Thomas Leander Hankins and Samantha Angeline Petty

My father’s maternal grandparents, Thomas Leander “Lee” Hankins and Samantha Angeline Petty, lived in Hopkins County, Kentucky.¹KY Cabinet for Health and Family Services, birth certificate (short form), 34938 (1926), David Hankins McCauley; Office of Vital Statistics, Frankfort; mother Verda Hankins; born 12 Jul 1926. “Kentucky, U.S., Death Records, 1852–1965,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1222 : accessed 4 Sep 2013), death certificate no. 12255 (1942), Verda McCauley; from microfilm 7016130–7041803, KY Dept. for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort; Verda’s parents’ names. “Kentucky, U.S., Death Records, 1852–1965,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1222 : accessed 4 Sep 2013), death certificate no. 12076 (1929), Thomas Lee Hankins; from microfilm 7016130–7041803, KY Dept. for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort, died 1929. 1860 U.S. census, Hopkins Co., KY, population schedule, p. 196, dwelling 1190, family 1190, Albert Hankins; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7667 : accessed 14 Feb 2010); from NARA microfilm M653, roll 374; Lee listed as Leander. “Kentucky, U.S., Death Records, 1852–1965,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1222 : accessed 4 Sep 2013), death certificate no. 1387 (1944), Samantha Angeline Hankins; from microfilm 7016130–7041803, KY Dept. for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort; full name. Daddy was not yet three years old when Lee died, but he had one vivid memory of him. He remembered seeing his grandfather propped up in bed by a straight-back chair turned over to make a wedge and covered in pillows.²“Kentucky, U.S., Death Records, 1852–1965,” 12076, 1929, Thomas Lee Hankins; died 23 Apr 1929. David Hankins McCauley, grandson of Thomas Leander Hankins and Samantha Angeline Petty, father of author. He did not talk much about his grandmother, but several of his sisters and their Uncle Jimmy called her strict.³ Elizabeth McCauley Carver, Lois McCauley Dockins, Kathryn McCauley Tomes, and Jimmie McCauley Knight; grandchildren of Thomas Leander Hankins and Samantha Angeline Petty, aunts of the author. James Bailey Hankins, son of Thomas Leander Hankins and Samantha Angeline Petty, great-uncle of the author.

Lee, born on 13 June 1858 in Hopkins County, was the son of Albert Hankins and Isabella Jane Goodloe.⁴“Kentucky, U.S., Death Records, 1852–1965,” 12076, 1929, Thomas Lee Hankins. His siblings, two brothers and one sister, were John H., James W., and Mollie.⁵“Died of Malaria,” Bee (Earlington, KY), 27 Jul 1905, p. 1, col. 5; digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 4 Sep 2013); Isabella Jane Goodloe Hankins Devault’s obituary names her children. Albert died when Lee and his siblings were children. The exact date of Albert’s death is unknown, but Lee was probably seven or eight years old.⁶Family story, passed down through the family from Albert’s granddaughter, Aggie Ann Hankins (daughter of Lee’s brother, James W. Hankins), is that Albert was found with a friend in a barn in the company of Confederate deserters, was accused of desertion, and shot. The family lived near Albert’s parents, Houston and Mary Hankins, prior to his death.⁷1860 U.S. census, Hopkins Co., KY, population schedule, p. 196, dwelling 1189, family 1189, H. G. Hankins and dwelling 1190, family 1190, Albert Hankins; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7667 : accessed 14 Feb 2010); from NARA microfilm M653, roll 374. Isabella Jane and the children moved near her father, John Emerson Goodloe, by 1870.⁸1870 U.S. census, Hopkins Co., KY, population schedule, Precinct #2, p. 20A, dwelling 18, family 18, John E. Goodloe and dwelling 19, family 19, Jane Hankins; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7163 : accessed 14 Feb 2010); from NARA microfilm M593, roll 471. She remarried twice—first in 1874 when Lee was fifteen years old and second in 1879 when he was twenty-one.⁹Hopkins Co., KY, Marriages, 5-1874–8-1875: 212–213, Yates-Hankins, 1875; Hopkins Co. Clerk, Madisonville. Hopkins Co., KY, Marriages, 11-1877–3-1880: 405, Devault-Yates, 1879; Hopkins Co. Clerk, Madisonville.

