Francis L. Hawks
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
of the Episcopal Church, and a politician in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
.
After practicing law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
with some distinction he entered the Episcopalian ministry in 1827 and proved a brilliant and impressive preacher, holding livings in New Haven, Philadelphia, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and New Orleans, and declining several bishoprics. Scandal
Scandal
A scandal is a widely publicized allegation or set of allegations that damages the reputation of an institution, individual or creed...
s in the 1830s and 40s led him to posts on the American frontier, although he eventually returned to New York City.
Hawks's work on church history remains important today. On his appointment as historiographer of his church in 1835, he went to England and collected the abundant materials afterwards utilized in his Contributions to the Ecclesiastical History of U.S.A. (New York, 1836-1839). These two volumes dealt with Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
and Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, while two later ones (1863 1864) were devoted to Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
.
Hawks edited the single volume Appletons' Cyclopaedia of Biography (1856), which added American biographies to the volume edited by Elihu Rich and published in 1854 by Richard Griffin & Company (London).
Early life and career
Hawks was born in New Bern, North CarolinaNew Bern, North Carolina
New Bern is a city in Craven County, North Carolina with a population of 29,524 as of the 2010 census.. It is located at the confluence of the Trent and the Neuse rivers...
. He graduated from the state university
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
in 1815 and entered the practice of law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
. He represented New Bern in the North Carolina House of Commons in 1821. Hawks also became active in the Episcopal Church, where he took the post of lay reader
Lay Reader
A lay reader is a layperson authorized by a bishop of the Anglican Church to read some parts of a service of worship. They are members of the congregation called to preach or lead services, but not called to full-time ministry.Anglican lay readers are licensed by the bishop to a particular parish...
of his parish. Hawks felt drawn to the ministry and entered the tutelage of Bishop John Stark Ravenscroft.
Hawks quickly climbed the church ranks, becoming deacon
Deacon
Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
in 1827 and assistant minister of Trinity parish in New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
, a short while later. His preaching was widely praised, and in short order, he was ordained
Ordination
In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is...
a priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
. His next post was as assistant to Bishop White of St. James' Church in Philadelphia. He next took a position as Professor of Divinity
Divinity (academic discipline)
Divinity is the study of Christian and other theology and ministry at a school, divinity school, university, or seminary. The term is sometimes a synonym for theology as an academic, speculative pursuit, and sometimes is used for the study of applied theology and ministry to make a distinction...
at Washington College (now Trinity College
Trinity College (Connecticut)
Trinity College is a private, liberal arts college in Hartford, Connecticut. Founded in 1823, it is the second-oldest college in the state of Connecticut after Yale University. The college enrolls 2,300 students and has been coeducational since 1969. Trinity offers 38 majors and 26 minors, and has...
) in Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
.
Rectorships
In 1831, Hawks took his first church appointment, as rectorRector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
of St. Stephen's Church on the corner of Broome and Chrystie streets in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. There his sermons attracted a large congregation. On 4 October, a mere nine months since he had moved to St. Stephens', the congregation of nearby St. Thomas Church called upon him to take over as their rector. The position offered $1,500 in annual salary with an additional $500 for other expenses. Hawks turned the offer down. St. Thomas did not give up, and Hawks eventually accepted their offer on 17 December, becoming the third rector for St. Thomas Church.
Hawks's new church experienced a boom in membership after his arrival. Much of the congregation of St. Stephen's followed him to the new post, and many more congregants began attending as Hawks's fame for oratory
Oratory
Oratory is a type of public speaking.Oratory may also refer to:* Oratory , a power metal band* Oratory , a place of worship* a religious order such as** Oratory of Saint Philip Neri ** Oratory of Jesus...
spread. Eventually, the church had to be expanded with a gallery to contain the overflow. Hawks's Bible classes had an average attendance of 100 students. Philip Hone
Philip Hone
Philip Hone was Mayor of New York from 1826 to 1827. He was most notable for a detailed diary he kept from 1828 until the time of his death in 1851. His recorded diary is said to be the most extensive and detailed of his time in 19th century America.Son of a German immigrant carpenter, Hone became...
, ex-mayor of New York City, spoke for many when he wrote, "I went yesterday morning to St. Thomas' where I heard from Dr. Hawks a glorious sermon." Praise came from other clergymen, as well. Bishop Thomas March Clark of Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
wrote:
To hear him preach was like listening to the harmonies of a grand organ with its various stops and solemn sub-bass and tremulous pathetic reeds. The rector of one of the Washington churches, where Daniel Webster was an attendant, told me that after Dr. Hawks had preached for him on a Sunday morning, Mr. Webster said that it was the greatest sermon he had ever heard.
