Henry Estes Hawkins was born February 13, 1876, in Preston, Webster County, Georgia. He was the adopted son of John Willis Alston Hawkins and Mollie Knox Hawkins. We are told Estes is a family name and it is my opinion that perhaps Estes is the family name of his blood parents. The only proof to this theory lies in sealed adoption papers. Henry is living with the Hawkins on the 1880 census, so he was adopted between his birth and age 4.

In 1899 Henry married Minnie Cornelia Tharp who was born June 30, 1882 in Henry Country, Alabama. To this union was born three sons and later one adopted daughter. 1) John Thomas born July 8, 1902, 2)Harry Estes born March 21, 1904, and 3) Sion born December 1905. Betty was adopted sometime after November of 1928.

Henry is listed as a carpenter on the census records. Family stories tell of them always having money problems. Henry and Minnie never owned a house. (I find it curious that the Hawkins plantation was given to a niece, Willie Carter, rather than to Henry whose father, J.W.A. Hawkins, had possession at the time of his death.) Henry and Minnie moved to West Palm Beach, Florida, in 1921. There they were living in a house owned by their son, John Thomas. Henry was in Arkansas visiting Harry at the time of John Thomas's wedding. When he returned to Florida, he found all the family pictures, etc. off the walls. He and John's new wife, Frances, got in a big fight and Frances came after Henry with a butcher knife.

Both Henry and Minnie were football fans and while at a game on October 6, 1944, Minnie had a heart attack and died in West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County, Florida. She is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery West Palm Beach, Florida. Henry Estes Hawkins died February 15, 1954, in West Palm Beach, West Palm Beach County, Florida and is buried next to Minnie in Woodlawn Cemetery.

References:
Personal interviews and correspondence

Tombstone and Death Certificates of Henry and Minnie Hawkins
Article of Henry Hawkins on Sports Page of Palm Beach Post.