Robert C. Hawkins Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1748-1749 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

	This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit 
	organizations for their private use. 

	Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval 
	system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other 
	means requires the written approval of the file's author.


	ROBERT C. HAWKINS, who stood as an honored citizen of Sioux Falls 
from practically the time of its inception to that of his death, and who 
passed to his reward on the 16th of September, 1903, was born in 
Plattsburg, Clinton county, New York, on the 23d of July, 1825, and was 
a scion of colonial stock, while his parents were numbered among the 
pioneers of the Empire state, where he was reared to manhood and where 
he received a common-school education which he later effectively 
supplemented through personal application and the valuable lessons of 
experience. He acquired the trade of mason, to which he gave his 
attention in his native state until 1844, when he removed to Illinois, 
and thence, a few years later, to Richland Center, Richland county, 
Wisconsin, where he followed his trade and also engaged in farming. He 
was chairman of the township board of supervisors, township clerk and 
treasurer, chairman of the county board and justice of the peace, while 
he was sheriff of the county for one term. A man of broad mental ken and 
decided views, it was but natural that his intrinsic patriotism and 
loyalty should manifest themselves in a definite way when the thundering 
of rebel guns against the ramparts of old Fort Sumter heralded the 
opening of the Civil war. He raised the first company of volunteers in 
Richland county, being made captain of the same, which became Company H, 
Fifth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. He continued in active service with 
his command for nearly two years when he received his honorable 
discharge, owing to disabilities resulting from his service in the 
field. 

	Soon after the close of the war Mr. Hawkins removed to Woodstock. 
in the same county of Richland, and was there engaged in the mercantile 
business until September. 1872, when he came to the territory of Dakota 
and located in Sioux Falls, where he was engaged in the work of his 
trade for two or three months. In the early winter he started to return 
to his home in Wisconsin by way of St. Paul, and so severe were the 
snowstorms and so many the other obstacles encountered that an entire 
week elapsed ere he reached the city mentioned. In the spring of the 
following year, in company with his family, he returned to Sioux Falls, 
where he ever afterward made his home. In the early days he took up a 
homestead claim in Wayne township, the same comprising the south half of 
the southeast quarter of section 33, and the south half of the southwest 
quarter of section 34, and this property he improved and retained in his 
possession until his death. He followed contracting in the line of his 
trade about two years after his return to Sioux Falls. He soon gained 
the confidence and esteem of the people of the city, and became 
influential in public affairs, having ever given a staunch allegiance to 
the Republican party and having been for a number of years an active 
political worker in a local way. In 1874 he was elected justice of the 
peace and continued incumbent of that office, with the exception of one 
term, until he was elected police justice of the city, upon its 
incorporation, in 1883. In the latter office he served consecutively 
until April, 1894, representing a full decade. He also held the office 
of probate judge of Minnehaha county for eight years, and in every 
office of trust to which he was called he manifested the utmost 
fidelity, honor and zeal, while his mature judgment and strong 
individuality made him a power for good in whatever work he undertook. 
He was one of the prominent representatives of the Masonic fraternity in 
the state, and did much to forward the interests of the order in his 
home city. 

	In 1843 Mr. Hawkins was united in marriage to Miss Ada Monroe, of 
Plattsburg, New York, and they became the parents of three children, 
Frederick B., who is now a resident of Sioux Falls; Albert, who resides 
in Sioux City, Iowa; and Isabel, who is the wife of George W. Clark, of 
Pasco, Washington. Mrs. Hawkins was summoned into eternal rest in 1869, 
and on the 23d of December, 1872, at Alma, Wisconsin, was solemnized his 
marriage to Miss Harriet Albertson, w-ho was born in Stroudsburg, Monroe 
county, Pennsylvania, and she survives him and still retains her 
residence in Sioux Falls, as did also their only son, the late Dr. John 
R., of whom individual mention is made elsewhere in this work. In 
religion Mr. Hawkins was a: Methodist. 

	Mr. Hawkins was the architect of his own fortune, and upon his 
life rested no shadow of wrong or injustice while his kindly and genial 
nature won him firm and abiding friendship, his memory resting as a 
benediction upon all who came within the immediate sphere of his 
influence.