Home Feature Articles The Nathan Hawkins “Mansion”: A Stone House in the Kentucky Territory of Virginia, 1790

The Nathan Hawkins “Mansion”: A Stone House in the Kentucky Territory of Virginia, 1790

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By: Dr. Gay Sweely

The house itself was … peeking stoically out from behind two overgrown oak trees ….

It was a timeworn stone structure … with an addition thoughtlessly tacked on the back. That part was painted a dingy white … Indeed, the house hadn’t been lived in … [for years] for reasons that hadn’t yet been explained ….

Dense, feminine, ivy with delicate fingers curved her nails around the front doors but it didn’t really matter since the doors were nailed shut with thick, ugly wooden planks that peeked grotesquely through the vines.[1]

Lavinia Kubiak, “Nathan Hawkins House,”
1996A001-055, Eastern Kentucky University, Digital Collections, accessed February 20, 2021, https://digitalcollections.eku.edu/items/show/12222.

This quote, from fictional novelist Rebecca Patrick-Howard (2014), loosely describes the Nathan Hawkins historic stone house in Kirksville (Richmond) – notably the oldest extant stone residence in Madison County, KY.[2] After a visit to the Hawkins’ farm, Patrick-Howard based one of her novels on the old stone farmhouse. Interestingly, the quote actually captures the essence of the historic “mansion,”[3] built in 1790 on a bluff directly above Silver Creek (a waterway that is one miniscule mile short of being classified as a river). The ellipses marks in the quotation above purposefully omit the author’s fictionalization of her story; otherwise, the text is fairly accurate, even to the two boarded-up front doors, except that the two trees in front of the stone house, mentioned on a later page in the novel, were not oaks, but rather maples.

In 1779 (three years after the Revolutionary War began and the signing of the Declaration of Independence), Virginia resolved to survey lands in the western Kentucky Territory of the Commonwealth of Virginia.[4] On July 31, 1783, a survey was conducted of 500 acres at Taylor’s Fork of Silver Creek (in what was then Lincoln County, Kentucky Territory, Virginia), as ordered by the 5th Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia (1781-1784), Benjamin Harrison, Esquire (1726-1791), signee of the Declaration of Independence and father and great-grandfather of two US presidents.[5] This survey (no. 759), with a drawing (noted as no. 342) by George Smith, the surveyor, was given to John Bryant in 1783.[6] The survey was for land on which the Nathan Hawkins stone “mansion” (built in 1790) now resides.

So, who was John Bryant? During 12 years of researching the Nathan Hawkins House, the name of John Bryant only surfaced in 2019 while reviewing the original land survey. This research found five John Bryants who could possibly have been the candidate for this survey. However, John Bryant (1760 – 1833) of Garrard County, Kentucky, may have been the same “John Bryant” who was a sergeant who served in the Revolutionary War in the last battle at Yorktown, Virginia.[7]

In 1783 John Bryant moved to Kentucky where he was a civil engineer with an appointment signed by Patrick Henry, Secretary of State for the Commonwealth of Virginia. He was commissioned by General Washington to survey Kentucky, and was an associate of Daniel Boone.[8]

Both of Nathan Hawkins’ (1716-1794) sons, Nicholas (1752-1844) and Nathan, Jr. (1763-1836), saw service in the Revolutionary War from the Commonwealth of Virginia, both at the Battle of Yorktown at the same time as John Bryant.[9] Additionally, when Nathan Hawkins, Jr., came to Kentucky during the year of his father’s death in 1794, he eventually settled in Mercer County.[10]

Returning to the land survey (no. 759) for the property description of the current Nathan Hawkins stone house, a few interesting boundaries were recorded. The survey was for land “… Beginning at two sugar trees [on] the N.W. corner … to a red oak standing on a ridge … crossing silver creek to a red oak [help] white oak and sugar tree … of said sugar trees ….[11] Anyone reading this survey description will smile broadly since it mentions certain “scientific” tree boundaries of the property. Unfortunately, this was a common practice of the time by many surveyors, most likely referring to sugar maple trees that turn a gorgeous red color in the autumn. However, this brings us back to the fictional introduction to this article by author Patrick-Howard (2014) who purposefully described the vacant and dilapidated stone house with two oak trees near the façade when these two trees were actually two huge maples in the front of the old stone house.[12]

Concerning the history of the Nathan Hawkins stone house in the Territory of Kentucky in the Colony of Virginia, in 1783, the survey of the land on Silver Creek was completed and passed on to John Bryant. Who were these early pioneers into the western outreach of the Commonwealth of Virginia who eagerly sought land claims in this region? Mills Lane, author and publisher, who has over 50 books concerning the history and architecture of the South, including Kentucky, notes that:

Kentucky and Tennessee were a historic highway to the West. Settlers from Virginia and North Carolina, in the first wave of transcontinental migration from the upper and coastal South toward the interior and the lower South, began to move into Kentucky and Tennessee in the late 18th century. These often wealthy, well educated and talented settlers made important contributions to the early architecture of the area.[13]

“The original pioneers (to the Kentucky Territory of Virginia) were struggling farmers … in old Virginia or Carolina or Pennsylvania. They were hearty men ….”[14]  Of these early pioneers, historians have explained that “… there were many land claims by veterans who had been given public lands for participating in the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War.”[15] This was true with the history of the stone house in the Virginia Territory and property on Silver Creek near what would become the Commonwealth of Kentucky (1792). The elderly Nathan Hawkins supported the Revolutionary War cause with monies, and his two sons, Nicholas, Jr., and Nathan Hawkins, Jr., both fought in the Revolutionary War for Virginia. Thus, the historical record indicates that a survey was performed and one John Bryant received the landholding on Silver Creek. Then, William Robinson obtained the land grant, and he gave the land to his daughter and his son-in-law, Nicholas Hawkins, Jr. (son of Nathan Hawkins, Sr.). Nicholas Hawkins, Jr., then went back to Spotsylvania, VA, in 1789 to bring his father and mother (Catherine) out to the Kentucky Territory (and Nathan Hawkins, Sr., profusely thanked his son, Nicholas, for this feat in his will).[16]

Nicholas Hawkins, son of Nathan Hawkins, Sr., and his wife Ann (Robinson) Hawkins (1766-1854), “with his wife’s father, William Robinson [1740–1804], and family about 1785” departed Spotsylvania, VA, and traveled to the westernmost outskirts of Virginia in the Kentucky Territory.[17] “William Robinson of Madison, KY, was born in Virginia; lived in Spotsylvania Co., for many years; came to Kentucky about 1785, and settled on a farm on Silver Creek in Madison Co.”[18] He had served as a sergeant in the Continental Line of Virginia during the Revolutionary War and traveled to the Kentucky Territory to speculate on and secure land (long before the end of the Revolutionary War).[19] Of the parcels of land that Robinson was legally involved with, one particular “warrant,” for surveying from the Land Office Treasury of the Commonwealth of Virginia, should be noted here for March 7, 1780. This warrant may have been for the Silver Creek property where the Nathan Hawkins House now stands.[20] However, Kentucky Land Records (non-military grants) also record that William Robinson had land at Boone Creek (near what is now Athens, KY) and Dicks (DIX) River (nearby in Danville, KY).[21] On December 2, 1785, William Robinson received a Virginia Patent (no. 1570.0) for 1,225 acres in the County of Lincoln on Silver Creek as signed by the Governor of Virginia Patrick Henry Esquire (1776-1779 and 1784-1786).[22] As the family tradition relates, it was Nicholas Hawkins’ mother-in-law, Sarah (Smith) Robinson (1741-1825), who decided upon the actual land site for her son-in-law Nicholas (perhaps only wanting the best possible property for her daughter’s future home), especially since it was surrounded by a creek on three sides at its northern end.[23]

William Robinson and Sarah, his wife, made a deed in 1788 to their son-in-law, Nicholas Hawkins, Junior, to 388 acres of land on Silver Creek, in Madison Co., Ky. In his will, in which he made his mark … in 1795, his name was spelled Robertson, without doubt an error of a lawyer, while in Virginia and in other Kentucky records, where he signed his own name, he wrote it Robinson.[24]

After their arrival in the Kentucky Territory, the Robinson and Hawkins families encamped on the property. Nathan Hawkins, Sr. and his wife Catherine, then were escorted from Spotsylvania, VA, in the care of his son Nicholas, to the Kentucky Territory in 1789.[25] One year later, the stone house was built on the highest point of the property with limestone slabs cut from the riverbed – directly below the stone house (not on Hagan’s Mill Road as some local families have speculated). This site is where they also had built a grist mill (as was not unusual in the area around Silver Creek).[26]

Since corn and rye were crops produced in abundance by the early settlers, grist mills were important in the processing of the grain for flour and feed. The mills also served as early trade and social centers. After Boone’s Trace, the first roads built in the county connected the various mills on Silver, Muddy, and Paint Lick Creeks. It is in the Silver Creek area that the majority of Madison County’s stone buildings are located. The Bogie Houses (Ma-160, 161, and 162) and the Nathan Hawkins House (Ma-168) were documented as a part of the thematic multiple resource area nomination of stone houses by Ms. Carolyn Wooley in 1983.[27]

“By 1790, stone began to be used as a building material [in Kentucky] … The Hawkins homestead of dressed stone on Silver Creek is standing today, a beautiful structure.”[28] The “mansion” is now known as the “Nathan Hawkins House” on the National Historic Trust Register, 1983.[29] Although Nicholas Hawkins, Jr., owned the land that his father-in-law (William Robinson) deeded to him, the house has been recorded as the Nathan Hawkins House in Kentucky.[30] It must be understood that Nathan Hawkins, Sr., was 74 years old when the house was constructed, and he only lived in the house for four years until his death in 1794, not long after Kentucky became a commonwealth.[31]

