Hawthorne Hawkins
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Hawthorne Hawkins (May 29, 1871 - August 21, 1896) was an American criminal and a famous bank robber. Over the course of three robberies in Alabama, he killed five people and wounded eleven more people, the worst incident being the Richfield Bank incident.
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[edit] Early life
Hawkins grew up in Scottsboro, Alabama, son of Jeremiah Hawkins and Madison Hawkins. In 1877, his father was executed for killing Madison, so Hawthorne was put into an orphanage, where he remained until he escaped in 1883.
[edit] The Orphanage
Hawkins remained at the orphanage, where he was bullied by the other children. He found a rifle laying in the grass one day in 1882 and started practicing. By 1883, he became a very good shot and dreamed of becoming a soldier.
On the night of June 16, 1883, Hawkins escaped from the orphanage and wandered Scottsboro and Huntsville, Alabama until he was 18.
[edit] Crimes
On January 18, 1890, Hawkins was arrested for verbally assaulting a 23-year-old woman and her 3-year-old daughter and was fined $5.
After paying the fine, he began to grow resentful of the residents of Huntsville and Scottsboro. An entry in his journal dated March 11, 1891 read:
Those bastards think they can take away a man's soul. I'll get them one day, them and all those damn niggers, maybe I'll even kill that bastard who begs me for money everyday.
Hawkins committed his first robbery on June 24, 1895. He walked into a bank in Huntsville and demanded $100. He then pulled out his rifle and shot bystander John James at point-blank range, killing him instantly. He then fired at Mary Jane Winston, William Schriver, and Cassandra Winchester, wounding all three of them. He made off with $75 and some gold dust.
His second robbery occurred on February 25, 1896. He walked into a bank, this time in Scottsboro, and demanded gold bars. When the teller, Walter Schumaker, refused, Hawkins shot him, wounding him critically. Schumaker later died of his injuries in 1897. He then took three gold bars from a safe and attempted to leave when he was confronted by two policemen, Daniel Sarver and Charles McCormick. Sarver shot Hawkins in the chest. Hawkins then stumbled over to a corner then turned around and shot Sarver and McCormick. McCormick, who was shot in the chest, lived, while Sarver, shot in the stomach, was not so fortunate. Sarver died a day later. Hawkins then sprinted out of the bank with the two gold bars, worth about $60.
[edit] The Richfield Robbery
The Richfield Robbery occurred on August 21, 1896. Hawkins walked into Richfield Bank and demanded $250 and a woman to take with him. When he took out his rifle, he shot up into the air and many people in the bank crouched under various objects. Hawkins then took them hostage. The bank's owner, Thomas Crawford, was running out of the building when Hawkins turned around and screamed 'Bastard!' and shot Crawford in the back, killing him. As three policemen entered, Hawkins ran over to the safe and looted it, stuffing around $650 into his pockets. He then crouched under a desk while the three policemen fired shots through the table. Hawkins then came out from under the table with a glass ball filled with explosive lamp fluid. He screamed, 'If I go down I'll take you with me!'. He then lit the ball with a fuse and intended to throw it at the policemen. However, he was busy dodging the flurry of bullets from them, so the fuse ended by the time he got a chance to crouch back and throw it at them. The ball exploded, killing two of the policemen (James Byron and Timothy Scott), and one bystander (Margaret Jarrow) and severely injured seven other people in the bank. Hawkins was burned to death instantly and was found dead under the desk by firemen who responded to the blaze caused by the explosion.
[edit] Funeral
Hawkins was laid to rest in unmarked grave on August 30, 1896. Nobody attended his funeral. The tomb was robbed in 1901 by a man who thought that the money Hawkins stuffed into his pockets was still there (it was destroyed by the explosion).
[edit] Relatives
Hawkins' illegitimate son, John Hawkins, married Lynda Jasmine in 1917 and had three children. The most current generation of the Hawkins family are Rusty, James, and Leslie Hawkins, who reside in Huntsville. Rusty Hawkins graduated from college at age 15 and is working on getting an MD.
