Lydia Briscoe Hawkins
Abt 1904 and the only picture I've seen of Grandmother Hawkins.[photo missing]
The family always said Taylor Hawkins was mean to her and left her. They would be driving down a road and meet someone he would jump out of the wagon and run into the woods and meet her on down the road. Mom always thought he was wanted by the law or was a Draft Dodger. Grandmother Hawkins was one of the daughters of James Edwards and Elizabeth Jane Edwards. Elizabeth Jane came from Tenn to Texas and got a headright near New Hope (on the Dalby Springs mail route) James died in Texas aft 1850 and she was awarded the headright in her name. An old gent at the title co said she was one of the three most educated women in Texas at that time. Now back to the picture.
Grandmother Hawkins was Lydia Briscoe Edwards (4/24/1840-1/16/1916), buried in New Hope Cementery, and is abt 64 years old in the picture. She first married a Mr Bennett, dob abt 1840, m abt 1857, they had no children and he is buried in Dalby Springs Cem. Then she married James Alexander Wooten, dob 1830-bef 1880, married 1859, is buried in Dalby Springs, and was in the Civil War as a teamster (Mother's Grandfather) finally she married Taylor Hawkins, dob abt 1842, married abt 1881, left her and was buried near Parks, Ark. in the Hawkins Cementery.
This picture was made abt 1904 at New Hope, abt 4 miles from Lydia and abt 4 miles from Dalby Springs.
Grandmother Hawkins (4/24/1840), about 64, is front row on right, in left front is Ida Ella Jane Wooten-Stephen-McMillan (9/18/1868), about 36, and in her lap is my mother Cleoda Darlin McMillan (7/29/1901), and Grandmother. Back left is Carrie McMillan, (2/22/1886), abt 14, Ida's stepdaughter by William Monroe's first wife Maudie Conder. Back right is Lela Duke (9/21/1889), abt 18, who is Ida's first husband's, (Felix Anderson Stephen) sister's (Nancy Stephen-Duke who was married to A. Jobe Duke) child. My grandmother Ida raised the Duke Children, her's and Mr Stephen's, her's and my grandfather William Monroe McMillan's four, a total of 17. A. Jobe Duke (Nancy Stephen's husband) was taking his cotton to Clarksville to sell. He stopped about 1/2 way at an Inn, watered and fed his team. When he finished his supper he went to let the team out of their stalls and in the corral. One kicked him in the forehead and killed him. The horse hadn't kicked before and never after.