HEMPSTEAD + HAWKINS = HAVOC

I have two instances of a Hawkins marrying into my Hempstead family, and until recently could find nothing on either man.  I finally found what I thought was the perfect match for one, only to be informed by another researcher that I had the wrong Hawkins.  He was probably right.  I made a mistake I don't usually make - latched onto the first instance of what I thought was a fairly unusual name and did not look far enough to prove or disprove it.  The main source for his information was a Hawkins Descendants book, which I managed to view online.  Ahah!  I spotted the second Hawkins!  On second thought...the book has some facts correct and some skewed, on both the Hawkins and Hempstead families. 

1. My great-grandmother's little sister Edith Ann Morrell married twice, the second time supposedly to a Hawkins.  She died of a tubal pregnancy as Edith Hawkins at her parents' home in 1899.  She could only have been married a couple of years as her first husband died in the 1890's, so there was no census available to view info on her and her second husband.  I didn't even know his first name.
2. Going back in time, Edith's grandfather Christopher Hempstead [my 3rd great-grandfather] had with his second [or third] wife, several children including daughter Charlotte Rebecca Hempstead.  [Edith and I both descend - probably - from Christopher's first wife - long story!]  When Christopher's probate was processed in 1881, his heirs included daughter Charlotte Hawkins, wife of Reuben Hawkins of Cornwall, New York.  I'd found a new route for tracing Charlotte--that was the good news.  The bad news was she could only be found with her husband in the 1880 census, and she died in 1885.  I did learn the names of her children, as well as her husband's first name, but neither proved to be very helpful in finding them anywhere but Cornwall in 1880.

EDITH HAWKINS

Edith married first Otto Overbauer.  Family history says her family was not happy that she married him, and that he treated her badly.  I found this marriage in an online index - she married Otto when she was age 16, in 1889.  From cemetery records, it appears that Edith and Otto had 2 daughters, Caroline [named after Otto's mother] and Edith, both of whom died in infancy.  Otto died in 1893.

I cannot find a marriage record for Edith [as either Oberbauer or Morrell] and any Hawkins.  I did find the following:

Edith Oberbauer married Peter F. Hughes 22 Apr 1895 in Manhattan, certif #5906

John A. Hawkins m'd  Annie Hoes June 1897, Kings County, certif. #3309
Note 11/2016: per familysearch.org, a John Albert Hawkins was married to and
produced children by an Annie Catherine Hoes; so my guess, above, does not
look promising!

Edith Ann was often called Annie.  I wondered if Annie Hoes might in fact be Annie Hughes aka Edith Ann Morrell Oberbauer [in which case she outlived 2 husbands and married a third time!].  However I cannot find anything further on any of them.  I plan to make my first attempt at obtaining copies of records from the FHL in order to see what information is shown on the two certificates listed above.

Per the Hawkins genealogy book, Edith A. Morrell married James Gilmore Hawkins on Nov. 6 1898.  This is a good possible marriage date, as she died of a tubal pregnancy in Dec. 1899.  However the rest of the info shown on Edith is erroneous - her parents, date of birth, and date of death [only the year is correct].  Most likely this is an altogether different Edith Morrell. 

CHARLOTTE REBECCA HAWKINS

Charlotte married first John Fredell.  They had a son in 1863 who died as an infant, and a second son, John C. Fredell born in 1865.  John Fredell [Sr.] died in 1867.  Charlotte, her 2-year old son and some older children [evidently children of John's prior marriage] were listed in his probate records. 

I have been unable to locate the marriage record or 1870 census for Charlotte and Jay Hawkins.  Their first two children were born in Brooklyn in 1869 and 1871.  I have not found further birth records either, but from the 1880 census it appears Charlotte and Jay Hawkins had at least one other son born 1878, perhaps in Cornwall, NY.  The 1880 census lists Charlotte and Jay [occupation "fruit grower"], Charlotte's son John Fredell [listed as "John F Hawkins"], and the couple's three children Ruby, Gertrude and William, residing Cornwall.

The [few] records I have found for this family show Charlotte's husband as John Reuben Hawkins only once.  Mostly I found him as Jay R. Hawkins or Jay Rube Hawkins.

The Hawkins genealogy shows a John Reuben Hawkins born on Long Island, occupation gardener, married a "Charlotte R.", surname not shown.  Children listed are John F. Hawkins as the eldest child; an unknown child who "lived in New England"; and a daughter Gertrude who married a Professor Rafferty, "formerly of Newburgh".  Son John was actually John Fredell from Charlotte's first marriage [he used his own surname as an adult].  I managed to locate the Rafferty marriage in an index:  he married Ruby, not Gertrude, and they moved to West Virginia.  Could not find much of anything past 1880 for either Gertrude or William.  [I also wondered at the large 6-year age gap between the births of Gertrude and William...]

The Hawkins genealogy also noted Charlotte's date of death [correct], the supposed remarriage of her husband to a woman named Sarah, their subsequent residence in New Jersey, and his date of death.  [It also showed his occupation to be manufacturer of jewelry, which I thought was quite a stretch from gardener or fruit grower!]