Concerning his ancestry, Nathan Hawkins, Sr. (1716-1794),[32] of Spotsylvania, VA, was the son of Nicholas Hawkins (c.1700-1754)[33] and Elizabeth Long (c.1704-1768),[34] and he was given land around northern Virginia shortly before his father’s death.[35] Nathan Hawkins, Sr., was married to Catherine (?)[36] Hawkins (1720-1798),[37] and they had seven children, including Elizabeth Level, Mary Stephenson, Nancy Schooler, Nicholas Hawkins, Jr. (who was gifted the land in Kentucky by his father-in-law), Nathan Hawkins, Jr. (who came to Kentucky in 1794 around the time of his father’s death), Mary Burnett, and Simon Hawkins; Catherine Hawkins, was the sole executrix of the estate.[38] Nathan Hawkins, Sr., and his family (father and his sons) were all extremely prolific land speculators (“wheeler dealers” in parcels of land) around Spotsylvania, VA,[39] respected citizens of Northern Virginia, with ardent Baptist ties in their community in their community, especially in relation to Nathan Hawkins’ daughter Elizabeth’s (1752-1827) husband Edward Leavell (1755-1824) who was closely allied with “The Travelling Church” of Baptist ministry.[40] Nathan Hawkins, Sr., and his sons were staunch early American patriots (not only for their war service, but also for their contributions to the patriots’efforts). The Hawkins’ land dealings around Spotsylvania, VA, are well documented in the historical record of the region.  One son of Nathan Hawkins. Sr., was Nicholas Hawkins, Jr., who “was a soldier in the Revolution and was present at Yorktown at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis.”[41] Nathan Hawkins, Jr., received a military pension years later (Nicholas Hawkins, Jr.’s record is undocumented, and he never claimed a war pension).[42] Nathan Hawkins, Jr., died on June 4, 1836, and the final pension payment was made to his estate in the “2nd qtr. 1837.”[43] However, Nathan Hawkins, Jr., is recorded as receiving a Revolutionary War pension for his service in the Revolutionary War, especially for his service at Yorktown.[44]

As mentioned, Nathan Hawkins, Sr., died in 1794 at the age of 78 in the new Commonwealth of Kentucky. His will, dated 14 January 1794 in Madison County, KY, specifies the disposition of his goods to his seven children (mentioned first in the will), and his surviving wife Catherine. Five of his children received 30 pounds each from the sale of his “Spotsylvany” plantation [Spotsylvania, Virginia]. Nathan Hawkins’ son Simon was never mentioned in this part of the will (he died without marrying).[45] His son, Nicholas Hawkins, Jr, received the “still, gun. and Great Bible,” plus a number of hogsheads and tobacco (from the 1790-91 crop), plus the 30 pounds from the sale of the Virginia plantation (Spotsylvania), in order to purchase “300 acres in Bourbon County” and the “right” to the stone house, apparently allowing his wife “Catharine” to remain living there for her remaining life with the rest of the slaves (not mentioned in the will), continuing on the property after his death. In the first part of this will, eight slaves were to be dispersed among Nathan Hawkins’ children with some of the slaves pregnant at that time.[46]

In the second part of his will, Nathan Hawkins specifies the disposition of the remaining part of his estate upon his wife Catherine’s demise. Nathan Hawkins, Sr., then distributes the remainder of the slaves at the stone house (seven) to his children, except for Nicholas. Nicholas is willed the mill (on Silver Creek). In this section, he finally mentions his son Simon (who was not mentioned in the earlier part of the will).[47] From the discussion of the will, and what we are concerned with here is that the stone house became the property of Nathan Hawkins’ son Nicholas, Jr., and that Nathan Hawkins’ wife Catherine was allowed to live out her life in the house with seven slaves still working on the farm. At the time of Catherine’s passing (1798) apparently the remainder of the estate and slaves were distributed to Nathan Hawkins’ children.[48] One area resident, or family member, at the auction in 2009, reported that Nathan Hawkins, Sr., was possibly buried in 1794 at the cemetery at Fort Harrod, but there are no documents that support this notion, and the cemetery at Fort Harrod, before the turn of the 19th century, is in much disarray, as are the incomplete historical records.[49]

Concerning the stone house on Curtis Pike, Nathan Hawkins’ son Nicholas (according to Nathan’s will) was looking to buy property of 300 acres in Bourbon County, KY. The will granted Nicholas the “ownership” of the stone house, apparently allowing his mother Catherine to live there until her death (the will also specified that a number of the slaves owned by Nathan Hawkins that would remain with the property would be distributed equally to his children after his wife’s passing. Nicholas Hawkins, Jr., left the stone house sometime after his father’s passing in 1794. Scant records state that he was “a stagecoach operator [and wheelwright] and the county’s first court-licensed miller (1793).”[50] On November 4, 1794, it was “(O)rdered that Samuel Estill, Nicholas Hawkins, William Irvine and Robert Caldwell be appointed commissioners to draw a plan for a new courthouse to be built with brick or stone and determine where said house is to be built and to superintend the building of said house.”[51] Additionally, Nicholas Hawkins, Jr. (now residing on the east side of the creek directly across from the Nathan Hawkins stone house) oversaw the early ferry operations (and toll operations) across the Silver Creek to the Kirksville western side (where the stone house still stands on the hill above the creek).

There were many streams to be crossed [in Madison County]. Water mills were numerous and at an early date mill dams, for which material was provided by the county, became roads across the smaller streams; but when it came to the larger streams and rivers ferries were necessary.    In fact, during the 1780’s and ’90’s practically all the streams in the county were provided with ferries where they were needed.[52]

In 1891, an iron-truss bridge was built across Curtis Pike from Richmond to Kirksville directly below the stone house that replaced the ferries and the repulsive tolls.[53] This bridge became the standard for iron bridges “across the major streams” in the rest of Madison County. Unfortunately, the aging bridge collapsed in 1981.[54] Subsequently, a reinforced concrete bridge was constructed that stands to this day, also directly below the Nathan Hawkins house.

From these scant historical documents in Virginia and early Kentucky, it can be gleaned that Nicholas Hawkins, Jr. (son of Nathan Hawkins, Sr.) was considered an upstanding and well-respected member of the community in what would become the greater area of Richmond, KY. After his father’s death in 1794, Nicholas Hawkins, Jr., built a lodging (cabin) on the eastern side of Silver Creek of the stone house. Nicholas Hawkins, Jr., was “the first owner of the east portion” of the current Curtis property house. “Initially it was a two story three bay log pen. Another building on the site is of the same period; one room of what was a double-pen long house, evidenced by the exterior firechamber on the chimney, stands behind the house.”[55] This early log house/cabin still stands, as well as the sympathetically renovated Curtis house, including part of Nicholas Hawkins’ original home.[56]

Concerning the stone house during the late 19th century, there is a detailed historic map of landowners in Madison County, KY, from 1876, the year of America’s national centennial celebrations. This map shows the Curtis Pike property and stone house at that time in 1876; the listing on the large map states that J.C. Hagan and R.M. Hagan owned the property. John Campbell Hagan (1828-1895) and his brother Robert M. Hagan (1844-1889) may have equally owned the property and house, but little else is recorded about their ownership.[57] However, the Hagan family features prominently in the history of many Curtis Pike homes and their family histories.

To digress to the late 18th century on the Curtis Pike property, we know that Nathan, Sr., grew tobacco from 1790-91, as well as raising hogs and having donkeys on the farm, but he also had two cows and a few sheep, plus bee hives.[58] Hawkins, Sr., according to family tradition may have lived on the western bedroom of the second floor of the stone house with his own front access door, with his son Nicholas and his wife living in the other side of the house, and that is the simple explanation of why there are two front doors on the facade [59] On the second floor, there is no way to get from one area to the other; two dog-leg staircases go up to two separate bedroom areas. However, the first floor contains a communal dining room (with a central fireplace) and a living room (with another central fireplace). From the eastern bedroom on the second floor, there is a third floor, accessed by a steep stair-ladder; this third floor contains two rooms. The third floor could have been for children or early travelers in times past, perhaps from the early thoroughfare from Fort Boonesborough to Fort Harrod.The third floor has a severely pitched roof and two very miniscule windows at each end, east and west facing. The current family added seven closets in the knee-walls for their holiday ornaments and suitcases. The first room of the third floor displays the family’s Lionel train sets (with one historic engine, some specialized train cars, and another iron train set from the late 19th century). The other third-floor room has a couch and television set that pulls in KET and KET2 television channels, a godsend if you want to watch television series, such as Roy Underhill’s The Woodwright’s Shop.

Below the first floor of the stone house, the cellar was without proper standing room, devoid of lighting, and with a dirt floor in 2009; it still showcases the massive pit-sawn wooden beams that support the full weight of the stone structure that has existed nearly 220 years (without any proper foundation at all). It is in this cellar that the family slaves reportedly lived in after the house was constructed in 1790, with bars on the windows (interior and exterior), one fireplace, and a unique stone-indented area, perhaps for bread to be risen before cooking. These two cellar areas also had numerous shackles in both rooms, but these shackles were not present when the house was purchased in 2009, but the scars of the shackles still remain on the walls. However, there also may have been other slave quarters outside of the stone house that simply remain unrecorded.

Over the years, there have been few changes to the old stone house, mainly in the 19th century, including an addition of a wooden/tin-roof one-story ell structure to the rear of the stone house for a dining room (and dining room linen closet), two porches on either side of the el structure, and a rudimentary kitchen with a massive in-ground fireplace. [60] One other major change was to the bedroom on the second floor on the west side of the stone house. Originally, it was the same size as the bedroom on the second floor on the east side. At some time in the late 19th century or early 20th century, this room (on the west side) was sectioned off into a large room with two smaller rooms on the north side of the main second-floor bedroom, approximately 10’ x 10’ for each new area. One local resident stated that these were possibly two small additional bedrooms rooms to house young children.[61]

However, there have been a number of changes to the size of the property when sold in the 20th and early 21st centuries.[62] On October 2, 1905, Joseph P. Simmons and Lizzie Simmons sold the farm to Hugh Galey [sic Gailey; also seen as Gaily] (1862-1944).[63] Some property records and locals call this property the “Galey farm” to this day.[64] Hugh Galey died on March 24, 1944, “intestate” (without a will). Actually, other than passing off the stone house and property on Curtis Pike to his family members, Hugh Galey was the last official owner of the property until the new owners purchased the land and stone house at auction in May 2009. In 1944, Hugh Galey then simply passed off the property to his “sole heirs-at-law,” his wife Dona Vannarsdall Galey (1870-1959) and his daughter Hattie Galey Hagan [also known as Hagen] (1891-1976).[65] Dona Vannarsdall Galey died on March 24, 1959, thus “… extinguishing her interest in this property” in Richmond/Kirksville, KY.[66] Dona Galey’s daughter, Hattie Galey Hagan, then received the property from her mother; Hattie and her husband (James) William (Willie) Hagan (1885-1946) lived in the Hagan Mill Road house (also on the National Historic Register).[67] Hattie died in March 1976, and she left the old stone house and farm on Curtis Pike to her “surviving heir-at-law,” her daughter Ohna Lee Hagan (1914-2012), a local teacher who also lived in the Hagan Mill road house nearby.[68] Ohna Lee Hagan continued to live in the Hagan Mill Road house until she went into a convalescent home in the early 21st century.[69] At the property on Curtis Pike, she had the grounds farmed for tobacco and corn and used the old stone house for a few family gatherings, such as a Thanksgiving dinners; additionally, she maintained her family’s historic furnishings in the stone house as a type of “museum.”[70]