Unlike Lee, Samantha lived in several locations during her childhood. She was born on 3 April 1861 in Dalton, Whitfield County, Georgia, to John R. Petty and Margaret E. Thomas.¹⁰“Kentucky, U.S., Death Records, 1852–1965,” 1387 (1944), Samantha Angeline Hankins. After the Civil War ended, the family moved back to Tennessee where they had lived before Samantha was born.¹¹“Story of Railroad Train That Became War Hero,” undated clipping, ca 1941 from Madisonville (KY) Messenger, privately held by Sue Morgan London, Arizona, copy provided to Linda McCauley, Mt. Vernon, KY, 2004. They likely went to Bradley County, where John’s family lived, or neighboring McMinn County where they had previously lived.¹²1860 U.S. census, McMinn Co., TN, population schedule, District #16, p. 146, dwelling 1068, family 1068, J. R. Petty; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7667 : accessed 5 Nov 2009); from NARA microfilm M653, roll 1262. 1860 U.S. census, Bradley Co., TN, population schedule, District #1, p. 157, dwelling 1309, family 1309, John Petty; digital images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7667 : accessed 6 Sep 2010); from NARA microfilm M653, roll 1241. By 1870, they lived in Logan County, Kentucky, and a few years later moved to nearby Hopkins County.¹³1870 U.S. census, Logan Co., KY, population schedule, Keysburg District, p. 33, dwelling 185, family 185, John R. Petty; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7163 : accessed 5 Nov 2009); from NARA microfilm M593, roll 483. “Kentucky, U.S., Birth Records, 1847–1911,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1213 : accessed 4 Sep 2013); 1874, Petty male child, father Jno Petty, Hopkins Co.; from Kentucky Birth, Marriage and Death Records (1852-1910), microfilm rolls #994027-994058, KY Dept. for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort. Samantha was the third of John and Margaret’s ten children. Her siblings were Melissa A., Henry Milton, Mary, Daniel, Joseph, Oliver Perry, Nathaniel, John, and W. O.¹⁴1860 U.S. census, McMinn Co., TN, pop. sch. Dist. #16, p. 146, dwell. 1068, fam. 1068, J. R. Petty; Melissa and Henry. 1870 U.S. census, Logan Co., KY, pop. sch., Keysburg District, p. 33, dwell. 185, fam. 185, John R. Petty; Melissa A., Milton (same child as Henry in 1860), Mary, Daniel, Joseph. 1880 U.S. census, Forsyth Co., GA, population schedule, Coal Mountain, enumeration district (ED) 78, p. 24, dwelling 240, family 240, J. M. Echols; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6742 : accessed 5 Nov 2009); from NARA microfilm T9, roll 147; Mollie (Mary), Daniel, Joseph, Nathaniel,  John. “Oliver Petty, 72, Contractor, Dies,” Constitution (Atlanta, GA), 6 Feb 1943, p. 6, col. 7; digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 7 Jan 2021); identified Samantha and John as his surviving siblings. “Kentucky, U.S., Death Records, 1852–1953,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1222 : accessed 4 Sep 2013), 1876, W. O. Petty; from microfilm 994027–994058, KY Dept. for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort.

Margaret died in Hopkins County on 28 July 1876 of complications from giving birth to her tenth child, who also died.¹⁵“Kentucky, U.S., Death Records, 1852–1953,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1222 : accessed 4 Sep 2013), 1876, M. E. Petty and W. O. Petty; from microfilm 994027–994058, KY Dept. for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort. Samantha was fifteen years old when her mother died, and she lost her father about the same time. According to family stories, John was an alcoholic and possibly abandoned the family even before Margaret and their youngest child died.¹⁶Lois McCauley Dockins and Vashti McCauley Wells, granddaughters of Thomas Leander Hankins and Samantha Angeline Petty, aunts of author. Whether John left before or after Margaret died, he had returned to Whitfield County, Georgia, where his father and some of his sisters lived, by 1878 when he remarried.¹⁷Whitfield Co., GA, Marriages, Book A, 1852–1886: 132, Petty-Thomas, 1857; Whitfield Co. Probate Clerk, Dalton. 1880 U.S. census, Whitfield Co., GA, population schedule, Dalton, enumeration district (ED) 194, p. 50B, dwelling 170, family 175, M. J. Martin; digital images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6742 : accessed 15 March 2011); from NARA microfilm T9, roll 171; M.J. Martin was John R.’s sister, Martha J., household members included John Petty (John R.’s father), Angeline Petty Long (John R.’s sister). It is doubtful Samantha or her siblings ever saw him again.

