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Local figure

Benjamin Hawkins

Benjamin Hawkins of Warren County, one of North Carolina's first two United States senators, was named a trustee in the University of North Carolina's 1789 charter and sat on the board until 1798. In 1791 the trustees asked him, Samuel McCorkle and Hugh Williamson to gather information on American colleges and estimate the cost of the university's buildings.

Source: Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), pp. 15, 20, 821

1754–1816 · Dates from the Library of Congress · Library of Congress authority record ↗

12 works about Benjamin Hawkins are indexed here.

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Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 3 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Assembly at Hillsborough elects Abner Nash and Hugh Williamson delegates to Congress On May 3, 1782, a joint ballot of the General Assembly at Hillsborough elected Abner Nash, Hugh Williamson, Benjamin Hawkins and William Blount as the state's delegates to Congress for the year. Nash had been returned to the House for Jones County, and Williamson sat for the town of Edenton. People: Abner Nash, Hugh Williamson, William Blount, Benjamin Hawkins Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · Colonial and State Records of North Carolina: Minutes of the North Carolina House of Commons, Apr 16 to May 18, 1782 (vol. 16, pp. 1–177)
  2. General Assembly at Hillsborough opens the western land office and passes an act of pardon Meeting at Hillsborough, the Assembly re-elected Alexander Martin governor and chose Hugh Williamson, Benjamin Hawkins, Abner Nash and Richard Dobbs Spaight as delegates to Congress. Its laws opened a land office for western lands to redeem specie certificates and pay army arrears, and an Act of Pardon and Oblivion covered wartime offenses, with exceptions. People: Alexander Martin, Abner Nash, Hugh Williamson, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Richard Caswell, Benjamin Hawkins Place: HillsboroughColonial and State Records of North Carolina: Minutes of the North Carolina Senate, Apr 18 to May 17, 1783 (vol. 19, pp. 129–232)
  3. University trustees ask Benjamin Hawkins to gather information on American colleges At their July 1791 meeting the university trustees named Senator Benjamin Hawkins, Samuel McCorkle and Hugh Williamson to gather information on the laws, rules and buildings of American colleges, with their income and spending, and to estimate what the university's own buildings would cost. People: Samuel Eusebius McCorkle, Hugh Williamson Place: HillsboroughSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 15

People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as Benjamin Hawkins, those sharing the most entries first. Each line links one of the shared entries in the chronology, where its source is cited. A shared entry shows these people in the same event, not how well they knew each other.

Indexed works

Works about or by Benjamin Hawkins. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it. Background reading appears below.

Governor Alexander Martin (2nd Administration) Correspondence: January 12-November 27, 1792

Wolcott, Oliver, Jr. · 1792

Governor Alexander Martin's correspondence from his second administration, 12 January to 27 November 1792, with some items from 1791, in 121 images. Oliver Wolcott Jr. is among the writers. Matters include taxation, tobacco, liquor, military pensions, debts and the army's clothing accounts, with William Blount, Benjamin Hawkins, Richard Caswell and Hillsborough named.

Included because: Catalog heading in the NC Digital Collections record: Hawkins, Benjamin, 1754-1816.

NC Digital Collections DPLA

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Session of November 1792-January 1793: Miscellaneous Court Cases

North Carolina. General Assembly · 1792

Court papers laid before the General Assembly in its session of November 1792 to January 1793, including grand jury presentments from Halifax District and from the Hillsborough District superior court and Orange County court, a complaint of John Den and a New Bern District judgment. Twenty-one images.

Included because: Catalog heading in the NC Digital Collections record: Hawkins, Benjamin, 1754-1816.

NC Digital Collections

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Governors' Papers: Samuel Johnston, Correspondence, March 1788

Sevier, John, 1745-1815 · 1788

John Sevier, leader of the State of Franklin, is among the writers in Samuel Johnston's March 1788 papers. Other names include John Baptista Ashe, Benjamin Hawkins, Thomas Pinckney, James White and Richard Winn, with Cherokee, Chickasaw and Creek affairs and Hillsborough also present. Thirty-four images.

Included because: Catalog heading in the NC Digital Collections record: Hawkins, Benjamin, 1754-1816.

NC Digital Collections DPLA

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Joint Select Committees: Reports and papers, May 20-June 3

North Carolina. General Assembly · 1784

Legislative committee reports from 20 May to 3 June 1784, in 105 images, from the General Assembly's joint select committees. They answer memorials of James Kerr, a Rowan County commissioner, and David Miller of Rutherford County, and the account of Maurice Simmons of Charleston. Army supplies, Cherokee lands, Benjamin Hawkins, Willie Jones, prisoners of war and Hillsborough appear in the papers.