However, from 1959 to 2009 (for more than 50 years), the old stone house remained unoccupied; no one had purchased the house after Hugh Galey’s death in 1944, and after 1959 (upon the death of Ohna Lee’s grandmother), no one ever lived in the stone house. The house was broken into on a number of occasions, and many the historic furnishings were eventually stolen; the vandals also broke both of the unique second-floor railings when taking out larger pieces of furniture. Sometime after Ohna Lee Hagan was into the convalescent home, all of the windows were broken, and the doors and many windows were battened – completely sealed. During this period, the ivy vines grew profusely around the outside of the house and the ell addition; there were vines even reaching to the third floor at the time of auction of the old stone house.[71] In the early days of the 21st century, the ramshackle house, unfortunately, was used by locals and college students as a get-away venue, with mattresses on some floors and coke and vodka bottles akimbo. The third floor (reached by a ladder) was amuck with animal droppings galore that had to be scraped from the floors and walls with droppings from animals and a few snakes present on the second floor.

The first national preservation act in the United States followed World War II and the revitalization of American cities; unfortunately, by the 1960’s, many of the “old” buildings had disappeared or were under threat of being demolished. A new law governed how we appreciate those structures of the past in order to record their history and consider possible preservation for the future.[72]

The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 requires states and territories across the nation to establish this record, calling for the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) to ‘conduct a comprehensive statewide survey of historic properties and maintain inventories of such properties.’ The survey is used to help select resources for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. National Register listing establishes a site’s eligibility for grants and tax benefits, and provides planning data for federal, state, and local projects. … (The) Kentucky historic resources survey has actively documented historic places across the Commonwealth for more than 50 years.[73]

Around 1980, the Kentucky Heritage Council initiated a review of historic stone houses in Kentucky. This review included multiple descriptions of these particular houses, at that time, with a cover sheet including the specific inventories.[74] In 1980, a Historic Resources Inventory reviewed the surviving stone houses around Richmond, KY, including the Nathan Hawkins house, as recorded by “Mrs. Charles C. Combs.”[75] The Nathan Hawkins’ inventory for the survey (first identified as the Galey House and crossed out to read “Nathan Hawkins”) stated that “This lovely old house is surprisingly well kept and original except for the addition of a dining room and porch on the rear of the house.”[76] The inventory also included a full architectural description of the Federal-era stone house, noting that “field stone” was used and that the house was situated on a hill above a former mill site. It also included six photographs taken during the same year. The description noted that the original plaster for the house was of mud.[77] Another inventory was submitted to the Kentucky Council in 1982 that gave a more accurate description of the stone house in architectural terms and of its historic value to the nation as a unique residential settlement structure following the American Revolutionary War and pioneer expansion into the western regions of the new country.[78] Thus, this Kentucky inventory then allowed the Nathan Hawkins House to be considered for listing with the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1983.[79] Around this time, a more permanent marking of the date (“1790”) was created between the two front doors, but it was reported that a crude date was there before the more permanent cement marking.[80]

Jay Ballard, Hawkins Family Reunion at the Nathan Hawkins House, c. 1930, obtained June 4, 2013.

In 1970, the Madison County Newsweek publication ran a feature story on the stone house on Curtis Pike. “The house is situated on a densely-wooded hill of a 150 acre farm belonging to Mrs. Willie Hagan, who is a descendant of Mrs. Hawkins (Catherine – Nathan Hawkins, Sr.’s wife).”[81] The then-owner of the Nathan Hawkins stone house, Ohna Lee Hagan (not an occupant),[82] relayed that her mother (also a former owner and not an occupant) was directly related to Nathan Hawkins (the first owner) through his wife, Catherine Hawkins.[83] As stated previously,Nathan Hawkins died in what is now Kentucky, on January 4, 1794, at the age of 78; his will was probated later on November 4, 1794.[84] At the time this 1970 article was published in the Madison County, KY, newspaper, Ohna Lee Hagan explained that the stone house and farm (then 150 acres in 1970) had “been occupied by only three families, including the Hawkins and Hagan families.”[85] The article further discussed the history of the stone house in the 19th century and the Hagan family. Over the years, the large Hagan family had a number of family reunions at the old stone house, with one such reunion pictured in the 1930’s with the stone house resembling much as it had been in the 19th century and even into the later 20th century.[86]

On June 23, 1983, the stone house was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places as the “Hawkins, Nathan, House,” reference no. 83002815, with the architectural style noted as “Federal.”[87] Its significance was stated as “Exploration/Settlement Architecture” in the state of Kentucky and noted for its “Design/Construction” in the period of “1750-1799” in America at that time.[88] The report described that:

Quarried stone provided the structural fabric for the Nathan Hawkins House, a two-story rural residence. The four-bay dwelling is situated above an old mill site and has a view from the top of the hills to Silver Creek and its valley beyond.[89]

The report further described that:

“The original portion of this house has two rooms on the first floor, each with its own outside entrance. An interior door connects these two rooms, while there is no connecting door between the rooms of the second floor. A small corner stairway leads to a chamber above from each of the two rooms on the first floor. This feature is frequently found in early dwellings, the purpose of which was reputedly to segregate the sleeping quarters. The walnut woodwork and ash floors remain, as do the original mantels, paneled doors, and iron locks. Instead of the voussoirs typically found in contemporary stone buildings, the windows have facings with wooden pegs, ovolo trim, and nosed sills. Although a frame ell has been added to the rear and basement windows have been filled in, the Nathan Hawkins House retains much of its early appearance.”[90]

Also of importance in this discussion of the original design were elements of the carpenter’s construction. The top capping of the two stairways leading to the two second-floor rooms have square newel caps, and also there are unique hand-carved stringboard scroll designs in the ends of the staircase risers in the front room of the first floor on the west side of the structure.[91] Additionally, Ohna Lee Hagan had a rectangle area cut into façade between the two front doors with the date (in cement) of “1790.” As recorded, the date of 1790 was previously crudely recorded in the same place on the house before she ever made the date more visible and prominent in cement.

Gay Sweely, Nathan Hawkins House, photograph, June 13, 2009.

            In early 2009, the Hagan family, with power of attorney for Ohna Lee Hagan (because of her health concerns), deemed it necessary to sell her two large Richmond, KY, area properties: the old stone house and land on Curtis Pike and the wooden house and land on Hagan Mill Road nearby, both recorded as U.S. historic landmark properties. The stone house property was split into three parcels, one of which included the old stone house; the Hagan Mill property, likewise, was also split into three parcels, one of which consisted of the historic wooden house.[92] Two massive orange auction signs went up on the road in front of the old stone house on Curtis Pike in 2009 announcing the open house reviewing date and the date for the “absolute’ final auction. On May 12, 2009, the dilapidated stone house and land (101.9 acres) went up for sale. On the auction flyer announcing the sale, the stone house and property were reported to be a Revolutionary War property.[93]

From the recent historical research recorded on this stone house and property, it would be nice to uphold that idea – that is was a Revolutionary War Land Grant property; however, from what we know now from the recorded historical documents in Frankfort, KY, the land was never a Revolutionary Land Grant property, as has been previously supported by the Secretary of State of the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s records and website information.[94] It is very easy to see where this local and family history lore surfaced from: the owner – Nathan Hawkins, Sr., was a patriot of the Revolutionary War Cause (giving funds through the Supply Tax in Virginia),[95] and his son, Nathan Hawkins, Jr., who also was a patriot who paid the Supply Tax and served in the Virginia Militia in the Revolutionary War during the final battle and was wounded at the Battle of Yorktown; his other son, Nicholas Hawkins, likewise, reported (by the family) to have served in the Virginia Militia at that same time.[96] However, the actual survey and land grants were never Revolutionary War Land Grants. In no way does this information detract from anything of importance of the Nathan Hawkins stone house in the Kentucky Territory of the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1790. This information actually adds many more layers to the rich heritage and history of the property because of its many pioneering owners. It is not important that this property was not a Revolutionary War Land Grant Property, because it is more important that this property was earlier to that period – it was a property that heralded in new pioneering families into the expansion of the western reaches of the then-frontier of America in the late 18th century. In short, this property pre-dates the Revolutionary Land Grant Period and is prominent as an early American property in the history of early pioneering history.

