Benjamin Hawkins

Benjamin Hawkins
United States Senator
from North Carolina
In office
November 27, 1789 – March 4, 1795
Preceded byNone
Succeeded byTimothy Bloodworth
Member of the Congress of the Confederation
In office
1781 – 1783
1787
Member of the North Carolina House of Representatives
In office
1778 – 1779
1784
Personal details
Born(1754-08-15)August 15, 1754
Granville County, Province of North Carolina, British America
DiedJune 6, 1816(1816-06-06) (aged 61)
Crawford County, Georgia, U.S.
Resting placeRoberta, Georgia, U.S.
32°40′0.61″N 84°5′45.73″W / 32.6668361°N 84.0960361°W / 32.6668361; -84.0960361
Political partyPro-Administration (1789–1791)
Anti-Administration (1791–1795)
RelationsPhilemon Hawkins II (father)
Micajah T. Hawkins (nephew)
William Hawkins (nephew)
Alma materCollege of New Jersey

Benjamin Hawkins (August 15, 1754 – June 6, 1816[1]) 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.

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[2]: 9  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.

  1. ^ Foster II, H. Thomas (2013). "Benjamin Hawkins". Encyclopedia of Alabama. Auburn University.
  2. ^ Heidler, David S.; Heidler, Jeanne T. (2003). Old Hickory's War. Andrew Jackson and the Quest for Empire (revised ed.). Stackpole Books. ISBN 0807128678.