In 1833, Hawks's salary rose to $3000 with an additional $500 allowed for other expenditures; this made him the highest paid clergyman in the United States. He also received an assistant rector for St. Thomas. He was elected bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of the Southwestern region in 1835, but he declined the post, citing a lack of support for his family in what was then the American frontier.
Hawks continued to participate in other church affairs, as well. In 1832, he was appointed assistant secretary to the House of Deputies of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church. In 1833, he took a part-time post as Professor of Ecclesiastical History and Pulpit Eloquence at the General Theological Seminary
General Theological Seminary
The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church is a seminary of the Episcopal Church in the United States and is located in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan in New York....
. The following year, Hawks was named secretary of the New York diocesan convention in New York City.
Church history was another of Hawks's interests, and his writings are an important source on the early American church. In 1835, the General Convention named Hawks "Conservator of all books, pamphlets and manuscripts of this church."
Hawks's interest in history led him to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1835. There he copied important historical documents, which he used as material for a two-volume work on the church history of Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
and Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. He also wrote some nine titles under the pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
"Uncle Philip" for the publishers Harper & Brothers
Harper & Brothers
Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins.-History:James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishing business J. & J. Harper in 1817. Their two brothers, Joseph Wesley Harper and Fletcher Harper, joined them...
, which appeared in their Harper's Boy's and Girl's Library imprint series.
While in London Hawks met the American traveller John Lloyd Stephens
John Lloyd Stephens
John Lloyd Stephens was an American explorer, writer, and diplomat. Stephens was a pivotal figure in the rediscovery of Maya civilization throughout Middle America and in the planning of the Panama railroad....
, later to be renowned for his exploratory work and investigations of a number of mostly-unknown ancient ruins of the pre-Columbian
Pre-Columbian
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...
Maya civilization
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
in Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
. Stephens had just completed a nine-month tour of Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and the Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
, and several letters describing his travels had been published in an American periodical. His acquaintance with Hawks encouraged Stephens to write a book on his Middle Eastern adventures, which was a popular success.
Sixteen years later upon Stephens' early death (aged 47) from a liver illness, Hawks wrote his obituary which appeared in the first issue of Putnam's Monthly Magazine
Putnam's Magazine
Putnam’s Monthly Magazine of American Literature, Science and Art was a monthly periodical published by G. P. Putnam's Sons featuring American literature and articles on science, art, and politics...
. Hawks noted how "[i]n repeated conversations with the present writer, the attention of Mr. Stephens was [first] called to the ruins of Guatemala and Yucatan"; the two books Stephens had later written on his explorations of that region are regarded as foundational works in the then-young science of American archaeology
Archaeology of the Americas
The archaeology of the Americas is the study of the archaeology of North America , Central America, South America and the Caribbean...
.
In 1851, Hawks accepted the post of Historiographer of the Protestant Episcopal Church, which he held until 1866.
Finally, Hawks wrote and published material on general church affairs. In 1837, he partnered with Reverend Caleb S. Henry
Caleb Sprague Henry
Caleb Sprague Henry was an American Protestant Episcopal clergyman and author. He was born in Rutland, Mass., graduated from Dartmouth College in 1825 and studied theology at Andover Theological Seminary and New Haven. In 1828 he became a Congregational minister at Greenfield, Mass., and in 1833...
to put out a magazine called the New York Review. The publication, a response to the Unitarian
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
North American Review
North American Review
The North American Review was the first literary magazine in the United States. Founded in Boston in 1815 by journalist Nathan Hale and others, it was published continuously until 1940, when publication was suspended due to J. H. Smyth, who had purchased the magazine, being unmasked as a Japanese...
, lasted for a few years. Afterward, Hawks helped start The Church Record, a journal of Christian education, in 1843. This was followed in 1853 by The Church Journal.
Scandal and later life
In late 1838, Hawks became one of many targets of a trend among the American penny pressPenny press
Penny press newspapers were cheap, tabloid-style papers produced in the middle of the 19th century.- History :As the East Coast's middle and working classes grew, so did the new public’s desire for news. Penny papers emerged as a cheap source with coverage of crime, tragedy, adventure, and gossip...
to expose the alleged vices of holy men. The accuser was George Washington Dixon
George Washington Dixon
George Washington Dixon was an American singer, stage actor, and newspaper editor. He rose to prominence as a blackface performer after performing "Coal Black Rose", "Zip Coon", and similar songs...
, a man best known for his blackface
Blackface
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows, and later vaudeville, in which performers create a stereotyped caricature of a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky...
music act, who claimed that Hawks was engaging in sexual affair
Affair
Affair may refer to professional, personal, or public business matters or to a particular business or private activity of a temporary duration, as in family affair, a private affair, or a romantic affair.-Political affair:...
s. Hawks charged Dixon with libel on 31 December 1838. After a heated trial, Dixon pled guilty on 10 and 11 May 1839. The reasons for this remain a mystery, though Dale Cockrell surmises that Hawks likely did not want to face further defamation of character in trial and may have paid Dixon off; Dixon himself claimed as much in 1841. Even mainstream newspaper had begun to turn on him at this point; the New York Weekly Herald wrote that "[he] may explain and explain till doomsday—but these facts and their inferences [will] adhere."
