A C Hawk Family

Aden Clevenger Hawk


A Story of
An Illinois Pioneer Family

Compiled by his great-great granddaughter,
Sue Hawk Ridgley
2008


The Hawk Family Name:

The Hawk family name is a source of great pride and dates back centuries. Research indicates that Hawk began as a patronymical and locational name and means, "descendant of Haw or Hal; dweller at the sign of the hawk; and, one with the characteristics of a hawk."
Spelling variations include: Hawk, Hawke, Hawkes, Hauk, Hauke and others. The HAWK family traces their ancestral roots back to origin, and first appeared in ancient medieval records in Lincolnshire .
From very early on the HAWK family not only held lands and estates in but were also actively allied with other influential families. They also branched out into other territories and holdings, before taking the long voyage to the new world. First found in Lincolnshire where they were seated from very ancient times, some say well before The Norman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A.D.



Dedicated to the memory of

Virgel and Leva Whiteside Hawk


Copyright: Sue Hawk Ridgley 2008

When Macon County was settled, our ancestors, George William Hawk, his father, David Hawk and Aden C. Hawk and his family, were among its earliest inhabitants, having moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio and then to Indiana before coming to Illinois. They were the pioneers who worked to create farms from the prairie sod. This is their story. It is written for their descendants and for other interested persons. Every effort has been made to insure accuracy, but questions remain and facts are incomplete.

Thanks are given to Connie J. Hawk, my sister, who started collecting family information in the early 1980’s and who allowed me to use it as a foundation of my on-going research when I started in 1994. Thanks, too, to our father, Roland E. Hawk, and our uncle, Garry Hawk, whose memories fostered the telling of this story of our family.

Any additions to the story are welcome.

The Hawk Family in Illinois
David Hawk and his son, George William
Came to
Macon County, Illinois
From Pennsylvania in 1842


David Hawk and his son, George William, came from the part of Pennsylvania where the Conestoga wagons were built in Lancaster County to Niantic, Illinois in 1842. They are listed on the 1840 census, in separate households. David died not long after they came to Illinois and was buried on the old Jacobs place in Macon County[1].

George William[2] Hawk (son of David Hawk) was born 21 June 1810 in Pennsylvania and died 03 July 1846 in Macon Co., IL. He married Rebecca Penelope Templeman (Templin[3]) 23 February 1833 in Fayette Co., Ohio. She was born 15 November 1812 in Fayette County, Ohio and died 26 September 1886 in Macon County, IL.

George William Hawk, sometimes known as Bill or William, is listed as a founding member of Macon County in the History of Macon County written in 1880. He came to Macon County in 1842 at age 32, with his father, David, who died in 1844. George's mother, whose name is unknown, is supposed to have died in Pennsylvania before 1842. They settled south of Niantic, Illinois.

“The lands in Niantic Township were regarded as virtually worthless in 1839 when the township was added to Macon County. Pioneers had begun settling the land about 1825, however, the town of Niantic wasn’t laid out until 1852, following the completion of the Great Western Railroad. Niantic lay on the main line of the railroad, but when it was first established, the little town was called Lockhart. Following that name, it was known as Long Point, then Prairie City, and finally by a vote of seven of thirteen votes cast by its citizens, Niantic was named for a town in Connecticut where some of the early settlers had formerly lived.” (Central Illinois Gen Qtrly, Summer 1996).

George William Hawk died at age 36 yrs., 31 days. He is buried in Long Point Cemetery, which is just south of Niantic, Illinois. His wife, Rebecca Penelope, is also buried there.





The children of GEORGE HAWK and REBECCA Penelope TEMPLEMAN/TEMPLIN were:
i. REBECCA HAWK, m. UNKNOWN WOODS. (lived in Alexandria, Missouri)
ii. JOHN ARMSTRONG HAWK, b. 10 March 1837, Fayette Co., Ohio; d. 18 December 1910, Niantic, Macon Co., IL. (aka: Armstrong Hawk)
iii. ADEN CLEVENGER HAWK, b. 19 August 1839, Lafayette, Indiana (Tippecanoe County); d. 01 November 1918, Niantic, Macon Co., IL. (aka: A. C. Hawk)
iv. JAMES MADISON HAWK, b. 1842; d. Springfield, Sangamon Co., IL. (aka: James M. Hawk)
v. GEORGE WILLIAM HAWK II, b. 1844, Niantic, Macon Co., IL, d. 11 October 1864, Niantic, Macon Co., IL. (He shares a common 4-sided spire like gravestone with both of his parents in Long Point Cemetery.)
After G. W.’s death, his widow, “Nellie” married Nathan Averitt and they had a child: Laura Averitt, b.29 May 1854, Niantic, Macon, IL.
[1] Enter the entrance to Brown cemetery and continue past it to Timber Trail; turn left into a new housing addition. The Muirhead cemetery is fenced off by an old black iron fence on the top of the hill just west of Lotz's House. The land was owned by Herbert Kraft in 1988.
[2] He was known as William Hawk.
[3] Templin is the surname given in the Shelby Whaley Bible, but Templeman was listed on the death certificate of A. C. Hawk and in the probate affidavit given by John I. Hawk in 1946.