Hawes, Sr., John W.

Born: 1791-12-04 Maryland

Died: 1874-03-17 Logan County, Illinois

John W. Hawes, Sr. was a teacher, public servant, postmaster, merchant, clerk, Whig, and, later, a Republican. In September 1810, while living in Shelby County, Kentucky, he married Sarah Phillips, with whom he eventually had twelve children. He moved from Kentucky to Logan County, Illinois with his family in 1834, and began teaching in Eminence Township. He served as a justice of the peace prior to the creation of Logan County by the Illinois General Assembly in 1839. In February 1839, Hawes was appointed postmaster of the U.S. Post Office in Eminence, Illinois, a position he held until after the Civil War. He was a founding member of the Eminence Christian Church, served as treasurer for the southern portion of Eminence Township in 1844, and worked in Atlanta, Illinois as a merchant for a time. In 1850, he owned $4,000 in real estate.

Lawrence B. Stringer, History of Logan County, Illinois (Chicago: Pioneer, 1911), 1:144, 397, 400, 501; Kentucky, U.S., Compiled Marriages, 1802-1850, 17 September 1810, Shelby County (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, 1997); An Act to Establish the Counties of Menard, Logan, and Dane; U.S. Census Office, Third Census of the United States (1810), Shelby County, KY, 208; U.S. Census Office, Fifth Census of the United States (1830), Shelby County, KY, 220; Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832-1971, NARA Microfilm Publication, M841, 145 rolls, Records of the Post Office Department, RG 28, 1832-1844, 12b:546, National Archives Building, Washington, DC; Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 23 April 1846, 2:1; John W. Hawes to Abraham Lincoln; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Logan County, IL, 227; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Logan County, IL, 99; Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1865 (Washington, DC: Government Printing, 1866), *59; Gravestone, Niblick Cemetery, Atlanta, IL.