ALEXANDER STEWART HAWKINS

BIOGRAPHY

AS RECORDED IN:

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF TOLLAND AND WINDHAM COUNTIES CONNECTICUT.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PROMINENT AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS AND OF MANY OF THE EARLY SETTLED FAMILIES.

PUBLISHER: J.H.BEERS & CO., CHICAGO; 1903 P. 443

ALEXANDER STEWART HAWKINS, an honored and successful representative of the agricultural interest of South Coventry, Tolland county, has made for himself a creditable position in the community by his thrift, industry and genuine worth.

John Hawkins, his father, was born in Exeter, R.I., in 1808, and came to Griswold, Conn., when a young man. When he was but eight years old he had worked on a farm for his board and clothes, and the cultivation of the soil was his life work, in which he was more than ordinarily successful. When he first located at Griswold he worked on a farm and in time became possessed of landed property, owning at one time over two hundred acres in the town of Griswold. He was always identified with the Democratic party, but he never sought office, and was content to be a good citizen. At the services of the church in which he was reared he was nearly always present, and proved himself on every occasion its generous supporter. He was married in South Kingston, R.I., to Sally Crandall, who was born in South Kingston, R.I., in 1809, daughter of William and Sally (Tucker) Crandall, and a descendant of a family long settled in that section; she died Feb. 13, 1894. Mr. Hawkins died in February, 1865, and they were both buried in Rixtown Cemetery, in Griswold, Conn. Their children were as follows: Lucy Burrows, the widow of Hial Hull, lives in Willimantic, where her two children are located; John Crandall is a farmer in Griswold, and has one son; William Henry lived in Willimantic, and died at the age of sixty-three; Alexander Stewart is the subject proper of this sketch; Julia Reynolds, widow of Clark Reynolds, lives in Willimantic; Sarah Jane is the wife of Frank Bentley, and lives in Preston, Conn.; and Mary Emma married Joseph T. Hull, of Griswold, and died at the age of twenty-six. The old homestead in Griswold on which these children passed their youth is still in the possession of the family.

Alexander Stewart Hawkins was born Dec. 25, 1838, in Griswold, Conn., and as his days are drawing slowly to a close it is his privilege to look back over a useful and creditable career. His education was obtained in the local schools of Griswold, and in an academy at Preston, Conn., in which he had three terms of instruction. Becoming a teacher, he attained a good reputation in the profession, and was employed in Voluntown, Lebanon, Stonington, Norwich, East Greenwich and in Coventry, continuing in this profession until 1890. In the summer season he was engaged in farming. From 1866 to 1868 Mr. Hawkins was engaged in a mercantile enterprise at Liberty Hill, in the town of Lebanon, coming to Coventry in the fall of the latter year.

On March 18, 1869, Mr. Hawkins was married to Mary Eliza, a daughter of Capt. Ogden and Mary (Turner) Kingsley, an old Coventry family, her father having been a captain in the militia service. Mr. and Mrs. Hawkins located on the Turner homestead in Coventry, which has been their home to the present time.

Mr. Hawkins is a Democrat, and has for many years taken a decided interest in political affairs, having been a selectman seven years – 1880, 1881, 1887, 1888, 1889, 1890 and 1891 – and he was first selectman for many years. In 1875 he was elected school visitor and has served in that capacity continuously to the present time. Every alternate year he has been chosen assessor since 1879; as justice of the peace he is now serving his third term; and he has been grand juror and on the board of relief. In 1879 he was elected to the General Assembly from Coventry and did service on the committee on Manufactures; in 1883 he was again elected and served on the committee on Railroads; in 1898 he was elected a third time, and was placed on the committee on Constitutional Amendments, and in 1901 was elected a delegate to the Constitutional Convention at Hartford. In his religious proclivities Mr. Hawkins is usually classed as a free thinker. For thirty-five years he has been a member of the Masonic fraternity, having united at Willimantic Feb. 8, 1865, with Eastern Star Lodge, No. 44. Both himself and wife belong to the Order of the Eastern Star.

Reproduced by:

Linda D. Pingel – great-great granddaughter of Cyrus White of Rockville, Ct.