Although it is possible that the Jay Reuben Hawkins of Stonybrook, Long Island, New York is the man who married Charlotte Hawkins, the source info I am aware of only links Jay Reuben to his siblings and verifies that their brother is the man who married Sarah and moved to New Jersey.  I have not seen reference to a Will or probate that may list his [and Charlotte's] children, or even a marriage record for the two.  Perhaps the birth records of the first two children, born Brooklyn, will have further identifying info on the father.

The gentleman who corrected me on my selection of Jay Hawkins also sent me a synopsis of the Hempstead family which has the basic outline correct but is missing her first marriage, mismatches her siblings with her father's multiple wives, has her paternal grandfather wrong, and other errors.  It actually resembles the info I had on this family up until a couple of years ago when I had a couple of major breath-throughs.

Neither Charlotte nor Edith Hawkins are in my direct line.  I may just set aside those Hawkins mysteries for awhile!

JOHN & PHOEBE HEMPSTEAD'S MOTHER...?

Quick note - found today on Ancestry:

New York, Town Clerks' Registers of Men Who Served in the Civil War, 

ca 1861-1865 Record for John Hempsted

Suffolk > Brookhaven-Southold > 226

Name: John Hempsted
Birth Place: Brooklyn, New York
Father: Christopher Hempsted
Mother: Marie Pease
Residence Place: Riverhead, New York
Enlistment Date: 30 Aug 1862
Enlistment Location: Riverhead, Suffolk, New York
Regiment: 127th Infantry
Company: K
Rank: Private
Race: White
Marital Status: Married

Source Citation: New York State Archives; Albany, New York; Town Clerks´ Registers of Men Who Served in the Civil War, ca 1861-1865; 
Collection Number: (N-Ar)13774; Box Number: 59; Roll Number: 32.

Now who the heck is MARIE PEASE?

John Hempste(a)d is the brother of my 2nd great grandmother, Phoebe [Hempstead] Morrell who died in 1912.  At the 1910 census her husband was deceased and Phoebe was living with her married daughter.  Most likely that daughter, Alice Marie [Morrell] Cramer provided the info for her mother's death certificate, which stated Phoebe's mother to be ALICE SMITH, born U.S.  [In one census, Phoebe's mother's place of birth is shown as New Jersey - all others say New York.]  Phoebe and John's father was Christopher Hempste(a)d - thankfully, all records concur on this!

Phoebe and John were born about 2 years apart.  There was an older brother born 2 years prior to John.  Their father remarried a woman I thought was his 2nd wife about 1837; their first [known] child was born about 1838-1839.  It appeared that the first 3 children all had the same mother.  Could Alice Smith and Marie Pease somehow be the same person [Alice Marie Smith or Pease], or did Christopher have more wives than I know of [3 so far]? The Town Clerk's information would have been provided by John himself around 1862...so it's also possible that the info on Phoebe's death certificate is incorrect.  ARGGH!

HERKIMER COUNTY HEMPSTEADS!

Just found online at familysearch.org some probate documents from Kings County, New York for Christopher Hempstead [Jr.], born approximately 1807, died 1881 in Brooklyn.  The biggest surprise was mention of a deceased son, named - of course - Christopher [III].  He would have been the eldest son, born approximately 1825, married probably Mary [surname unknown], born in Wales.  He married approximately 1850, does not appear in the 1850 census that I can find.  However in the 1860 census there is a Christian Hempstead of the right age, wife born Wales, 3 children that match later details exactly, plus one daughter of whom no further mention is found.  He lived in Erie County, Buffalo, New York.  As far west in the state that you can get.  What could have taken him so far from Brooklyn?  His children later lived in Herkimer County, German Flatts, Ilion township [per 1881 probate documents plus found in earlier censuses].  That's a lot closer to Brooklyn than Erie County, but - how and why did the family, or perhaps orphaned children, remove from Buffalo to Ilion?  In 1870 I found a census entry for the possible widow of Christopher III; few details are shown in that census, but she was still in Buffalo.  Her children in the same census year were mostly in Herkimer County, living in various households.   Only one child, daughter Phoebe E. Hempstead, was living in Brooklyn at the date of Christopher Hempstead [Jr.]'s probate; she was of full age and residing in an orphan asylum.  She was found at the same approximate address at the 1880 census.  Had she lived there long?  How did she get back to Brooklyn?

RECENTLY...

...I've just been recording in PAF the new info I've found on this family. This was a fairly prolific family, it seems a bit strange that I haven't been contacted by any living descendants [with the exception of Kimi Ruiz, descendant of Emma Augusta Hempstead].

At any rate, my primary question was answered, Phoebe Hempstead does descend from Joshua Hempstead of New London CT. I still have nothing on Sarah Sherman, wife of Christopher Hempstead [Sr.]. And the Nathaniel Hempstead b. 1803 Brooklyn NY, died 1870 Riverhead, Long Island...I  believe he married Caroline Glispie, but can find absolutely nothing on the family he may have had, nor what occurred in his life between his marriage and his death...I did find one or two articles in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle mentioning a Nathaniel Hempste[a]d who was drunk and disorderly...don't know if that was him or not.