Amos Hawks

Amos Hawks 1838-1911

Amos Hawks was born March 22, 1838 on The Plains of Far West, Missouri to his parents Joseph Bryant Hawkes and Phoebe Ann Baldwin (his father's second wife). Compiler's interesting fact to note, Amos dropped the "e" in his last name at some point.

We must begin Amos' story by starting with his father's conversion to The Church. Joseph Bryant and his first wife Sophronia Alvord received a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel and joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having been baptized in January 1832, while living in Pontiac, Michigan. Some sources say they were baptized by Elder Jared Carter (Elder Carter is mentioned in D&C 79).

The Church had been organized only a few years earlier, April 6, 1830.

Joseph Bryant Hawkes is mentioned in Joseph Smith's Journal on page 91 during his visit to Nauvoo on Saturday Oct. 24, 1835 & Sunday Oct. 25, 1835. He stayed overnight with Joseph and Emma Smith in the log cabin homestead in Nauvoo on Saturday Oct. 24, 1835 and went to church with them the next Sunday morning on Oct. 25. 1835. During this visit, Joseph was shown the Abraham papyri by the prophet. These papers were translated and became the Book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price.

In August 1836, Latter-day Saints began to establish a stake of Zion at Far West. By 1838, Far West was home to 4,900 Saints. The Joseph Bryant Hawkes family were among those that came to Far West and to gather together away from persecutions. Sadly in April 1837, Sophronia Alvord Hawkes died there and at the time was buried in a cemetery west of town, but later fell into disuse and was then a cornfield without a proper marker for her final resting place. (Note Sophronia Alvord is a sister to Charlotte Alvord who married Lyman Curtis our ancestor on Dad's side)

Just a few months later, Joseph Bryant would marry again to a widow, Phoebe Ann Baldwin in about June 1837 in Far West, Missouri. Our Amos was born here as well having five half siblings, the brother closest in age to him by a few years, Joshua would form a close brotherly bond that would be the mainstay for the Hawks family and for their entire lives.

Amidst these events of change and adjustment of loosing a wife, gaining a wife and a new son, the Hawks family were forced to abandon the place by the winter months of 1839 due to severe mob persecutions and harassment. After they left, members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and a few others returned and dedicated a temple site there, in obedience to a commandment from the Lord (see Doctrine and Covenants 115:11; 118:5)

In 1839, Amos' father, Joseph Bryant, settled the family in the city of Nauvoo at the counsel of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Our Amos spent his youngest years growing up here in Nauvoo, what a time to be alive. It is certainly true that Amos and his family knew the Prophet personally, and as a child "sat on his knee" as the saying goes.

Nauvoo and temple about the time of the exodus 1846

Joseph Bryant Hawkes was called to help labor on the new temple in Nauvoo and did so for seven years, until its completion and dedication on April 30, 1846. I'm certain our Amos was at the temple sight looking on and witnessing these awesome events. Phoebe was one of the eighteen sisters who comprised the original Relief Society.

Nauvoo Temple 1846

The Hawks family suffered much through poverty and sickness during their stay at Nauvoo, having been driven from their homes and losing nearly all they possessed. April 30, 1846 the Nauvoo Temple was dedicated and in September of that same year, the Temple fell into the hands of the mob and on November 19th, it was gutted with fire. What a heartbreak that must have been to know all the hard work and effort was wasted.

Nauvoo temple burning

In 1846, Amos' Father Joseph and Mother Phebe permanently lost their health with chills and fever as a result of exposure and the hardships they were forced to endure. Although he survived these trials and sickness and eventually made his way to Utah, Joseph Bryant was never well again after living in Nauvoo. In addition to the loss of health and personal sickness, Joseph and Phoebe lost several children in Nauvoo, the oldest Samuel died of consumption, Adalie and Joseph both died young and Levi drowned in the Mississippi River. So much loss here.

It was in the month of October, after a hard battle of the few Saints that were left in Nauvoo, that they were driven out and had to flee for their lives out of the city, west across the Mississippi River into the wilderness. With little affects, they were moved with the rest of the exiles into the woods on the Iowa side. Their stock consisted of one three-year-old heifer (this heifer would be a life saver later).