Included because: Catalog heading in the NC Digital Collections record: Hawkins, Benjamin, 1754-1816.

NC Digital Collections DPLA

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Joint Papers (April-May, 1780): Joint Select Committee Reports and Papers

North Carolina. General Assembly · 1780

Reports and papers of the joint select committees of the North Carolina General Assembly from its April to May 1780 session, in 223 images. Items include a Virginia governor's letter on naval officers and duties at the Ocracoke channel, committee appointments, and Henry Mounger's petition on where Montgomery County's public buildings should stand. Orange County is among the many counties touched.

Included because: Catalog heading in the NC Digital Collections record: Hawkins, Benjamin, 1754-1816.

NC Digital Collections

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Joint Papers (August-September, 1780): Material sent for perusal

North Carolina. General Assembly · 1780

Papers laid before the North Carolina General Assembly for perusal in August and September 1780, 56 images. They include Governor Abner Nash's messages to members, one of them on clothing for the regular troops, resolutions of the Virginia Assembly, letters from Richard and James Ellis and from James Iredell, and John Reddy's petition. George Washington and the Board of War also appear.

Included because: Catalog heading in the DPLA record: Hawkins, Benjamin, 1754-1816.

NC Digital Collections DPLA

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Show 6 more

Joint Papers (August-September, 1780): Miscellaneous Petitions and Accounts

North Carolina. General Assembly · 1780

Petitions and accounts sent to the North Carolina General Assembly in August and September 1780, 29 images. Petitioners include inhabitants of Sullivan and Granville counties, William Collson, whose request was rejected, Charles McLean of Lincoln County, and Captains William Chronicle, David Cowan and James Jack. Loyalists, confiscations and paper money are among the topics.

Included because: Catalog heading in the NC Digital Collections record: Hawkins, Benjamin, 1754-1816.

NC Digital Collections DPLA

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Senate Joint Resolutions: August 30-September 13

North Carolina. General Assembly · 1780

Senate joint resolutions of 30 August to 13 September 1780, in the weeks after the defeat at Camden, 96 images. Among them are a rejected resolution about militia routed in South Carolina, a commission for Captain William Williams in the Invalid Corps, and a rejected request that General Horatio Gates gather the Continental troops. Hillsborough figures in the session.

Included because: Catalog heading in the NC Digital Collections record: Hawkins, Benjamin, 1754-1816.

NC Digital Collections DPLA

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

House Joint Resolutions: May 3-15

North Carolina. General Assembly · 1779

House joint resolutions of May 3 to 15, 1779, 146 images of resolutions, messages and petitions. The House appointed a chaplain and acted on requests from Walter Gibson of Bladen County, James Glasgow and Captain Francis Tartason, among many others, with matters of militia, taxation, land grants and schools.

Included because: Catalog heading in the NC Digital Collections record: Hawkins, Benjamin, 1754-1816.

NC Digital Collections

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

House Joint Resolutions: October 19-November 10

North Carolina. General Assembly · 1779

Joint resolutions of the House of Commons, October 19 to November 10, 1779: tax exemptions for people in Franklin, Orange and Wilkes counties, the disbanding of the state regiment, and a call for the Continental delegates to attend the Assembly. Supplies, prisoners of war and trade with the West Indies also appear. 192 images.

Included because: Catalog heading in the NC Digital Collections record: Hawkins, Benjamin, 1754-1816.

NC Digital Collections

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Senate Joint Resolutions: October 19-November 10

North Carolina. General Assembly · 1779

Joint resolutions of the North Carolina Senate from 19 October to 10 November 1779, in 176 images. George Pee of Lincoln County is exempted from taxes; other items concern Thomas Espey of Lincoln County, Archibald Gillespie of Onslow County, and exemptions in Granville and Pasquotank counties. Prisoners of war, counterfeiting, horse stealing, salt, ships and the Continental Army also come up.

Included because: Catalog heading in the NC Digital Collections record: Hawkins, Benjamin, 1754-1816.

NC Digital Collections

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Miscellaneous Collection

State Archives of North Carolina. Private Manuscripts Archivists · 1689

The State Archives' Miscellaneous Collection: letters, deeds, land grants, surveys, wills, leases and other single items dating from 1689 to 2017, some as photocopies or transcripts from other repositories. Writers and subjects vary widely, governors and generals among them, and Orange County figures among the many places touched.

Included because: Their name appears in the record.

State Archives of NC

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  • NC LIVE: prepared search for Benjamin Hawkins Library card Search NC LIVE for this subject and Orange County. You can change the search terms. Sign in through your North Carolina library to access the materials.
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