Samantha and her older brother, Henry Milton, stayed in Hopkins County, but the six younger children went to live in Forsyth County, Georgia.¹⁸1880 U.S. census, Hopkins Co., KY, population schedule, Court House Dist #2, enumeration district (ED) 191, p. 308D, dwelling 231, family 231, Milton Petty; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6742 : accessed 3 Sep 2010); from NARA microfilm T9, roll 420. Hopkins Co., KY, Marriages, 11-1877–3-1880: 302, Hankins-Petty, 1879; Hopkins Co. Clerk, Madisonville. Five of them lived with Margaret’s sister, Mary Thomas Echols, in Coal Mountain and one lived with a Tribble family in Cumming.¹⁹1880 U.S. census, Forsyth Co., GA, pop. sch., Coal Mountain, ED 78, p. 24, dwelling 240, family 240, J. M. Echols; Mollie (Mary), Daniel, Joseph, Nathaniel, John. 1880 U.S. census, Forsyth Co., GA, population schedule, Cumming, enumeration district (ED) 73, p. 357B, dwelling 49, family 52, James W. Tribble; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6742 : accessed 3 Sep 2010); from NARA microfilm T9, roll 146; Oliver P listed as adopted son. Where and with whom Samantha lived during the nearly three years between her mother’s death and her marriage is unknown. The fate of Samantha’s oldest sister, Melissa, after 1870, is also unknown.

Lee and Samantha married on 14 May 1879 at the Hopkins County Courthouse in Madisonville.²⁰Hopkins Co., KY, Marriages, 11-187–3-1880: 302, 1879, Hankins-Petty. The County Court named J. E. Day as Samantha’s guardian on that day, probably because someone had to give permission for her to marry since she was not twenty-one years old.²¹Hopkins Co., KY, Guardian Bonds 1874-1885: 131, Miss S. A. Petty, 14 May 1879; Hopkins Co. Clerk, Madisonville. John Day, likely the same man, acted as surety for Lee and Samantha’s marriage bond.²²Hopkins Co., KY, Marriages, 11-187–3-1880: 302, 1879, Hankins-Petty. Any further connection to Day beyond this remains unknown.

Lee and Samantha started their marriage in Earlington but lived in several towns and communities in Hopkins County. They lived in Earlington when Samantha gave birth to their first child, Thomas Richard, in 1880.²³AL Dept. of Public Health, death certificate no. 816 (1965), Thomas Richard Hankins; AL Vital Records, Montgomery; born 1880, birthplace Erlington (sic), KY. By 1882, when son Albert Elvie was born, they lived in Dalton—a community in Hopkins County, not Samantha’s birthplace in Georgia.²⁴“Texas, U.S. Death Certificates, 1903–1982,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2272 : accessed 25 Dec 2012), death certificate no. 31916 (1959), Albert E. Hankins; from TX Death Certificates 1903–1982, TX Dept. of State Health Services, Austin; born 1882, birthplace Dalton, KY. Their other five children, all born while they lived in Dalton, were—Verda Waller (1884), Aggie Lee (1889), John Corum (1893), William Perry (1898), and James Bailey (1901).²⁵“Kentucky, U.S., Death Records, 1852–1965,” 12255, 1942, Verda McCauley; DOB 1 Dec 1884. Hopkins Co. Genealogical Society, editor, Hopkins County, Kentucky Cemeteries, Vol. IV (Utica, KY: McDowell Publications), p. 11; Prospect Cemetery, Dalton, Aggie Lee, dau of S. A. Hankins; DOB 3 Nov 1889. “U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6482 : accessed 4 Sep 2013), John Corum Hankins, serial no. 2717, Hopkins Co., KY; from microfilm M1509, NARA, Washington, D.C; John’s DOB 22 Dec 1893. Hopkins Co., KY, Marriages, 12-1920–6-1921: 79, Hankins-Hill, 1921; Hopkins Co. Clerk, Madisonville. “California, U.S., Death Index, 1940–1997,” database, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/5180 : accessed 10 Jan 2010),  James B. Hankins, 1974, San Diego Co.; from California Death Index, 1940-1997, Dept. of Health Services, Sacramento; DOB 27 Mar 1901.

