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Submitted: 1/22/15 • Approved: 1/23/15 • Last Updated: 1/26/15 • R1058558-G1058557-S3
Martha R. NUNNELEY Hawkins, daughter of Joseph Alexander & Nancy EASLEY Nunneley
Wife of Benjamin C. Hawkins, md. ca 1842; they were the parents of nine children
The tombstone of Martha R. Hawkins reads:
Martha R., wife of Benjamin C. Hawkins
Born December 25, 1825
Died September 25, 1888
May She Rest In Peace
Then at the bottom of the stone - carved in a completely different style of writing it reads:
Benjamin C. Hawkins was married to ____(corner missing but should read Martha) R. Nunnley _______42 (should read 1842)
After Martha's death, Benjamin remarried on 29 September 1890 in Carroll County, Arkansas, to Elizabeth J. HAYES Smith Stone Arnett. On the Marriage record she is listed as E. J. Arnett of Huntsville. Benjamin is listed as 76 years old and Elizabeth as 58 years old when they married.
In the 1900 census Benjamin and Elizabeth are still living in Piney Township of Madison County (where Martha's grave is located). Benjamin C. Hawkins died on 31 August 1900, just a few months after the census was taken.
This little cemetery is in very poor shape and the tombstones have been broken in pieces years ago, with parts of them still missing. The question is.... was Benjamin buried beside his first wife, Martha R. NUNNELEY Hawkins??? And if so, was his name merely added to the bottom of her tombstone ??? Part of the bottom of Martha's tombstone is missing so was Benjamin's birth and death date listed on that missing piece??
We have been told that Benjamin is buried here and Benjamin's grave cannot be found anywhere else, so it seems from the facts that he was probably buried here beside Martha. We are listing his memorial in this cemetery.
Benjamin's second wife, Elizabeth HAYES Hawkins, is buried in the Rogers Cemetery at Rogers, Benton County, Arkansas. Her Find A Grave memorial # is 90666982.
Contributed on 1/22/15 by jrussell44
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Record #: 1058558