Prior to the auction of the Nathan Hawkins house and farm (in three parcels), there was an open house, on May 3, 2009 (2:00-5:00 p.m.), one week before the final auction. An inordinate number of people from the area and beyond attended the “Property Viewing” and toured the run-down stone house, with doors and windows boarded up, ceilings collapsing, flowered wallpaper peeling in every room, broken windows everywhere, and some animal debris in many rooms.[97] The house was in severe distress, the farm was severely overgrown with copious weeds and vines abounding all around, and the farm grounds were hard to walk through due to the extremely tall grasses and recent rain storm, resulting in very soggy grounds. The two old barns were both dilapidated and desperately listing in all angles, in much need of repair, with a great number of boards and support poles were missing on both structures, and their roofs were unpainted and greatly leaking. In an error of sad comedy, the night before the auction of the stone house property, a massive tornado crashed into the Kirksville/Richmond, KY, area, creating much havoc and costing a few lives in its aftermath. “The tornado that slammed Madison County” … late Friday afternoon near rush hour … “with winds possibly exceeding 200 mph” … “was considered an F3 tornado” … with much destruction to property and recorded deaths.[98] Many area roofs were brutally ripped off, a few houses were demolished, severely damaged, or obliterated, but the auction began at 10:00 a.m. (on the dot) under a huge tent in the front yard of the old stone house on very soggy ground. Before the auction, some of the attendees under the tent were local residents who had all gone to high school together, and one of them said they wondered who would be dumb enough to buy this house. The auction took place for only 45 minutes with the last three bidders going outside of the tent (with runners back and forth) in order to finalize the deal. [99]

 At the close of the auction, an interesting scene occurred: the auctioneer regrouped the three properties (now “sold” to three separate bidders) for sale to enable local construction builders attending to bid on the three properties bundled together in order to create a new community of homes as a whole on the acreage. Luckily, none of the builders were interested now because the price was too high at this point for them to make a profit for a proposed housing community.[100] Thus, following the tornado and auction of the three properties, the new owners purchased the dilapidated stone house, barns, and farm of c.101 acres, plus an additional dilapidated small “corn crib” (housing a 100-year-old broken wooden cart for an additional $100 following the auction). On June 9, 2009, the new owners then legally signed for the farm and property on Curtis Pike in Richmond, KY.[101] However, for the three weeks before officially signing, the owners had already been taking off all of the poison ivy and tangling vines completely surrounding the entire house. One week later after the auction, a new roof was added and all of the chimneys had new copper flashings, linings, and caps; the entire house was also re-tuck pointed, making the stone house more viable and pleasing. Shortly thereafter, the early-19th-century el (a cobbled addition to the back of the stone house, added in the 19th century), was bulldozed with only the fireplace chimney intact in the rubble.[102] During the demolition, a water main was struck (which one worker recorded on his I-phone with the label of “Old Faithful”), two female masons drilled for days in the old stone house to cut channels into the thick stone walls for future electric wires and water pipes (with huge gusting billows of dust flowing from every window and door), and it took ages to find any plasterer in Kentucky to construct the former exterior walls of the stone house.[103]

Subsequently, the land on the Curtis Pike stone house was then cleared for a modern addition that would then double the size of the house to approximately 7,000 sq. ft. The new owners also restored the old two-room cellar below the stone house (that had a mud-floor, low ceilings, iron-bar windows, and shackles for the Hawkins family slaves). They added electricity and insulation to the two cellar rooms; concrete supports of 1 ft. each were added to all of the walls in the cellar’s two rooms, the former dirt floors were cemented, and three new custom-built windows were added to replace the bars on the exterior windows (one interior window separating the two cellar rooms still retains a window with the original iron bars).[104] Additionally, three insert wood-heating stoves were added to the fireplaces in the stone house; water lines were created for the new stone house bathroom (tub, toilet, and sink); and electricity was also provided to each of the rooms, with an electric wall heater for the third floor two rooms.[105] All of the original woodwork in the stone house was repaired (and re-stained); the original floors (on three levels – ash on the first floor, and yellow pine on the second and third floors) were repaired, sanded, and fully re-finished. Additionally, the artistic craftsman details were sympathetically finished on all of the staircases, as they would have been in the 1790’s, with the addition of gold metal “dust angels” to the corners of the stairways.

            In June 2010, the new owners of the Nathan Hawkins House attended the “quarterly meeting of the Madison County Historical Society” in Richmond, KY. Will Updike, who was then completing a survey of the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) sites in Madison County, discussed the tax credit program for historic properties to those in attendance. At the meeting, it was reported that “one of the county’s oldest homes, know [sic “known”] as the Nathan Hawkins House built in 1790, is to be restored this year. It will become the home of Eastern Kentucky art [art history] teacher [professor] … and her husband.” “… [T]he Nathan Hawkins House was one of a few representative samples included in a PowerPoint projection” by Updike in the Madison County Historical Society presentation concerning the county’s remaining few remaining properties from that era.[106] The new owners never accepted the Kentucky historic tax credit for restoring the house because of the restrictions on the addition (with no restrictions mentioned concerning the restoration of the stone house). Dr. Sweely, with a Ph.D. in Architectural History and Art History from the University of Melbourne, Australia, wanted to pull the old stone house into the 21st century and design a complimentary addition, sympathetic to the architecture – outside and inside (unifying the design) to the late-18th-century “mansion.”[107]

On July 21, 2009, the firm of Fitzsimons Office of Architecture, Inc., of Lexington, KY, with Greg Fitzsimons as principal architect (a specialist in historic preservation)[108] provided plans for a modern addition, in accordance to the new owner’s plan, prepared “creatively” using Microsoft Paint on her computer that would be sympathetic to the architecture of the old stone house.[109] The builder of the addition was Mark A. Wilds of TMW Construction Co. of Richmond, KY, known for his energy-efficient residences in the area.[110] Every element in the addition was designed to resemble or mimic the age or era of the old stone house, including the stone exterior, the windows (their design and their placement), the baseboards and floorings, and all of the fixtures, including the Venetian bronze faucets. The flooring in the addition was sympathetic to the flooring in the stone house: wide-wooden floor boards were installed that were hand-scrapped golden teak to resemble those in the stone house. The third floor was finished with two rooms and seven closets for the family’s seasonal holiday ornaments and luggage, plus their valued collection of model trains, some dating back to the early 20th century.

Since 2010, the most drastic changes were made to the property on Curtis Pike. It took nearly ten years to remove the number of beer bottles, discarded kitchen appliances, “zillions” of tires, and cans strewn over all of the acreage. Two old refrigerators plus dozens of old tires were removed near the surrounding Silver Creek that wraps around the two-thirds of the property. With the help and a grant from The Kentucky Forest Stewardship Program, from the KY Division of Forestry, approximately 1,000 saplings were planted around the eastern and western portions of the 50 acres of the farm in the three large paddocks. These species included Red Buds, PawPaws, Sugar Maples, Kentucky Coffee Trees, and Hickories.[111] At the time these saplings were planted, a month of severe drought occurred; however, although it was thought than many trees did not survive in the areas planted, in 2018, these trees survived the drought and were now about 5-ft. tall and bloom in profuse colors during the springtime in gorgeous white, pink, and purple.[112]

            In addition to restoring the old stone house, adding modern amenities for the 21st century, and creating an addition, the new owners erected a 1,600 sq. ft. modern house for their son on the property, distant and unseen from the stone house. This new architecturally-designed house consists of an open-plan living room (with a buck stove and stone hearth) that opens up to a dining room and kitchen with three bedrooms (walk-in closet), and two full bathrooms. This second house (a modified French-Provincial design), has two porches and a very large deck off of the dining room. This second house on the property also has a separate private driveway from the back barn and was also fully landscaped and fenced, with two “fierce” stone lions ushering guests into their son’s own part of the farm.

Kimberly Owens, J and K Kreations Photographers, Richmond, KY, Nathan Hawkins House, façade, October 12, 2020.

The family also fully up-righted, restored, and painted both severely leaning historic barns, also adding a three-bay horse run-in to the third paddock. It took three years to clean out, excavate, and rebuild the crumbling stone ice house (of garbage – including tires, refrigerators, clothing, shoes, toys, bottles and cans, etc.). They also added solar troughs to the three large paddocks, buried all electrical wires across the farm scaring the landscape (telephone and internet wires), and added a solar fencing unit to the back paddock for the sheep and llama. Lastly, there is a dilapidated workers’ cottage in the trees near the road and a historic 19th-century corn crib with an antique wooden wagon (circa 1900).[113] This historic renovation project was massive, and it took the family around five to six years and an inordinate amount of money in order to complete and finally finish everything on the buildings and the farm. A stone detached garage (to match the house) was added in the front yard in 2019. Instead of cement sidewalks, the walkways to both houses are stone slabs, in keeping with the historic ambience.

Kimberly Owens, J and K Kreations Photographers, Richmond, KY, Nathan Hawkins House, side view with the 2011/2012 addition, October 12, 2020.

            In June 2020, amid a worldwide pandemic, the current owners (now in their mid-70’s and retired) placed the Nathan Hawkins stone “mansion” and property up for sale.[114] In 2009, the stone house might have been demolished if the 101-acre farm had been purchased by any other family or the three developers attending the 2009 auction in order to create another gated community (there are many on the Curtis Pike Road).[115] Since the unusual auction in May 2009 (only 15 hours after the massive tornado ripped through Madison County), the current owners lovingly restored and renovated every inch of the stone house, farm, and barns, with many additions for their family.

Many words could be spent here on the twelve years that the current owners took to demolish, excavate, renovate, design, and restore the property and its buildings. Unfortunately, no coins, weapons, arrow heads, or anything else of import has ever been found on the property except for a few buttons, square nail heads, plastic animals, baby shoes, and a tiny bottle of sperm whale oil (maybe for a sewing machine) – all of which will all be turned over to the next owner. This also includes the two large framed maps from 1876, pictures of the bridge collapse on Silver Creek, and the three national, state, and regional historical awards/citations framed on the wall in the living room commemorating the importance of the Nathan Hawkins House in Kentucky’s history. For the past four years, their Maremma Italian sheep dog (that actually “hates” their sheep) has dragged across the property many special findings (including pizza boxes, large drink bottles, soda and beer cans, and livestock body parts, including mandibles, skulls, and ribs – she is a superb “environmentalist.” However, the family had also hoped that she (“Kerriebelle”) would eventually bring home a prehistoric stegosaurus skeleton to their front door in order to “pay her way” – no such luck!

Over the past 11 years, a myriad of people have toured the house (perhaps in order to make sure that the stone house had been lovingly restored by its new inhabitants), including members of the Hawkins, Ballard, Hagan, Adams, and Curtis families. Between 2012/14, the new owners often gave around two to three house and farm tours each month. Additionally, some of the professor’s Eastern Kentucky University’s faculty colleagues and students (from the Department of Art and Design and the EKU Honors Program) have also asked to see or “use” the property. EKU/Winchester artist Lisa Tyler painted the back barn during a fierce wind spree; 6th grader Natalea Clark of Foley Middle School, Berea, KY, wrote an essay on the house for a local school competition; Lexington professional photographer Sarah (Bucknam) Jenk staged photo shoots on two different occasions (also considering to host her future wedding on the property); EKU student Madeline Lee created a YouTube project of the “mansion” and its history;[116] Kentucky regional landscape artist Phil Crewe painted a stunning luminescent portrait of the Silver Creek crossing to the other side of the property (an oil painting that the owners purchased for the house); and a local youth group from the Richmond First United Methodist Church came to pet and feed the sheep and llama with their youth pastor, Jamie Jordan. The farm, noted as a “waterfront property,” is surrounded on three sides by the winding Silver Creek that has been memorialized in recent YouTube videos online to the lilting music of Pachelbel’s Canon in D, plus the autumn changing colors of the leaves around the property to the music of Autumn Leaves by virtuoso pianists Ferrante and Teicher.[117] Lastly, some EKU students and their parents have come to lunch, tour the house and property, and feed the sheep and llama, including one student from Iran, another from Kyrgyzstan with his parents visiting the United States for his graduation, and another student with her father (who was more interested in the owners’ 1959 TR-3 sports car in the tobacco barn), majoring in Anthropology and soon to go off to study in Madagascar.