The family returned to Earlington in 1903 but moved to Daniel Boone in 1905.²⁶“Short Locals,” Bee (Earlington, KY), 19 Mar 1903, p. 2, col. 1; digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 4 Sep 2013); notes Rev. Lee Hankins moved to Earlington from Dalton. “Church News,” Bee (Earlington, KY), 8 Jun 1905, p. 7, col 2; digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 4 Sep 2013), references Rev. Hankins of Daniel Boone. In 1908, they moved to Grapevine.²⁷“Pumpkin Center Items,” Hustler (Madisonville, KY), 21 Feb 1908, p. 4, col. 2; digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 5 Mar 2021); Rev T. L. Hankins moved to Grapevine. At some point between 1912 and 1920, they returned to Earlington and lived on McEuen Avenue.²⁸“Local News of Interest,” Hustler (Madisonville, KY), 26 Apr 1912, p. 5, col. 1; digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 20 Jan 2021); lived in Grapevine. 1920 U.S. census, Hopkins Co., KY, population schedule, Earlington, enumeration district (ED) 93, sheet 3B, dwelling 62, family 74, Tom Hankins; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6061 : accessed 8 Jan 2010); from NARA microfilm T625, roll 576.

Death hit Lee and Samantha’s family hard. Three of their children died young—Aggie Lee at only twenty months old, Perry at 24 years, and John at 29 years.²⁹Hopkins Co. Genealogical Society, Hopkins County, Kentucky, Cemeteries, Vol IV, p. 11, Aggie Lee, dau of S. A. Hankins. Earlington Cemetery (Oakwood Ave., Earlington, Hopkins Co., KY), Perry Hankins marker, photographed by Linda McCauley, 13 Sep 2018. “Kentucky, U.S., Death Records, 1852–1965,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1222 : accessed 4 Sep 2013), death certificate no. 23559 (1923), John C. Hankins; from microfilm 7016130–7041803, KY Dept. for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort. Thirteen-month-old grandson Herbert, son of Elvie and his first wife, Ella, died in 1908.³⁰“Nortonville Items,” Hustler (Madisonville, KY), 21 Jul 1908, p. 2, col. 2; digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 10 Feb 2021). Dick’s first wife, Bettie, and their younger daughter, Roxie, died in 1909 leaving Dick with three-year-old Garah.³¹Grapevine Cemetery (Grapevine, Hopkins Co., KY), Daughter, Roxie & Mother, Bettie Hankins marker, photographed by Linda McCauley, Oct 2004. “Kentucky, U.S., Death Records 1852–1965,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1222 : accessed 15 Nov 2020), death certificate no. 26594 (1961), Garah Emma Gamblin; from microfilm 7016130–7041803, KY Dept. for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort. Lee and Samantha and Bettie’s parents, Robert A. and Amanda Smith, shared responsibility for Garah.³²1900 U.S. census, Hopkins Co., KY, population schedule, Kitchen, enumeration district (ED) 73, sheet 15A, p. 286 (stamped), dwelling 278, family 282, Robert A. Smith; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7602 : accessed 16 Jun 2020); from NARA microfilm T623, roll 528; Bettie living with her parents. 1910 U.S. census, Hopkins Co., KY, population schedule, District #5, enumeration district (ED) 88, sheet 13A, dwelling 244, family 226, Robert Smith; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7884 : accessed 10 Jan 2021); from NARA microfilm T624, roll 481; Garah living with her maternal grandparents. Elizabeth McCauley Carver, Lois McCauley Dockins, Kathryn McCauley Tomes, and Jimmie McCauley Knight; grandchildren of Thomas Leander Hankins and Samantha Angeline Petty, aunts of the author. John and his wife’s second child, William Perry, died in 1916, before he was three months old.³³Grapevine Cemetery (Grapevine, Hopkins Co., KY), William P., son of J. C. & Girtie Hankins marker, photographed by Linda McCauley, 30 Oct 2004. Less than two years after John died in 1923, his widow, Gertie, died, leaving their two young children orphaned.³⁴“Kentucky, U.S., Death Records, 1852–1965,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1222 : accessed 4 Sep 2013), death certificate no. 14187 (1925), Gertie Hankins; from microfilm 7016130–7041803, KY Dept. for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort. Lee and Samantha took Helen and Jewel to live with them.³⁵1930 U.S. census, Hopkins Co., KY, population schedule, Madisonville, enumeration district (ED) 11, sheet 18A, dwelling 362, family 480, Samantha Hankins; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6224 : accessed 8 Jan 2010); from NARA microfilm T626, roll 751; Helen and Jewell living with Samantha. In 1933, a third grandchild Ralph Raymond McCauley (son of their daughter Verda) died as an infant.³⁶“Kentucky, U.S., Death Records, 1852–1965,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1222 : accessed 4 Sep 2013), death certificate no. 17341 (1933), Ralph Raymond McCauley; from microfilm 7016130–7041803, KY Dept. for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort. Samantha was still living when their daughter, Verda, died at age 57 in 1942.³⁷“Kentucky, U.S., Death Records, 1852–1965,” 12255 (1942), Verda McCauley.