Another scandal erupted closer to home. Hawks had opened a boys' school in 1839 in Flushing, Long Island. The school had financial difficulties and was failing within three years, and Hawks was accused of mismanaging the funds. This proved one scandal too many. Hawks resigned from St. Thomas Church on 21 October 1843.
Over the next decade, Hawks bounced from church to church. He first moved to a church in Holly Springs, Mississippi
Holly Springs, Mississippi
Holly Springs is a city in Marshall County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 7,957 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Marshall County. A short drive from Memphis, Tennessee, Holly Springs is the site of a number of well-preserved antebellum homes and other structures and...
, on the American frontier and far from the disgrace of New York. There he went to work starting another school. At the Mississippi Diocesan Convention of 1844, Hawks took center stage due primarily to his endeavors to create a Diocesan school. When the Convention called for the election of the Diocese's first bishop, Hawks was tapped. His episcopal confirmation at the General Convention was protested, with James Quarterman, a painter from Flushing, NY, alleging that Hawks had over $100,000 in outstanding debt due to financial mismanagement at St. Thomas. Though Hawks successfully defended himself and the General Convention expressed their support for him, they discharged his consent back to the Diocese of Mississippi. In the end, Hawks turned the post down. He instead moved to Christ Church in New Orleans, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. In 1847, he was named the first president of the University of Louisiana, known today as Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
. Then in 1849, he returned to New York City to pastor Calvary Church
Calvary Church (Manhattan)
Calvary Church is an Episcopal church located at 273 Park Avenue South on the corner of East 21st Street in the Gramercy Park neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, on the border of the Flatiron District. It was designed by James Renwick, Jr., the architect who designed St. Patrick's Cathedral...
. He stayed there until 1862. Hawks declined most non-clerical appointments during his time at Calvary, including an election to the Rhode Island episcopate in 1852 and a professorship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
in 1859. He continued to write, and in 1855 and 1856 he co-authored the Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan
Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan
The "Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan: performed in the years 1852, 1853, and 1854, under the command of Commodore M.C. Perry, United States Navy, by order of the Government of the United States" is a printed history, in 3 volumes, of the Perry...
with Commodore Matthew Perry
Matthew Perry (naval officer)
Matthew Calbraith Perry was the Commodore of the U.S. Navy and served commanding a number of US naval ships. He served several wars, most notably in the Mexican-American War and the War of 1812. He played a leading role in the opening of Japan to the West with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854...
.
During the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Hawks moved to Calvary parish in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
. By 1861 he was editing again, this time with William Stevens Perry
William Stevens Perry
William Stevens Perry was a 19th century bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America and an educator. He served as the second bishop of the Diocese of Iowa from 1876 - 1898....
on the Journal of the General Conventions. He began as editor of Documentary History of the Protestant Episcopal Church in 1863 and held the post until 1864. He later gave the endowment
Financial endowment
A financial endowment is a transfer of money or property donated to an institution. The total value of an institution's investments is often referred to as the institution's endowment and is typically organized as a public charity, private foundation, or trust....
for St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery Chair of Ecclesiastical History at the General Seminary. He returned once more to New York City in 1865, where he helped to start the Chapel of the Holy Saviour on 25th Street. Another project was a Spanish-speaking church called Iglesia de Santiago, where Hawks preached on occasion. Hawks died in 26 September 1866. He is buried at Christ Church in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Selected works
- 1856 -- http://books.google.com/books?id=uwALAAAAYAAJ&dq=Narrative+of+the+Expedition+of+an+American+Squadron+to+the+China+Seas+and+Japan+Performed+in+the+Years+1852,+1853+and+1854+under+the+Command+of+Commodore+M.C.+Perry,+United+States+Navy&client=firefox-a&source=gbs_navlinks_s Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan Performed in the Years 1852, 1853 and 1854 under the Command of Commodore M.C. Perry, United States Navy.] Washington: A.O.P. Nicholson by order of Congress, 1856; originally published in Senate Executive Documents, No. 34 of 33rd Congress, 2nd Session. [reprinted by London:Trafalgar Square, 2005. ISBN 1-8458-8026-9 (paper)]
- Appletons' Cyclopaedia of Biography (1856)
External links
- Page with portraits and poem texts by Hawks from Project CanterburyProject CanterburyProject Canterbury is an online archive of material related to the history of Anglicanism. It was founded by Richard Mammana, Jr. in 1999, and is hosted by the non-profit Society of Archbishop Justus...