Exodus from Nauvoo

After a few days they moved down to Montrose, a little town about three miles below, where they were taken into a house by a friend of his father's, James Hoten. To support themselves, they used the milk from their only heifer, and the boys, Joshua and Amos, would sell the milk to steamboaters who put in at Montrose.

Amos' father and mother were both very sick and were supported from the charity of their friends. A company of teams was sent back from Garden Grove, about 150 miles west in Iowa, where they moved to a settlement of the Saints, where Amos' married sister Lucy was living.

Amos' father's health was a little better though he was quite weak and had decided to go back East to his native land of Maine and his people and see if it would help his health. He also hoped some of his folks would help him out in his hour of need. He needed a wagon and supplies to get him to Salt Lake Valley. In the fall of 1847, about October, his father left for Maine. It is told Joseph walked to Maine and back again.

Joshua and Amos were all that was left to care for their mother. In a few weeks after his Father had gone east, his mother became a raving maniac and Amos went to live elsewhere. Phoebe was cared for by the members in the ward until Amos' father returned the spring of 1848. Phoebe had a brain tumor, and without a way to medically treat the tumor, she suffered immensely until her death.

Amos' sister Lucy and her husband, Philo Allen, had moved to Council Bluffs in the spring of 1847 and one year later they came back to gather the family, shortly after his father returned from the East. They went to live with Lucy and her family that summer and all farmed together.

Amos was baptized on April 6, 1848 at Garden Grove, Iowa. In the fall of that year they built a cabin on a farm that his father had taken up two miles south of Kanesville  Council Bluffs.

In the summer of 1850, Amos' Father convinced a widow with three children by the name of Mrs. Bowen, to come to the Hawkes home and help with housekeeping. So logically, Joseph married Mrs. Bowen, that fall August 27, 1850.

Phoebe Ann Baldwin, died in December 1850, still no better until death relieved her of her suffering. They were still living at Kanesville at the time. Father Joseph and Mother Phoebe Ann had been married for 13 years. She was 47 and he was 51.

Lucy Hawks (Amos' half sister) and Phil Allen

In 1851 they sold the farm in the spring and Amos and his father and family came to Salt Lake City in the Harry Walton/Garden Grove Company and settled in Ogden.  His father Joseph and Mrs. Bowen separated after they arrived in Ogden, after being married about one year; Joseph was now 52 years old.

On March 20, 1853, Joseph Bryant married his first wife's sister, Albina Alvord Murry, a widow. She was 39 and he was 54.

In April they moved near Spanish Fork, Utah, settling at Palmyra, a new town laid off the fall before.  Palmyra would eventually be united with and absorbed into Spanish Fork. They took forty acres of land in what was called "The Big Field," and farmed a little of it that year. Amos and Joshua spent the forepart of the season making a ditch and getting poles, they did quite a large amount of water work on the irrigation canal. That wasn't all they were doing that summer, there were always threats of Indian attacks.

A second Indian war had broken out, July 17, 1853 with Chief Walker at the root. An incident in Springville furnished him with the excuse. A white man, James Ivie, saw an Indian beating his wife and turned on the Indian with some punishment that later caused his death. As the Indian was a member of Walker's tribe the Chief at once set out on the warpath to seek revenge. These events would effect our Hawkes family living in Palmyra.

On the afternoon of July 23rd, Clark Roberts of Provo and John W Berry of Palmyra were dispatched by Col. Conover to Salt lake City with messages to General Wells asking for further orders. On reaching Summitt Creek, now Santaquin, they found he place deserted, as the settlers had fled to Payson for safety.  While riding through the town, they were suddenly fired upon by Indians. Roberts was shot through the shoulder and Berry through the left wrist. The two men rode at full speed toward Payson, arriving safely.

That same night when the two men arrived at Palmyra, they found the citizens camped in the school house. W. S. Berry and Charles Price were on guard. The Indians made a raid on the cattle at the Palmyra settlement and succeeded in getting them all out of the corral, but the guard went after the cattle and soon got them started back; another unsuccessful attack by the enemy.