Following the massive tornado in May 2009, the Nathan Hawkins stone house could have been left to decay (as it had been for over 50 years in the community), bulldozed down as a relic, or ignored in situ as a housing development was built around it. When it was purchased in 2009, the interior was hopeless and in serious decline – derelict and unlivable, and not in the “very good” condition that Ohna Lee Hagan reported to the Kentucky Historic Resources Inventory in 1982.[118]

Today, the Nathan Hawkins “mansion” is a fully restored property that is now protected by the US National Historic Trust, a Landmark property of the KY Historic Trust, and a Bluegrass Landmark Property.[119] The current family has renovated and preserved the record of this pioneering Kentucky history when the land was a part of American expansion in the colony of Virginia and finally as a part of the fledgling Commonwealth of Kentucky. It is now time for another family to enjoy and preserve this property and historic home in order to create a new chapter in Kentucky’s rich and varied architectural history in the 21st century.[120] To again quote Kentucky’s fiction novelist Rebecca Patrick-Howard (2014), “the stone house is definitely a time worn structure”[121] – worthy of further historic preservation – specifically for its significance in the early history of American westward settlement in the late-18th century in the new Commonwealth of Kentucky.

About the author: Dr. Gay Sweely, Associate Professor emeritus, Eastern Kentucky University (EKU), taught art history for 40 years in three countries. Hailing from Chicago, she attended the Junior School of the Art Institute of Chicago, graduated BA (cum laude) from Illinois Wesleyan University, MA from the University of Utah (Phi Kappa Phi honors), Certificate of Proficiency from Canterbury University (NZ), and dual PhDs from the University of Melbourne (AUST) in architectural history and art history. In Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, she was responsible for documenting nine structures for historical preservation. At EKU, in addition to teaching in the Department of Art & Design, she also taught in the History Department and the EKU Honors Program (Sheltowee Award). In 2015, she received the prestigious Roark Award for her research on African-American art. She co-authored and edited Becoming Australians: The Movement towards Federation in Ballarat and the Nation, 2001. With two former EKU students, she is currently researching a landmark residence in Danville, KY. She acknowledges Susan Mullins, CPA (a descendant of Nathan Hawkins, Jr.) for her assistance with family research in Spotsylvania, VA.

Endnotes:


[1] Rebecca Patrick-Howard, The Haunting of Windwood Farm: A Ghost Story: A Haunted House Paranormal Mystery, Taryn’s Camera Series, Book 1. Mistletoe: n. p., 2014, p. 3.

[2] Dr. Charles Hay, Archivist emeritus, EKU Library, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, KY, interview by the author, September 24, 2009.

[3] In Nathan Hawkins’s papers in Madison County, KY, he refers to his home as a “mansion” (with the quote marks being his own). Deposition of Nathan Hawkins, Madison Co., KY Deed Book A, p. 82. Amy McIntosh, Eastern Kentucky graduate student, stated that one of the wills that she researched on the Nathan Hawkins house in Richmond, KY, recorded “120 acres Silver Creek and a ‘Mansion,’” from her research files turned over to the author in 2009, Richmond, KY.

[4] Concerning “The Virginia Land Law of 1779,” see “Land Disputes in Western Virginia,” http://lawlibrary.wm.edu/wythepedia/index.php/Land_Disputes_in_Western_Virginia, accessed on March 5, 2021. Also see “Surveying,” The Kentucky Encyclopedia, John E. Bleber, ed., The University of Kentucky Press, Lexington, KY, 1992, p. 862.

[5] National Governors Association (NGA), “Gov. Benjamin Harrison” (1726-1791), https://www.nga.org/governor/benjamin-harrison/, accessed on March 5, 2021.

[6] Land Office Treasury Warrant, Survey no. 759 (and drawing no. 342), ordered on October 15, 1779 and completed/issued on July 31, 1783. Courtesy of the Secretary of State of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, letter to the author, Richmond, KY, dated July 1, 2009. “John Bryant, patriot ancestor of Michael C. Sanderson,” Georgia Society Sons of the American Revolution, Fayetteville, GA, Marquis de Lafayette Chapter, https://www.marquisdelafayette.org/john-bryant/, accessed on March 6, 2021.

[7] “Revolutionary War Pension Application of John Bryant: State of Kentucky, County of Garrard,” 1833; and “Revolutionary War Pension Application, Mary Bryant, Widow of John Bryant, State of Kentucky, County of Garrard,” 1840, http://sites.rootsweb.com/~kygarrar/military/bryant_rev_war_pension.html, accessed on March 10, 2020.

[8] “John Bryant, patriot ancestor of Michael C. Sanderson,” Georgia Society Sons of the American Revolution, Fayetteville, GA, Marquis de Lafayette Chapter, https://www.marquisdelafayette.org/john-bryant/, accessed on March 6, 2021.

[9] “Pension application of Nathan Hawkins,” S30457 f8VA Transcribed by Will Graves March 3, 2014, Southern Campaign American Revolution Pension Statements & Rosters, State of Kentucky, Mercer County, https://revwarapps.org/s30457.pdf, accessed on March 6, 2021. (Note: In this document, Hawkins is referred to as “Sr.” because his father, Nathan Hawkins, Sr., died in 1794.)

[10] “Nathan Hawkins in the U.S., The Pension Roll of 1835,” from the United States Senate. The Pension Roll of 1835, 4 vols., 1968, reprint, with index. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1992, https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=60514&h=52432&tid=&pid=&queryId=ff0ec8fc61931daf9cb836757df35634&usePUB=true&_phsrc=eVw629&_phstart=successSource, accessed on March 6, 2021..

[11] Land Office Treasury Warrant, Survey, No. 759.

[12] Patrick-Howard, The Haunting of Windwood Farm, p. 3.

[13] Mills Lane, “Description,” Architecture of the Old South: Kentucky & Tennessee. Savannah, GA: Beehive Press, 1993, accessed on March 6, 2021.

[14] William E. Ellis, H.E. Everman, and Richard D. Sears, Madison County: 200 Years in Retrospect. Madison County, KY: The Madison County Historical Society, 1985, p. 12.

[15] Robert N. Grise and Fred Allen Engle, Madison’s Heritage, “First Deed Ever Recorded In Madison,” vol. II (from the Richmond Register), Richmond, KY, November 12, 1969, p. 3.

[16] Excerpt from the Will of Nathan Hawkins, Madison Co., KY, probated on November 4, 1794, from The Gentry Family in America, “Nicholas Gentry and his Descendants III,” https://archive.org/stream/gentryfamilyinam1909gent/gentryfamilyinam1909gent_djvu.txt. Also see ”The Deposition of Nathan Hawkins,” Madison County, Kentucky, Deed Book A, dated 24 July 1790, p. 82.

[17] Richard Gentry, “Nicholas Hawkins,” Nicholas Gentry and his Descendants. Pt. II. The Gentry Family in America: 1676 to 1909. New York: Grafton Press, 1909, p. 109. Also see Tim Dowling’s Family Tree, Geneanet, “William Robinson,” https://gw.geneanet.org/tdowling?lang=en&n=robinson&oc=13&p=william, accessed on March 6, 2021.

[18] Virginia Co. Records, Vol. i, from “Excursus Robinson,” Nicholas Gentry and his Descendants III, accessed on March 7, 2021.

[19] “Land Claims, Early,” The Kentucky Encyclopedia. Lexington, KY, John E. Kleber (ed.), The University Press of Kentucky, p. 535. For Robinson’s service, see the “Land Office Military Warrant, No. 2018,” from the Kentucky Secretary of State, “Revolutionary War Warrants: Detailed Information about Robinson, William.” Retrieved from https://www.sos.ky.gov/land/military/Pages/default.aspx, accessed on March 7, 2021; also see “Virginians in the Continental Army.” Retrieved from http://www.virginiaplaces.org/military/revwarfought.html, accessed on March 7, 2021.

[20] Land Office Warrant (to the principal surveyor of … the Commonwealth of Virginia) for William Robinson, 7 March 1780. The May 1779 Land Laws passed by the Virginia General Assembly authorized the sale of treasury warrants to patent “waste and unappropriated land.” After proof of payment was established, the Virginia Land Office provided a printed warrant specifying the quantity of land and the rights upon which it was due, “Virginia Treasury Warrants,” Secretary of State, KY.gov., , accessed on March 6, 2021.

[21] Neal O. Hammon, “Commissioner’s Records,” Early Kentucky Land Records, 1773-1780, pp. 43 and 163, from Fincastle County, Virginia Genealogy and History. Retrieved from http://genealogytrails.com/vir/fincastle/fincastlecommissionerland.html, accessed on March 6, 2021.

[22] “Patent: VA 1578.0, William Robinson,” courtesy of Susan Mullins, August 31, 2019, from the files of the Spotsylvania Historical Association (SHA), Spotsylvania, VA, courtesy of Susan Mullins, August 31, 2019.

[23] For the Robinson family history, see “Our Family Tree: Descendants of William Robinson, 25 Mar 1709 – 13 May 1792. (Branch: Descendants of James Taylor I, died VA 1698). Retrieved from http://www.ourfamtree.org/descend.php/william-robinson/188938, accessed on March 6, 2021. (Note: Mullins is a direct descendant of Nathan Hawkins, Sr., through his son Nathan Hawkins, Jr.)