Lee worked most of his life as a farmer, but he also spent years as a General Baptist minister.³⁸1880 U.S. census, Hopkins Co., KY, population schedule, Earlington, enumeration district (ED) 198, p. 40, dwelling 338, family 364, Lee Hankins; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6742 : accessed 21 Nov 2009); from NARA microfilm T9, roll 421; occupation farmer. 1900 U.S. census, Hopkins Co., KY, population schedule, Dalton, enumeration district (ED) 70, sheet 4A, p. 215 (stamped), dwelling 63, family 61, Lee Hankins; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7602 : accessed 8 Jan 2010); from NARA microfilm T623, roll 528; occupation farming. 1910 U.S. census, Hopkins Co., KY, population schedule, District #3, enumeration district (ED) 90, sheet 7A & B, dwelling 143, family 146, Tom L. Hankins; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7884 : accessed 8 Jan 2010); from NARA microfilm T624, roll 481; occupation farming. 1920 U.S. census, Hopkins Co., KY, pop. sch., Earlington, ED 93, sheet 3B, dwelling 62, family 74, Tom Hankins; occupation minister. “Histories of The General Baptist Churches of the Union Association 1953,” Western Kentucky History and Genealogy (http://www.westernkyhistory.org/kentucky/church/church.html : accessed 9 Oct 2007); from History of Union Association of General Baptist 1840–1953 by M. D. McDonald; Lee minister at Concord Church, Fredericks Chapel, Tilden Church, Union Grove Church and Union Temple Church. He organized the Union Grove Church in Hopkins County in 1895 and Frederick’s Chapel Church in neighboring Webster County in 1904. Lee served as minister for the 1st General Baptist Church of Tildon in Webster County, Union Temple General Baptist Church in Hopkins County, and Concord Church in Hopkins County.³⁹“Histories of The General Baptist Churches of the Union Association,” Western Kentucky History and Genealogy. He became the minister at Earlington General Baptist Church in April 1903 but had also preached there in 1897.⁴⁰“Church Directory,” Bee (Earlington, KY), 27 May 1897, p. 4, col. 2; digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 4 Sep 2013). “Short Locals,” Bee (Earlington, KY), 16 Apr 1903, p. 2, col. 1; digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 4 Sep 2013); General Baptist church of this place (Earlington) called Lee Hankins to be pastor.