On account of the Indian depredations, all the settlers on the river in what was then known as the "upper settlement" moved to Palmyra for the winter. The people stood guard all fall and winter, not knowing when the Indians might attack them.

In November 1853, Amos' stepmother died, at the age of 39, after being married to Joseph for only about eight months. She was his fourth wife. So, Joseph, Amos, and Joshua were left alone again, without anyone to do the housework, only themselves. The boys went to school that winter.

During the spring and summer of 1854, Joseph Bryant with a few other settlers went to Pres. Young to get permission to build a fort two and one-half miles east of Palmyra. Having received permission, the Hawkes family moved into this small fort (this was later called the "Old Fort") and built their own home within the fort's walls.

The fort measured 100 feet from north to south an 60 feet from east to west, about 40 acres of land. The outside walls were two feet thick and 20 feet high. To this fort there was only one entrance, two folding gates 16 feet high and built of planks two inches thick laid double (four inches thickness). The doors and windows of the houses all faced the inside of the fort, there being none on the outside. There were port holes in each of the compartments, both in the upper and lower stories. In the center of the square a well was dug which afforded water for the use of the families.

By August 12, 1854, a big peace council was held in Provo bringing the close to the Walker War of 1853 and soon the Indians grew weary of fighting. This allowed the settlers to leave the forts and go back to their homes and fields.

Joseph Bryant married a widow, his fifth wife, Catherine Cole Sterling, September 9, 1855. She had an adopted boy, Hyrum. Joseph B and Catherine went on to have two daughters together, Catherine and Saphronia. She was about 30 years old and had come from New Brunswick while Joseph was now 56 years old.

About this same time, Joseph took up two lots in Spanish Fork.  Amos and Joshua made quite a number of adobe bricks to build on Joseph's city lots. They put up a house of six rooms that fall and the next spring. It seemed that they were constantly on the move and building. Amos and Joshua worked at home most of the time, helping to get Joseph comfortably fixed in life. His health was poor and he could not do hard labor, so the heft of it fell on, Amos and Joshua.

Amos' brother, Joshua Hawkes 1836-1914
(note this branch of the family kept the "e" in Hawkes)

Amos married Mary on March 18, 1858 in Spanish Fork, Utah and on January 23, 1859 they were sealed. Wasting no time, they started their family right away and Amos Joseph was born November 1858 in Spanish Fork. Not long after Joshua White Hawks joined the family Dec 23, 1861 (our ancestor).

Amos Hawks and Mary with their infant son Amos Joseph (Joe) about 1858.

December 19, 1862 in Spanish Fork, Utah, Utah Territory, United States Amos' beloved father Joseph Bryant Hawkes, passed away. Throughout his life he had always been a strong supporter of the Prophet Joseph Smith and Brigham Young; a true Latter-Day Saint. Of his father's death his son Joshua Hawkes writes,

"My father took sick about the….of December with a cold on his lungs and died on the 19th. Loosing my father was the hardest blow to me of the whole. The loss of our eldest son and sweet babe was hard to bear, but the long years of toil and trials through which I had spent my whole life, knowing his untiring zeal and faithfulness in the Gospel and the welfare of his family which he always labored for, made it quite hard for me. His loss as a father can never be replaced this side of the Veil."

About this time, Amos and Joshua obtained some land in Spanish Fork known as the Pace Farm.  The water raised very high early in April, and commenced to overflow their land.  Quite a number of farmers began to levy against the rising water. They worked for three weeks in the water most of the time, which was very cold. They lost a part of their crop, but the land was cut in hollows, and most of the top soil washed away. By 1863 they built cabins on their farm land three miles from town.

Amos had a daughter, Agnes Evaline Hawks born March 23, 1864, what joy to have a little girl!  Their happiness too soon turned to sorrow when Agnes died May 3, 1867 at Willard, Box Elder County, Utah, just three years old. She is buried in the Willard pioneer cemetery.

Ephraim Manassa Hawks joined the family April 17, 1866 Willard, Box Elder, Utah Territory, United States. They would call him Eph.

