Hawkins, Benjamin, 1754-1816

<p>Benjamin Hawkins (August 15, 1754 – June 6, 1816) was an American planter, statesman and a U.S. Indian agent He was a delegate to the Continental Congress and a United States Senator from North Carolina, having grown up among the planter elite. Appointed by George Washington in 1796 as one of three commissioners to the Creeks, in 1801 President Jefferson named him "principal agent for Indian affairs south of the Ohio [River]", and was principal Indian agent to the Creek Indians.</p>

<p>Hawkins established the Creek Agency and his plantation near present-day Roberta, Georgia, in what became Crawford County. He learned the Muscogee language, and had a Creek woman, Lavinia Downs, as common-law wife, who, in the Creek's matrilineal society, provided an entry into that world. He had seven children with her, although he resisted Creek pressure to marry her  until near the end of his life. He wrote extensively about the Creek and other Southeast tribes: the Choctaw, Cherokee and Chickasaw. He eventually built a large complex using African slave labor, including mills, and raised a considerable quantity of cattle and hogs.</p>

<p>Hawkins was born to Philemon Hawkins and Delia (Martin) Hawkins on August 15, 1754, the third of four sons. The family farmed and operated a plantation in what was then Granville County, North Carolina, but is now Warren County. He attended the county schools, then at the College of New Jersey (later to become Princeton University). He was "apt at multiple languages", a linguistic competence that would later enable him to learn Indian languages. When the College (which he never completed) closed because of the approach of British troops, Hawkins was commissioned a Colonel and served for several years on George Washington's staff as his main interpreter of French.</p>

HAWKINS, Benjamin, (Uncle of Micajah Thomas Hawkins), a Delegate and a Senator from North Carolina; born in what was then Granville, later Bute, and now Warren County, N.C., August 15, 1754; attended the county schools; student at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) when the Revolutionary War began; acquired a knowledge of French, and, at the request of General George Washington, left school and was appointed to the General's staff as his interpreter; member, State house of commons 1778-1779, 1784; chosen by the North Carolina legislature in 1780 to procure arms and munitions of war to defend the State; Member of the Continental Congress 1781-1783 and 1787; appointed by Congress to negotiate treaties with the Creek and Cherokee Indians in 1785; delegate to the State constitutional convention which ratified the Federal Constitution in November 1789; elected to the United States Senate and served from December 8, 1789, to March 3, 1795; appointed Indian agent for all the tribes south of the Ohio River by President Washington in 1796 and held the office until his death in Crawford County, Ga., on June 6, 1816; interment on a plantation near Roberta, Crawford County, overlooking the Flint River.

<ul><b>RACES</b>
<li>12/08/1789 NC US Senate - Initial Election Won 39.66% (+9.70%)</li>
<li>12/31/1786 NC Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>12/31/1782 NC Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>12/31/1781 NC Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
</ul>