[24] Virginia Co. Records, vol. i, from “Excursus Robinson,” Nicholas Gentry and his Descendants, p. 111, https://books.google.com/books?id=QWBMAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA111&lpg=PA111&dq=Nicholas+Hawkins,+Junior,+to+388+acres+of+land+on+Silver+Creek&source=bl&ots=QdfYKmz8ty&sig=ACfU3U2fyWqnI8K1M8pXko6mDQ_OrTYLZQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjIk6P25OfrAhUHM6wKHTKmC_0Q6AEwAHoECAEQAQ#v=onepage&q=Nicholas%20Hawkins%2C%20Junior%2C%20to%20388%20acres%20of%20land%20on%20Silver%20Creek&f=false, accessed on February 15, 2014. See “Land-Office Treasury Warrant (certificate), for the Virginia Surveyor (of land and payment from William Robinson; date unrecognizable in the 1780’s), courtesy of William J. Macintire, Survey Coordinator, Kentucky Heritage Council, State Historic Preservation Office, July 1, 2009.

[25] Excerpt from the Will of Nathan Hawkins, Madison Co., KY, probated on November 4, 1794, from The Gentry Family in America, “Nicholas Gentry and his Descendants III,” https://archive.org/stream/gentryfamilyinam1909gent/gentryfamilyinam1909gent_djvu.txt. Also see ”The Deposition of Nathan Hawkins,” Madison County, Kentucky, Deed Book A, dated 24 July 1790, p. 82, accessed on July 5, 2013.

[26] See “Hakins [sic Hawkins]-Stone-Hagan-Curtis House,” Curtis Pike, Kirksville [Richmond], KY, National Register of Historic Places listings in Madison County, Kentucky, item 34, No. 88003327, February 8, 1989, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Register_of_Historic_Places_listings_in_Madison_County,_Kentucky, accessed on October 15, 2015. Also see Robert N. Grise and Fred Allen Engle, Madison’s Heritage, Volume II, A Reprint of over 100 Articles which Originally Appeared Under the Same Title in the Richmond Register, Richmond, Kentucky: 1969-82.  Richmond, KY: 1988, p. 11, “Near the mouth of Silver Creek are the ruins of an old mill known as the Stone House.” A photograph of this sturdy stone mill, built by Nicholas Hawkins in 1791, appears in the Heritage Highlights, the Publication of the Madison County, Kentucky, Historical Society, Volume 17, No. 1, Spring 2021, p. 5. The caption of the photograph reads: “Hagans Mill c1914,” under the bulleted information stating “Silver Creek: Hagan’s Mill, R. M. Hagan. Established in 1791 by Nicholas Hawkins.” The photograph appeared in the article heading of “Mills Shown on the 1876 Beers Map.” The very large stone mill could almost be confused with the Nathan Hawkins stone house above the mill, except for the fenestrations (windows), especially on the side of the house (where there are none). Unfortunately, other than this c1914 photograph, there is no trace of the mill on Silver Creek nor any information concerning its demise.

[27] United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, Continuation Sheet, sec. 7, p. 7, https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/64000239_text, accessed 17 October, 2017.

[28] Jonathan Truman Dorris and Maud Weaver Dorris, Glimpses of Historic Madison County, Kentucky. Nashville, TN: Williams Printing Company (published in cooperation with Berea Centennial Publications), 1955, p. 290.

[29] Virginia Co. Records, vol. i, from “Excursus Robinson.” Also see Mrs. Clarence Harney, “Pioneer and Historical Homes of Madison County [KY].” Prepared for and Read Before the Art and Literature Department of the Richmond Women’s Club, manuscript, February 17, 1944, courtesy of the Archives of Eastern Kentucky University.

[30] “Nathan Hawkins House,” Curtis Pike, Richmond, KY; National Register of Historic Places listings in Madison County, Kentucky, item 35, No. 83002815, June 23, 1983,National Park Service, NP Gallery: Digital Asset Management System, National Register of Historic Places, “Nathan Hawkins House, 6/23/1983. https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/83002815, accessed on January 22, 2018.

[31] ”The Deposition of Nathan Hawkins.”

[32] Unfortunately, personal dates vary on various family websites; for the purpose of this paper, “WikiTree: Where Genealogists Collaborate” was used, /www.wikitree.com/wiki/Long-6047, accessed on Marc, 2019.

[33] Nicholas Hawkins, father of Nathan Hawkins, Sr., from his will, courtesy of Susan Mullins, e-mail, February 6, 2021.

[34] Elizabeth Long’s birth year is approximate, courtesy of Susan Mullins, e-mail, February 6, 2021.

[35] Mildred Showalter Farmer, “Bits and Pieces of the Hawkins Family Puzzle,” from the Library of the Kentucky Historical Society, Frankfort, KY, pp. 44-45, 1985, https://books.google.com/books/about/Bits_and_Pieces_of_the_Hawkins_Family_Pu.html?id=GZnYHAAACAAJ, accessed on February 17, 2017.

[36] Two online family records state that “Haydon” was Catherine Hawkins’ maiden name; however, family members directly related to Nathan Hawkins, Sr., and Nathan Hawkins, Jr., state that there currently are no historical records of her maiden name, per a telephone call with Susan Mullins, February, 12, 2021. The two questionable online references to “Haydon” are from “Catherine Ann (Haydon) Hawkins (1720 – 1794),” WikiTree,

 https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Haydon-166, accessed on March 15, 2019, and “Catherine Hawkins,” Geneology – Geni,

https://www.geni.com/people/Catherine-Hawkins/6000000055972064991, March 20, 2019.

[37] According to the DAR Database, Catherine Hawkins’ date of death was 1798. This is the date that an inventory appraisement was recorded in Richmond, KY (Order Book B, p. 501). There is no will for Catherine. This order reads, “An inventory and appraisement of estate of Catherine Hawkins deceased being returned and ordered to be recorded,” per e-mail from Susan Mullins, February 22, 2021.

[38] The Gentry Family in America, “Nicholas Gentry and his Descendants III.” Retrieved from https://archive.org/stream/gentryfamilyinam1909gent/gentryfamilyinam1909gent_djvu.txt, accessed on July 20, 2017. Catherine Hawkins was the wife of Nathan Hawkins, Sr. “Nathan Hawkins Online,” Roots Web, http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=markfreeman&id=1224321, accessed on August 15, 2018. (One typed, self-published source states that Nathan Hawkins’ will of 1794 records his wife’s name as “Frances,” but clearly that is incorrect, because Nathan Hawkin’s wife was Catherine – which Hawkins spells as “Catharine” in his will. See Dorothy Ford Wulfeck, Hawkins of Virginia, the Carolinas, and Kentucky: Court Records, Queries, Brief Lineages, Genealogical Notes. Naugatuck, CT: Dorothy Ford Wulfeck, 1962, p. 59.

[39] Ancestry.com. Virginia, Land, Marriage, and Probate Records, 1639-1850 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2004. Terry Dougherty of the Spotsylvania Museum, Spotsylvania, VA, confirmed my use of the term “wheeler dealers” of land in Virginia for the Hawkins family during the 18th century in Virginia; interview of Terry Dougherty with the author, September 8, 2020.

[40] Terry Dougherty, Spotsylvania, Spotsylvania County Museum, telephone interview with the author, August 1, 2020. Dougherty related, from his knowledge, that the Hawkins family were generally known as early Baptist adherents in Spotsylvania, VA, as supported by the museum’s historical records. For additional information, see George W. Ranck, “’The Travelling Church’: An Account of the Baptist Exodus from Virginia to Kentucky in 1781 under the Leadership of Rev. Lewis Craig and Captain Illiam Ellis, with Historical Notes.” Louisville, KY: Press of Baptist Book Concern, 1891, from the “Baptist History Homepage,” http://baptisthistoryhomepage.com/travel.church.html, accessed on March 8, 2021.

[41] Richard Gentry, Excursus Hawkins, “Nicholas Hawkins,” Nicholas Gentry and his Descendants: The Gentry Family in America: 1676 to 1909. Pt. II, p. 109.

[42] Susan Mullins, e-mail to the author, February 6, 2021.

[43] From the Final Payment Voucher Received from the General Accounting Office, GSA, Central Services Administration, form 7068, courtesy of Susan Mullins, March 31, 2019.

[44] Richard Gentry, “Nicholas Hawkins,” Nicholas Gentry and his Descendants: The Gentry Family in America: 1676 to 1909. Pt. II, p. 357.

[45] “The Hawkins Maternal Ancestry of Catherine Leavell,” see “Children of Nathan (and Catherine?) Hawkins,” item 4, “Simon/Simeon Hawkins,” p. 139, from the archives of the Spotsylvania Historical Society, Spotsylvania, VA, courtesy of Susan Mullins, August 31, 2019.

[46] Excerpt from the “Will of Nathan Hawkins, Madison Co., KY,” courtesy of Susan Mullins, March 31, 2019.

[47] For Simon Hawkins, see The Gentry Family in America, “Nicholas Gentry and his Descendants III,” see “EXCURSUS HAWKINS.,” https://archive.org/stream/gentryfamilyinam1909gent/gentryfamilyinam1909gent_djvu.txt, accessed March 8, 2021.

[48] Excerpt from the “Will of Nathan Hawkins, Madison Co., KY.”

[49] At Fort Harrod, KY, one can easily see that the gravesites of settlers in the late 18th century are basically unmarked in a specific section of the cemetery, and those with markers are literally sinking into the earth, according to a visit to the site by the author, June 1, 2015. During the May 2009 auction of the Curtis Pike property, Gladys Denny, a direct relative of the former farming tenant of the property, stated that she knew that the early owners were buried at Ft. Harrod – instead of on the property; interview by the author with Gladys Denny, daughter of the former tenant, following the auction on Curtis Pike on May 3, 2009.

[50] “Hawkins/Stone/Hagan/Curtis House, Curtis Pike, Richmond, KY,” Placeography, http://www.placeography.org/index.php/Hawkins_/_Stone_/_Hagan_/_Curtis_House,_Curtis_Pike,_Richmond,_Kentucky, accessed on September 22, 2020.

[51] “The Founding of the Town of Richmond and its Establishment as the County Seat in 1798,” Heritage Highlights: Publication of the Madison County, Kentucky, Historical Society, Vol. 11, No. 2, Summer 2015, p. 21, from the Court Order Book B (1791-1801), as transcribed by Jackie Couture.