Amos, bought himself a farm at Willard City, Box Elder, County about 1867. He wanted his brother Joshua to go with him and help him, since he had no place, he did and moved in the spring. Amos then went to Montana, leaving Joshua to care for the place and raised crops. Amos did not return until late in the fall, when they spent the winter in getting out fire-wood and attending their stock.

In the spring of 1868, Amos thought he would put out an orchard. So, he sent his brother Joshua to Salt Lake City to got $44 dollars worth of fruit trees and set them out. They raised some corn and enough wheat for their use, although the grass-hoppers were very bad and destroyed a great deal. They went to work and got out logs and put up a house for his brother that summer. Samuel Junius Hawks joined the family in the summer June 21, 1868, Willard, Box Elder, Utah. They moved into the cabin in the fall. The brothers and family were getting along quite comfortable by this time and thus they passed the winter.  By 1869, they were still working on the farm and raised a very good crop of grain and vegetables that summer.

Franklin Levi Hawks came along December 23, 1870 when the family was living in Willard. Amos had sold out his land and home at Willard not long after the birth of Franklin Levi and moved to Promontory.

By 1873 Amos and family had moved to Franklin, Idaho and put up a water-powered sawmill. It was at the intersection of Maple Creek and it sawed a great deal of lumber from Crooked Canyon. It was afterwards known as the "Gibson Mill." Amos was quite anxious for his brother Joshua to move up there, as the prospects appeared good. Here Lafayette Hawks was born April 4, 1873 Franklin, Idaho.
John Willis Hawks was their last child born to them March 3, 1876 in Franklin, Idaho.

By 1880, Amos and Agnes along with their sons decided to travel south and make their home in Mexico coming from Franklin, Idaho. (Along their journey south, one of their sons, Joshua White met and married Margaret Hunsaker while resting in St. George, Utah...our ancestors)

Continuing south in a wagon train, they never reached Mexico and when they arrived in Mesa, Arizona they decided to stay and settle. Here in the desert region, Amos and his seven sons helped to settle Mesa, Arizona and helped to organize a water system and plant fruit trees and helped it become the thriving community it would later be. They were carpenters, masons and builders using adobe bricks. His eldest son, Amos Joseph also owned a grist mill there. They are listed as a pioneer family of Mesa in 1881.

It was here in Mesa that they would experience another tragic loss, their 18 year old son Levi Franklin, just beginning his life would pass away August 8, 1887.  Aunt Mickey found out Levi was initially buried in the pioneer cemetery on University, but was brought to the Mesa City Cemetery as a re-interment sometime later.

Levi Franklin Hawks 1870-1888

They left Mesa, Arizona in about 1898 to settle in Price, Utah and by 1900, they were found in Orangeville, Utah in the census.

Brick makers, Amos Hawks family

Amos died April 12, 1911 suddenly probably of heart disease. He is buried in the Orangeville City Cemetery, Orangeville, Emery County, Utah. His wife followed him in death just nine days later.

His death notice in the newspaper reads:
Eastern Utah Advocate 1911-04-27
Gossip of Emery County
Orangeville, April 22 – The remains of Father Amos Hawks were brought over from Price, where he died, and buried her last Saturday. Father Hawks was a pioneer of Utah having come with his family in 1850. He was a stone mason and bricklayer by trade and therefore he took an active part in building up Utah and adjacent states and territories. He has resided in different places from Idaho on the north to Arizona on the south, and being very industrious and having a large family, he was always found in the lead in building up the different settlements where he resided. He leaves a good record as an honest, God fearing Latter-day Saint and a man not afraid to speak in defense of his convictions. He is survived by a wife, who is very ill and not expected to survive him long, six sons, and a large number of grandchildren. He was born on March 15, 1838. He has fought the good fight and gone to his reward. The speakers were U. E. Curtis, Jasper Robertson, and A. C. VanBuren.

Amos and Mary Hawks family about 1900-1910 Utah
Standing L-R  John Willis, Lafayette (Lafe), Samuel Junius (June), Ephraim (Eph)
seated L-R Amos Joseph (Joe), Father Amos, Mother Mary, Joshua White (Josh)