In August 1926, Lee and Samantha made their final move, which was to 704 West Broadway in Madisonville.⁴¹ No title (Rev. Lee Hankins and family), Hustler (Madisonville, KY), 10 Aug 1926, p. 1, col. 2; digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 1 Feb 2021); Rev. Lee Hankins and family of Earlington moved to West Broadway, Madisonville. “Rev. Hankins, Baptist Minister, Dies at 71,” Madisonville (KY) Messenger, 23 Apr 1929, p. 1, col. 5; digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed ); residence W. Broadway. “Kentucky, U.S., Death Records, 1852–1965,” 1387, 1944, Samantha Angeline Hankins; residence 704 W. Broadway. Note: Houses were renumbered at some point and this house is now 440 W. Broadway. Their daughter-in-law Gertie bought that house in 1923, two years before she died.⁴²Hopkins Co., KY, Deed Book 112: 598, U. K. and Renner Adcock to Gertie Hankins, 10 Oct 1923; Hopkins Co. Clerk, Madisonville. In the settlement of her estate, the property was sold at public auction and purchased by Lee and Samantha.⁴³Hopkins Co., KY, Deed Book 122: 226, Gertie Hankins (estate) to T. L. and S. A. Hankins, 5 Jul 1926; Hopkins Co. Clerk, Madisonville. This is the only property Lee and Samantha ever owned except for a one-fourth interest with his siblings in property they inherited from their mother’s estate and sold.⁴⁴Hopkins Co., KY, Deed Book 78: 384, James and Media Hankins, T. L. and S. A. Hankins to W. C. McLeod, 23 Apr 1907; Hopkins Co. Clerk, Madisonville. Hopkins Co., KY, Deeds Book 79: 91, J. H. and Mattie Hankins, James and Media Hankins, T. L. and S. A. Hankins, Mollie and Henry Clements to T. H. Goodloe, 22 Apr 1907; Hopkins Co. Clerk, Madisonville.

Lee died on 23 April 1929 at their home in Madisonville of complications from diabetes which had kept him bedridden for some time.⁴⁵“Kentucky, U.S., Death Records, 1852–1965,” 12076, 1929, Thomas Lee Hankins. Rev. W. D. Rich, pastor of the Earlington General Baptist Church where Lee had served as pastor, officiated his funeral at Grapevine Church the next day. Burial followed in the Grapevine Cemetery. Lee belonged to the Beulah and Dalton Masonic lodges and the Earlington Masons conducted Masonic rites at the cemetery.⁴⁶“Masonic Service,” Madisonville (KY) Messenger, 24 Apr 1929, p. 4, col. 4; digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 18 Aug 2020).

Lee’s obituary, published in the Madisonville Messenger on 23 April, has several errors. It lists “surviving descendants” as four children and three grandchildren. Of those seven people, four of the names are wrong. Plus, Lee had fifteen, not three, living grandchildren at the time of his death. Son Albert Elvie was listed at A. G. Hankins, daughter Verda as Virgie, and granddaughters Garah and Helen as Vera and Ella. The three grandchildren listed were the ones Lee and Samantha helped raise, but they had other grandchildren.⁴⁷“Rev. Hankins, Baptist Minister, Dies at 71,” Madisonville Messenger, 23 Apr 1929. Dick and Perry each had a son, Elvie had a daughter, and Verda had nine children at that time.⁴⁸“T. R. Hankins,” The Birmingham (Alabama) News, 12 Jan 1965, p. 23, col. 2; digital image, Genealogy Bank (https://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 10 Jan 2021). “Perry Hankins Dies At Denver, Colorado,” undated clipping, ca. Dec 1922, from unidentified newspaper (possibly Bee (Earlington, KY) or Madisonville (KY) Messenger), privately held by Sue Morgan London, AZ, copy provided to Linda McCauley, Mt. Vernon, KY, 2004. Minnesota Division of Vital Statistics, birth certificate no. 22007 (1913), Ella Louise Hankins; digital copy, Minnesota Historical Society (https://www.mnhs.org). “Mrs. J. W. McCauley,” The Greenville (KY) Leader, 21 May 1942, p. 1, col. 1; newspaper microfilm, Genealogy and Local History Annex, Muhlenberg Co. Public Libraries. A second obituary, published the next day, did not name the children and grandchildren but did reference the same erroneous numbers.⁴⁹“Masonic Service,” Madisonville Messenger, 24 Apr 1929.