[52] Jonathan Truman Dorris and Maud Weaver Dorris, Glimpses of Historic Madison County, Kentucky. Nashville, TN: Williams Printing Company (published in cooperation with Berea Centennial Publications), 1955, p. 54.

[53] “1891 Iron Truss Bridge for Curtis Pike crossing Silver Creek” (photograph), Heritage Highlights: Publication of the Madison County, Kentucky Historical Society, Vol. 14, No. 2, Summer 2018, p. 8, telephone interview by the author with Jackie Couture, Associate Director, Special Collections and Archives, EKU Archives, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, KY, September 3, 2020.

[54] In the “Court Fiscal Minutes” of Madison County, KY, Charles Nelson sued Superintendent of Roads Glynn Hensley for personal and property damages concerning the bridge’s collapse, and the case was settled, as recorded in the 1985 minutes, p. 3, Madison County, KY, Roads Department, telephone interview by the author, September 4, 2020.

[55] “Hawkins/Stone/Hagan/Curtis House, Curtis Pike, Richmond, KY,” Placeography.

[56] “Hawkins/Stone/Hagan/Curtis House,” MA-181, Curtis Pike, ca. 1810/1835/1857, Eastern Kentucky University, Special Collections & Archives, Digital Collections, https://digitalcollections.eku.edu/exhibits/show/rediscovered/rural/hawkins, accessed on March 8, 2021.

[57] DG Beers & Co., “Map of Madison County, Kentucky,” Philadelphia, 1876, courtesy of Charles Hay, interview by the author, September 24, 2009.

[58] Excerpt from the “Will of Nathan Hawkins, Madison Co., KY.”

[59] Gladys Denny, daughter of Ballard Denny, tenant farmer for Hugh Galey, “Galey Farm” (also known as the Nathan Hawkins House and property), interview with the author on May 12, 2009. Denny and her large family resided in the very small cottage on the Galey property on Curtis Pike; her father was a tenant farmer for Galey, raising tobacco and corn; note: this dilapidated small house still exists on the property near Curtis Pike on the south-western side. Additionally, Denny and her sister were cooks and “nannies” for a number of families on Curtis Pike, and she had a wealth of knowledge of the history and folk lore about the farm and families around the early to the middle of the 20th century, per Winford (“Wink”) W. Starnes, Curtis Pike, Richmond, KY, interview by the author, August 28, 2020. Starnes also mentioned that the stone house was also a “museum” (of sorts) with pictures on the wall of people in large frames, a number of quilts with hooks from the ceilings, and extremely fine Victorian furniture in all of the rooms that Ohna Lee’s family had amassed over the years. This “museum” of her family’s goods was eradicated when the vacant stone house was broken into and looted sometime after 1983 (apparently a number of times), but there are no records to support any date for this event or the crimes other than Starnes’ recollections.

[60] Adams, interview by the author, May 12, 2009. Adams thought that the addition of the el may have been erected in the 1840’s, although he offered no documentary evidence regarding this point. He also thought that the original structure, before building the stone house, was a log cabin on the same spot, incorporated into the walls of the stone house.

[61] Ibid.

[62] The Curtis Pike property was sold on June 8, 2009 with c. 101.79 acres. Tract 1, Deed, 1920 Curtis Pike, Richmond, KY, Madison County Court House, Richmond, KY, D 646, PG 439, recorded in Plat Cabinet 25 at Slide 145, 3 pp. In late March 2020, Curtis Pike neighbor Brad Curtis purchased c. 50 acres of that total (since his property had the only land access). Thus, the remaining acreage with the stone house is now 51.92 acres. Record of sale of Tract 1-B, 1920 Curtis Pike, Richmond, KY, Settlement Statement, US Department of Housing & Urban Development, OMB No. 2502-0265, 2 pp., March 26, 2020.

 [63] Property Records, Madison County Courthouse, Richmond, KY, Deed Book 59, p. 531.

[64] Interview with Charlie Curtis by the author on May 19, 2009; interview with Charlie Adams by the author on June 16, 2009; and interview with Tom Curtis, Curtis Pike, Richmond, KY, by the author on July 3, 2009. See “Hakins [sic Hawkins]-Stone-Hagan-Curtis House,” Curtis Pike, Kirksville [Richmond], KY, National Register of Historic Places listings in Madison County, Kentucky, item 34, No. 88003327, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Register_of_Historic_Places_listings_in_Madison_County,_Kentucky, accessed on March 31, 2020.

[65] Madison County Courthouse, Richmond, KY, Affidavit of Decent, recorded in the Property Records, Deed Book 299, p. 223.

[66] Ibid. Dona Galey “inherited an undivided 1/3 interest in his (Hugh Galey’s) real estate for her life, and Hattie Gailey (his daughter) also inherited all of his real estate property subject to the life estate interest of her mother.”

[67] “Hagan House, Hagans Mill Road, Richmond Kentucky,” No. 35, National Register of Historic Places listings in Madison County, Kentucky,” February 8, 1989 (#88003337), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Register_of_Historic_Places_listings_in_Madison_County,_Kentucky, accessed on March 9, 2021.

[68] Ibid. Also see Madison County Deed Book 299, p. 223.

[69] “Hagan House,” Hagans {sic Hagan] Mill Road, Richmond, KY; National Register of Historic Places listings in Madison County, Kentucky, item 33, No. 8800337, February 8, 1989, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Register_of_Historic_Places_listings_in_Madison_County,_Kentucky, accessed on March 9, 2021. Also see “Hagan House,” National Park Service, NPGallery Digital Asset Management System, National Register Digital Assets, https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/88003337, accessed on March 9, 2021.

[70] Charles (“Charlie”) Curtis, Richmond, KY, interview by the author, May 20, 2009. For the furnishings, see “Stone House Remains on Curtis Pike (built in 1790),” Paging Women, the Madison County Newsweek, July 30, 1970, p. 5. courtesy of Sue Chenault, Appraiser, Board member, Richmond, KY, Tourism Commission.

[71] Starnes, interview with the author, September 6, 2020.

[72] “National Historic Preservation Act,” Historic Preservation, ttps://www.nps.gov/subjects/historicpreservation/national-historic-preservation-act.htm, accessed on March 9, 2021.

[73] “Kentucky Historic Resources Survey,” Kentucky Heritage Council, State Historic Preservation Office, https://heritage.ky.gov/historic-places/resources-survey/Pages/overview.aspx, accessed on March 9, 2021.

[74] Lisa M. Thompson, National Register Program Coordinator, State of Kentucky, Kentucky Heritage Council, interview August 31, 2020.

[75] “Nathan Hawkins House,” Kentucky Historic Resources Inventory, MA-168, as prepared by Mrs. Charles C. Combs, March 18 or 19, 1980, courtesy of William J. Macintire, Survey Coordinator, Kentucky Heritage Council, State Historic Preservation Office, July 1, 2009.

[76] “Nathan Hawkins House,” Kentucky Historic Resources Inventory, MA-168, as prepared by Mrs. Charles C. Combs, March 18 or 19, 1980, courtesy of William J. Macintire, Survey Coordinator, Kentucky Heritage Council, State Historic Preservation Office, per the block titled “4. Notable Features, Historical Significance and Description.”

[77] Ibid. Note: the photographs for this inventory were listed as “Roll 30,” “Picture No. 10 – 16,” July 1, 2009.

[78] Nathan Hawkins House,” Kentucky Historic Resources Inventory, MA-168, as prepared by Carolyn Murray Wooley, 1982, courtesy of William J. Macintire, Survey Coordinator, Kentucky Heritage Council, State Historic Preservation Office, July 1, 2009.

[79] “Nathan Hawkins House,” Curtis Pike, Richmond, KY; National Register of Historic Places listings in Madison County, Kentucky, item 35, No. 83002815, June 23, 1983,National Park Service, NP Gallery: Digital Asset Management System, National Register of Historic Places, “Nathan Hawkins House,” 6/23/1983. https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/83002815, accessed on March 9, 2021.

[80] Charlie Curtis, interview by the author, May 20, 2009. There is a family history that the date was carved between the two front doors earlier and that Ohna Lee Hagan only made the date more recognizable and permanent. See the Nathan Hawkins House,” Kentucky Historic Resources Inventory, MA-168, as prepared by Mrs. Charles C. Combs, March 18 or 19, 1980, courtesy of William J. Macintire, Survey Coordinator, Kentucky Heritage Council, State Historic Preservation Office, per the block titled “18. Description,” July 1, 2009.

[81] “Stone House Remains on Curtis Pike (built in 1790),” Paging Women, the Madison County Newsweek, July 30, 1970, p. 5, courtesy of Sue Chenault, Appraiser, Board member, Richmond, KY, Tourism Commission.

[82] Ohna Lee Hagan lived in the historic Hagan Mill Road house, as previously discussed, although she also owned and farmed the historic Nathan Hawkins house on Curtis Pike, Richmond, KY.

[83] “Stone House Remains on Curtis Pike (built in 1790),” Paging Women, the Madison County Newsweek, July 30, 1970, p. 5, courtesy of Sue Chenault, Appraiser, Board member, Richmond, KY, Tourism Commission.

[83] Excerpt from the Will of Nathan Hawkins, Madison Co., KY.

[84] Ibid.

[85] “Stone House Remains on Curtis Pike (built in 1790),” Paging Women, the Madison County Newsweek, July 30, 1970, p. 5, courtesy of Sue Chenault, Appraiser, Board member, Richmond, KY, Tourism Commission.

[86] Joy Ballard (Hagan family descendant), Huntington, Indiana, photograph of the c. 1930’s Hagan family reunion at the Nathan Hawkins Stone house in Kirksville, Madison County, KY.

ouse, interview by the author, June 14, 2013.

[87] Nathan Hawkins House,” Curtis Pike, Richmond, KY; National Register of Historic Places listings in Madison County, Kentucky, item 35, No. 83002815, June 23, 1983,National Park Service, NP Gallery: Digital Asset Management System, National Register of Historic Places, “Nathan Hawkins House, 6/23/1983,” https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/83002815, accessed on March 9, 2021.

