumed by the Citizens National Bank of Tipton and depositors paid in full. No depositor ever lost a cent in any Tipton bank.” .....................