About 1941, Samantha visited two of her nieces in Atlanta, and the story made the newspapers in Georgia and back home in Madisonville. The nieces took Samantha sight-seeing, including a visit to the Cyclorama, an Atlanta museum. Samantha was surprised to see “The Texas,” a Civil War locomotive, on display there. She told her nieces about seeing the famous locomotive as a child during the war.⁵⁰“Story of Railroad Train That Became War Hero,” Madisonville Messenger, date unknown. Jean Chalmers, “Reunion After 70 Years! Mrs. Hankins Once Again Meets Famous Texas,” undated clipping, ca 1941 from Journal (Atlanta, GA), copy provided to Linda McCauley, Mt. Vernon, KY, 2003 from Jeanette Gilliam McCauley (deceased).

Samantha explained that when she was “a tot of five” a man came to their house and told her mother to hurry and take the children down to the railroad tracks. She said her father was away at the time fighting for the south. The man told her mother that “The Texas” was making a triumphant run through Dalton after re-capturing another Confederate locomotive, “The General,” which had been taken by a band of Yankees. Samantha said they walked a half-mile to the station, and she remembered the crowd lined up as far as she could see on both sides of the track.⁵¹“Story of Railroad Train That Became War Hero,” Madisonville Messenger, date unknown. Jean Chalmers, “Reunion After 70 Years! Mrs. Hankins Once Again Meets Famous Texas,” Journal, date unknown.

Some of Samantha’s memories about this event were a bit off. The Texas recaptured The General on 12 April 1862.⁵²“Famous Texas on the Block this Morning,” Atlanta (Georgia) Constitution,” 2 Aug 1907, p. 1, col. 7, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 18 Jan 2021). Samantha was only one year old, not a tot of five.⁵³“Kentucky, U.S., Death Records, 1852–1965,” 1387 (1944), Samantha Angeline Hankins. Whether she remembered this happening or had simply heard the story often as a child, she clearly enjoyed seeing the old locomotive and even climbed up on it to pose for a picture for The Journal photographer.⁵⁴“Story of Railroad Train That Became War Hero,” Madisonville Messenger, date unknown. Jean Chalmers, “Reunion After 70 Years! Mrs. Hankins Once Again Meets Famous Texas,” Journal, date unknown.

At age 80, Samantha could read and thread a needle without glasses but wore them for “dress up” and to keep the wind out of her eyes. She still lived alone and did her own cooking, canning, and housework. Claiming three meals a day were too many, she had two—one at 9 a.m. and one at 3 p.m.⁵⁵“Story of Railroad Train That Became War Hero,” Madisonville Messenger, date unknown. Jean Chalmers, “Reunion After 70 Years! Mrs. Hankins Once Again Meets Famous Texas,” Journal, date unknown.

Samantha died on 7 January 1944 of influenza at the Hopkins County Hospital in Madisonville.⁵⁶“Kentucky, U.S., Death Records, 1852–1965,” 1387, 1944, Samantha Angeline Hankins. She had outlived all her siblings, four of her children, four of her grandchildren, and her husband.⁵⁷“Mrs. Samantha Hankins Influenza Victim,” Madisonville (KY) Messenger, 7 Jan 1944, p. 2, col. 4; digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 18 Aug 2020), notes she outlived all her siblings. “Kentucky, U.S., Death Records, 1852–1965,” 12255, 1942, Verda McCauley. Her three grandchildren and other three children were covered earlier. Samantha was buried next to Lee in Grapevine Cemetery, following a funeral service officiated by Oscar L. Duncan at Barnett Funeral Home.⁵⁸Grapevine Cemetery (Grapevine, Hopkins Co., KY), Thomas Lee & Samantha A. Hankins marker, photographed by Linda McCauley, 30 Oct 2004. “Mrs Samantha Hankins Influenza Victim,” Madisonville Messenger, 7 Mar 1944

Cite this page: Linda F. McCauley, "Thomas Leander Hankins & Samantha Angeline Petty," Documenting the Details, 25 Mar 2021 (https://documentingthedetails.com/tlhankins-sapetty : accessed [enter current date]). 

Written by: Linda F. McCauley
Copyright © 2021 Linda F. McCauley. All rights reserved.

My Connection: Thomas Leander Hankins & Samantha Angeline Petty (great-grandparents) > Verda Waller Hankins (grandmother) > David Hankins McCauley (father)