She is married to Ezekiel Hawes.
They got married about 1797 at Sampson County, North Carolina.
Child(ren):
In an affidavit to obtain her Rev. War widow's pension, A.D. Vann made an oath that he was present and witnessed the marriage of Ezekial Hawes and Bartheney Vann which took place at his father's house. A.D. Vann was obviously closely related to Bethany, perhaps brother, nephew or cousin. He is found in Sampson Co, NC 1840 census and perhaps in 1830, from which we conclude he was most likely born in 1790. He would have then been 7 years old when Ezekiel and Bethany married in "his" father's house in 1797.
DeKalb
Jany. 8, 1844
Letter from Benj. C. Oppelt to E. L. Edwards asking whether Bethany Hawes was entitled to receive the last 6 months' (or one full year's)pension which was owed to Ezekiel at the time of his death and whether she was eligible for a widow's pension.
Bethany applied for a pension under the Widow Act, July 29, 1848. She was placed on the Mississippi Suspended Roll and further evidence was being sent by her attorney to have the pension reinstated.
James G. Austin, Atty.
(Bethany's claim was rejected. There is no date on the form and no reason given. The reason must have been the lack of PROOF of her marriage to Ezekiel Hawes because of subsequent letters.- rfc)
State of Mississippi, Kemper County
7 June 1850
Appeared before James F. Bohanon, Judge of Probate Court, Bethany Hawes, of said county, aged abt. seventy years..."makes the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the provisions made by the Act of Congress passed the 29th day of July, AD, 1848. That she is the widow of Ezekiel Hawes who was a private in the Revolutionary War with Great Britain and the United States. She further declares that she was married to the said Ezekiel Hawes before the year 1800 and had one child by the said Ezekiel Hawes, but does not recollect at what precise time they were married.. Said Ezekiel Hawes died sometime in the month of February, AD, 1841." They were not married prior to his leaving service, but they were married prior to January 2, 1800.....
Bethany X Hawes (her mark)
(Something major must have happened on January 2, 1800. We think it may have been the birth of a child. We have speculated that the date might be the birth date of Nancy Haws? Hudson. All dates seem to fit. - rfc)
James F. Bohannon, Judge of Probate Court
Kemper County
State of Mississippi
I certify that I believe that Bethany Hawes is unable from bodily infirmity to attend court in order to make this declaration as above the 7th day of June, AD, 1850.
James F. Bohannon, Judge
State of Mississippi
Kemper County
June 11, 1850
Walter Hutson deposed before James F. Bohannon, Judge of the Probate Court, that he first became acquainted with Bethany Hawes and Ezekiel Hawes in 1799; they were then living together as man and wife in Sampson County, N.C. and were reputed to be lawfully married and that he was intimately acquainted with the said Bethany ever since and that he was well acquainted with the said Ezekiel Hawes unto the time of his death which occurred in February, 1841 in Kemper County. He stated that Ezekiel and Bethany lived together as husband and wife for some forty years before the death of the said Ezekiel. He believes they were lawfully married in 1797.
Walter X Hutson
his mark
State of Mississippi
Kemper County
June 28, 1850
Benjamin C. Oppelt appeared before James F. Bohannon, Judge of the Probate Court, and swore that he was well acquainted with Ezekiel Hawes, Sr. during his lifetime; that he first became acquainted with him in 1837 or 1838 in Kemper Co. He stated that he had acted for Ezekiel in the matter of getting his pension removed from North Carolina to Mississippi and that through the agency of the Honorable Jacob Thompson it was at last effected and that the amount Ezekiel received was to the best of his memory $300 and was paid to him by a check on the Receiver at Columbus, Mississippi some time during the summer of 1841. He stated that he turned the money over to Bethany Hawes since Ezekiel had departed this life some time before the draft was received. Oppelt stated that he knew Ezekiel and Bethany during this period and they were living together as man and wife and had grown children living with them in the house and several married children living in the neighborhood. He reported that he had heard it stated that they were members of the Church and that they stood fair in the community as moral and upright people.
House of Representatives
July 22, 1850
Letter from Bethany's representative in Congress to the pension office with an application attached. He requested that they communicate with him any information which needed to be given to the applicant.
Signature illegible - it is perhaps, McQuillie
Additional evidence was presented by James Austin, Atty on April 4, 1853 and he requested a re-examination of the case. The evidence was filed as follows:
December 7, 1852 (might be 1853?)
The additional evidence was a letter from the Clerk of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions of Sampson County, NC (a Mr. Beaman) stating that he had searched the records of Sampson County looking for proof of the marriage of Ezekiel Hawes and Bethany Vann and could find none. He further stated that NO records of marriages had been kept in the county until the year 1850.
Treasury Department
Second Comptroller's Office
June 15, 1853
The Widow of Ezekiel Hawes, deceased, has been paid the remainder of his pension at this Department from the 4th of March, 1840 to the 20 February, 1841.
Additional evidence in favor of Mrs. Bethany Hawes, widow of Ezekiel Hawes was filed on May 24, 1859.
The evidence was an affidavit reproduced as follows:
State of N. Carolina, Sampson County
This day came A.D. Vann before me, W.L. Robinson, a Justice of the Peace in and for said county and maketh oath that he was present and witnessed the marriage of Ezekiel Hawes and Bartheney Vann of said county and state and they were married at his father's house.
Sworn to and subscribed before me, W.L. Robinson this 18th day of February, AD, 1854
(A.D. Vann was obviously closely related to Bethany - perhaps her brother, her nephew, or a cousin. He is found in Sampson County, North Carolina census records in 1840 and perhaps in 1830 as follows:
Sampson County, NC Census, 1830
Addorum Vann 2 m. < 5; 1 m. 5 - 10; 1 m. 40 - 50; 1 f. < 5; 2 f. 10 - 15; 1 f. 30 - 40
Sampson County, NC Census, 1840
A.D. Vann, 1 m. 10 - 15; 1 m. 40 - 50; 1 f. 10 - 15; 1 f. 15 - 20
Therefore, A.D. Vann was most likely born in 1790. He would have been 7 years old when Ezekiel and Bethany married in "his" father's house in 1797. - rfc)
Washington City, D.C.
21 Dec. 1859 (might be 1857)
Letter from S.A. Pugh to Hon. Geo. C. Whiting., "I herewith enclose you additional evidence of the marriage of Ezekiel Hawes and Bethany Vann for a Revolutionary pension from the State of Mississippi, a suspendee. I trust the evidence enclosed may be regarded as sufficient to establish the fact of marriage--the proof of service already being admitted."
(It is unclear what the evidence was.-rfc)
This concludes the information which we obtained from the pension file. It appears from this that Bethany Vann Hawes was still alive in 1859 (1857?) since an attorney was still pursuing her case that year. She was NOT present in the 1860 census of Kemper County, Mississippi nor have we been able to locate her in any other census. We presume that she is deceased by 1860.
We then continued our research into the Haws families in Kemper County, MS by a thorough search of the material available to us in Mississippi records. Our search was made more difficult by the fact that the Kemper County Courthouse was burned twice, the second time in 1912.
Bethany Vann | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ezekiel Hawes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The data shown has no sources.