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Note: Victor Hawk: Note: His name is variously seen as Thurmond or Thurman. The manpower survey of males between 16 and 60 in Walton Co. authorized in late December 1863 gave Thurmond Hawk's age as 53y2m. I believe the census was actually taken in Feb 1864, which would give Thurmond a Nov 1810 birth. There is little consensus among the primary and secondary records to Thurmond's birthdate. The 1840 Walton census shows Thurmond in his 20's, giving a birth year range of 1810 - 1820. Bert Hawk gives a birth year of either 1810 or 1814. LDS IGI lists 1805. The 1850 Walton Census gives age of 42 therefore birthdate of 1808. The 1860 Walton census gives his age as 45. The 1870 Walton Census (taken a few weeks after Thurmond and Mary died) gives an age of 62 yielding 1808 birthyear. Tom Valentine gives an 1805 birthdate to Thurman.
1840 GA census, Walton Co, Blasingame Dist.,pg 121
Note: Thurmond and Mary Malcom Hawk died of smallpox one day apart in their house which was in Ebenezer community, Walton County, Georgia. They are buried in the Hawk graveyard near their home site.
Thurmond was listed as the head of a family on the 1870 Census Georgia.(12) HAWK, THURMAN, 62, FARMER, 2000, 200. MARY, 50, KEEP HOUSE. [Note: Thurmond and Mary died the month prior to the census taker's visit. They were added posthumously, perhaps accounting for Mary's understated age.]
Thurmond moved to Walton County (Blasingame District) in the 1830's and lived near William Peters at the Big Branch. (13) Thurmond and Mary owned 549 acres in Walton County - it is conceivable a portion of this land was dowry from Mary's father Rich John Malcom. When they both died of smallpox in 1870 the land was sold at auction, then the highest bidder sold it in turn to George A. Knight and his wife Mahala Hawk Baccus Knight, daughter of Thurmond and Mary Malcom Hawk.(14) Thurmond and Mary died of smallpox in 1870. Their deaths brought an end to a string of unfortunate deaths in their family.
Their oldest daughter Judith died in 1860 after giving birth to triplet daughters. Their oldest son John died in 1862 of disease in the Civil War. Their sons-in-law brothers William Baccus and Henry Baccus were killed during the War in 1862 and 1864. Two daughters never married due to physical disfigurements. Nancy is noted as being a dwarf; Annie is noted as having a large goiter on her neck and
lived with her sister Mahala Hawk Knight and George Knight. Another daughter Irena died in childbirth far from home in Texas, at the age of 31. The two daughters widowed in the War were Mahala and Irena.
Of all their 9 known children only Mahala, Elonza, and Annie went on to live long lives. This family shouldered more than its share of back luck, even considering the times in which they lived. Compounding these tragedies, William Sherman's army pillaged the Malcom Big Sandy plantation; the holdings of Hillsman and Thurmond Hawk are believed to have adjoined the Malcom property, and so were probably ransacked as well in 1865. Mary's sister Mahala died in 1865, and Thurmond's brother Hillsman died in 1867. Following Hillsman's and John Malcom's deaths, Jasper Smith seized the opportunity to liquidate the family's assets and take the proceeds to Atlanta where he began a brickmaking operation and became quite wealthy. One can only imagine what Thurmond and Mary were faced with in the years 1867 to 1870. The following comes from an email dated 2 Nov 1999 from Bert Hawk. "... I have never found a record of Hillsman serving in the war. In the manpower survey of males between 16 and 60 in Walton Co. made in late December 1863 and early January 1864 Hillsman was listed as 55 years of age with"no use of his hands" (see page 680 of Wayfarers of Walton). I know that Thurmond who was shown as 53 years of age was ordered to Atlanta during the Battle of Atlanta in July
1864. My father told me that his grandmother, Cindy Broach Hawk, said that when he saw that the battle was lost he slipped off and headed back to Walton County hiding in the woods and under bridges during the day and ran all night long to avoid being captured. How's that for a 53 year old man doing that for over 55 miles?"(15)
(See Victor Hawk web page titled, Thurmond Hawk, for more info.)
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