[88] Nathan Hawkins House, “Historic and Notable Landmarks in the U.S.: Curtis Rd., Kirksville, Kentucky,” http://landmarkhunter.com/157403-nathan-hawkins-house/. Also see: The “National Register of Historic Places listings in Madison County, Kentucky,” No. 35, Nathan Hawkins House.” See, for example, James Everett Kibler, Our Father’s Fields: A Southern Story, Chapter 5, “Paterfamilas.” Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, 1998, p. 83. “The ends of the stair treads and risers are decorated with bleed and scroll bracketed carved from pine.”

[89] “Nathan Hawkins House, Curtis Road, Kirksville, Kentucky,” Placeography, http://www.placeography.org/index.php/Nathan_Hawkins_House%2C_Curtis_Road%2C_Kirksville%2C_Kentucky

[90] Ibid., “History.” The photograph and copy no longer exists on this website, accessed on March 9, 2021.

[91] Carolyn Murray Wooley, Early Stone Houses of Kentucky. Lexington, KY: The University of Kentucky Press, 2008. For the square newel caps, refer to p. 63; for the carved staircase stringboards, refer to p. 141. Itinerant carpenters traveled around the countryside with their historic pattern books to add carpenter’s details to new homes (such as Owen Biddle in the early 19th century). The staircase scrolling designs at the Nathan Hawkins’ house are extremely unique in Kentucky. For a reference to Biddle’s influence on these carpenter’s designs, see “Biddle, Owen (1774-1806),” best known for his “handbook” on architectural designs, including carpenters’ wooden scrolling additions on staircases, https://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/app/ar_display.cfm/23885, accessed on March 9, 2021.

[92] “Absolute Auction,” Sat, June 13, 2009, 10:00 A.M., 125+ acres to be sold in 3 Tracts,” The Home of the Hagan Gristmill,” with a viewing on Sunday, June 7, 2009, 520 Hagan’s Mill Road, Madison Co., KY. Auction flyer, Hershel Miller Auction Co., Richmond, KY (with the land plat on the reverse side of the flyer with the three tracts). Also see “Absolute Auction, Sat, June 13th 2009 10:00 A.M.,” Madison County Advertiser, Vol. 21, No. 11, Wednesday, June 3, 2009, p. 5. This article explains the three tracts up for action, carries a photograph of the old wooden house, and enumerates the family items for sale following the land auctions, leaflet.

[93] “Absolute Auction,” Sat, May 9th, 2009, 10:00 A.M.160 +/- Acres Sold in 3 Tracts, House & 101.79 acres ….” 1920 Curtis Pike, Richmond, Madison County, KY. Auction flyer, Hershel Miller Auction Co., Richmond, KY, leaflet.

[94] Kandie Adkinson, Admini8strative Supervisor, Land Office Division, for Trey Grayson, Secretary of State, Commonwealth of Kentucky, Frankfort, KY,  letter and contents to the author, July 1, 2009.

[95] For additional information concerning the Revolutionary War Supply Tax (especially in Virginia), see John D. Sinks, Genealogist General, “Revolutionary Taxes as Evidence of Patriotic Service,” NSSAR Genealogy Seminar, Spring Leadership Meeting, March 6, 2015, https://wvssar.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/revolutionary_taxes_as_evidence_of_patriotic_service.pdf, accessed on March 9, 2021. Information concer5ning the Revolutionary War Supply Tax (1783) and Nathan Hawkins, Sr., was provided by Susan Mullins, telephone call, March 12, 2021.

[96] Susan Mullins, per her family’s documents from the Spotsylvania, Virginia, Historical Society, e-mail February 22, 2021.

[97] “Nathan Hawkins House,” Curtis Pike, Richmond, KY; National Register of Historic Places listings in Madison County, Kentucky, item 35, No. 83002815, June 23, 1983,National Park Service, NP Gallery: Digital Asset Management System, National Register of Historic Places.

[98] Andy Mead, Lexington Herald-Leader, “Madison County [KY] Tornado Was an F3,” May 12, 2009, updated on Nov. 12, 2015; https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/counties/madison-county/article43998921.html, accessed on March 9, 2021.

[99] Hershel Miller, auctioneer, Hershel Miller Auction Co., Richmond, KY, interview with the author on May 9, 2009.

[100] Wilds, interview with the author, Richmond, KY, October 10, 2010.

[101] Deed, Madison County Courthouse, D646, PG440, Misc. Book 196, at p. 432; Plat Book/Page025145; and Deed Book 646, Deed p. 439. At closing, the deed was produced by William Hagan and Wilma Hagan, Attorneys-in-Fact for Ohna Lee Hagan under Power of Attorney for $368,000-for the house and 101.79 acres to Stephen W. Sweely and Gay C. Sweely on June 8, 2009.

[102] Adams, interview by the author, May 3, 2009. Adams stated that he thought that the el addition was built in the 1840’s. During the same interview, Adams also believed that the stone house was built over an early cabin on the property predating 1790.

[103] The stone masons and the plasterer were finally contacted at the yearly summer celebration of the Madison County Historical Society, with the assistance of Dr. Charles Hay, interview by the author, August 10, 2010.

[104] In 2014, the crude cellar (with a dirt floor) was dug 15 inches below the ground level in order to raise the roof so that you did not have to bend over in the area, 12-inch cement stanchions (massive cement walls) were added to support the walls, and cement was laid on the floors in both rooms to provide for a modern surface. Additionally, the irons bars were removed from the exterior windows and three custom-made windows were constructed (one remains on the interior), wires to provide lighting to both rooms were added to the ceiling, and the entire ceiling was insulated. The propane tank was removed, a sump pump was added, and new doors were added to the outside and to the basement of the new addition. These two rooms were reported to have been the slaves’ quarters with the heating fireplace (the kitchen area probably would have been outside of the house) that had a bread-rising rectangle area, and the many shackles had been long removed, although the scars of these remain. The cellar “holes” that were reported to have been used to shoot Indians and invaders, probably were cemented over by Ohna Lee Hagan, as reported by Charlie Curtis, interview by the author, May 20, 2009.

[105] Note: adding electricity and outlets to a 1790 stone house with 24-inch walls was no little feat. For two weeks, a supervisor oversaw two women with drills (and masks) into the stone house to create channels for electrical lines. From the backside of the house (north end), you could readily see the dust clouds from their drilling efforts; this was recorded on April 17, 2011.

[106] Bill Robinson, Senior News Writer, “Preserving Our History,” Richmond Register, June 22, 2010, htts://www.richmondregister.com/news/local_news/preserving-our-history/article_bff2d92d-0127-53d0-ac17-352ca90784d8.html, accessed on March 9, 2021.

[107] See, for example the discussion on tax credits by Janie-Rice Brother, “EKU Needs to Do a Better Job with Its Historic Structures,” Opinion section, Richmond, KY, Herald-Leader, Sunday, August 2, 2020, p. 3C. “Listing in the NRHP (National Register of Historic Places) also does not, contrary to popular belief, dictate how you use a house, what colors you paint it, or what sorts of materials you use when you carry out work on the building – unless you are utilizing historic tax credits.”

[108] Tom Eblen, “Bourbon County’s Home Tour …,” concerning architect Greg Fitzsimons, “a Lexington architect who specializes in historic preservation ….” October 16, 2012, www.kentucky.com › local › tom-eblen › article44383056, accessed on March 9, 2021.

[109] Architectural plans for 1920 Curtis, Pike, Richmond, KY, architectural drawings of the three floors of the old stone house and cellar, plus the new addition, provided by Greg  Fitzsimons, owner and principal architect, Fitzsimons Office of Architecture, Inc., of Lexington, KY, per the author on July 21, 2009.

[110] “Mark Wilds: Energy Homes, A lifetime of Savings,” https://www.markwilds.com/, accessed on March 9, 2021.

[111] Kent Slusher, KY forester superintendent, Kentucky Division of Forestry, program applied for by the owners on November 24, 2010 (and approved), forestry.ky.gov.

[112] Anthony Parks, “Change of Seasons on Silver Creek” (7:35 minutes), June 11, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27HYCS1i25E&feature=youtu.be accessed on February 10, 2021.

[113] Following the auction of the old stone house and farm in May 2009, there was a separate auction (at the end of the proceedings) for the wooden wagon in the corn crib. This was an unusual part of the auction, but the Sweely family (now the new owners of the property after auction in May 2009), also purchased the wooden wagon in the corn crib for $100 at auction.

[114] The Sweely family regrets leaving the house and farm, but they need to downsize at this time because of their ages and lack of farm workers. They will forever love this gorgeous house and property that they had the opportunity to restore and design in the community of Richmond, KY.

[115] Wilds, interview by the author, April 12, 2011. The author asked about the seriousness of the prospective builders and land speculators at the auction of the stone house on Curtis Pike, Richmond, KY, in May 2009.

[116] Madeline Lee, “The Nathan Hawkins House,” EKU, Video Production Class, YouTube, October 13, 2014, 5:13 minutes, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBle0k_Kubs&ab_channel=MadelineLee.

[117] Parks, “Change of Seasons on Silver Creek” (7:35 minutes), June 11, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27HYCS1i25E&feature=youtu.be, accessed on November 2, 2020.

[118]  “Nathan Hawkins House,” Kentucky Historic Resources Inventory, MA-168, as prepared by Carolyn Murray Wooley, 1982, courtesy of William J. Macintire, Survey Coordinator, Kentucky Heritage Council, State Historic Preservation Office, July 1, 2009 accessed on March 9, 2021.

[119] Although the house and property (farm) are historic landmarks, the Sweely family did not accept the historic property funding for the repairs/renovations to the old stone house or the addition; thus, future families are able to create additions or restorations to the house, barns, second house, or the property as they see fit. Nevertheless, the Nathan Hawkins house and property are still historic in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and have been accorded a number of seminal awards for its importance in the Bluegrass Region, the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and at the national level of historic importance in American history. The Nathan Hawkins House was placed on the Register of the National Historic Trust on June 23, 1983, by Ohna Lee Hagan; it was placed on the Register of the Kentucky Heritage Council as a Kentucky Landmark in 2010 by Dr. Sweely; and it was also listed as a Landmark Property of the Bluegrass Trust for Historic Preservation on March 13, 2013, also by Dr. Sweely.

[120] Parks, “1920 Curtis Pike Farm for Sale” (6:08 minutes), June 11, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZFMnFRSZK0.

[121] Patrick-Howard, The Haunting of Windwood Farm, p. 3.

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