Thomas Richard Hankins, the oldest of Lee and Samantha’s seven children, was born on 13 February 1880 in Earlington in Hopkins County, Kentucky.¹1880 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; Dick 4 mos. old, living with parents, no other children listed. AL Dept. of Public Health, death certificate no. 816 (1965), Thomas Richard Hankins; AL Vital Records, Montgomery; full name Thomas Richard. Some sources, including his amended death certificate, give his birth year as 1881. But he was four months old at the time of the 1880 U.S. census, listed as born in February of that year. Dick’s original death certificate had the correct birth year of 1880, but his son Forrest, who had provided the original information, submitted an amendment to change the year to 1881.²AL death cert. 816 (1965), Thomas Richard Hankins. 1880 U.S. census, Hopkins Co., KY, pop. sch., Earlington, ED 198, p. 40, dwell. 338, fam. 364, Lee Hankins; Dick 4 mos. old.

Dick married Bettie M. Smith, daughter of Robert Alexander Smith and Amanda A. Oldham, on 1 March 1905 in Hopkins County.³Hopkins Co., KY, Marriages, 12-1904–3-1906: 132, Hankins-Smith, 1905; Hopkins Co. Clerk, Madisonville. 1900 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. “Kentucky, U.S., Death Records 1852–1965,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1222 : accessed 10 Jan 2021),  death certificate no. 20590, 1924, Mrs. Amanda E. Smith; from microfilm 7016130–7041803, KY Dept. for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort, KY. Bettie was born in April 1883, probably in Hopkins County.⁴ Hopkins Co., KY, Marriages, 12-1904–3-1906: 132, Hankins-Smith, 1905; Hopkins Co. Clerk, Madisonville. 1900 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. “Kentucky, U.S., Death Records 1852–1965,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1222 : accessed 10 Jan 2021),  death certificate no. 20590, 1924, Mrs. Amanda E. Smith; from microfilm 7016130–7041803, KY Dept. for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort, KY. Dick and Bettie had two children—Garah Emma born on 24 July 1906 and Roxie born in 1907.⁵“KY, U.S., Death Records 1852–1965,” digital images, 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, KY. Grapevine Cemetery (Hopkins Co., KY; Take Exit 40 from Breathitt/Pennyrile Parkway onto 2171, turn right at 336, go 1.3 miles to cemetery on left), Daughter, Roxie & Mother, Bettie Hankins marker, photographed by Linda McCauley, Oct 2004.

Roxie died of spinal meningitis on 12 July 1909 in Hopkins County.⁶“Spinal Meningitis in Hopkins County,” Hustler (Madisonville, KY), 16 Jul 1909, p. 7, col. 6; digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 10 Feb 2021); article incorrectly identifies parents of the deceased child as Mr. and Mrs. Lee Hankins. “Additional Locals,” Hustler (Madisonville, KY), 20 July 1909, p. 5, col. 3; digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 10 Feb 2021); stated the recent issue that a child of Lee Hankins died should have been a child of Dick Hankins. Bettie died of tuberculosis in Earlington on 21 December 1909.⁷“Death of Mrs. Dick Hankins,” Hustler (Madisonville, KY), 28 Dec 1909, p. 7, col. 1; digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 10 Feb 2021). They were both buried in Grapevine Cemetery in Hopkins County.⁸Grapevine Cemetery (Hopkins Co., KY), Roxie and Bettie Hankins marker.

As a young man, Dick worked in coal mines in Hopkins County before beginning a career with the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. L&N took him to Nashville, Tennessee, and then Birmingham, Alabama.⁹ 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. His daughter, Garah, remained in Hopkins County, living with both Dick’s parents and Bettie’s.¹⁰1910 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 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. In 1911 and 1912, Dick was boarding at 310 12th Avenue South in Nashville and working as a fireman for the railroad.¹¹Nashville City Directory 1911 (New York, NY: Marshall-Bruce-Polk Company Publishers), p. 441, entry for Richard Hankins; digital images, Ancestry (https://ancestry.com/search/collections/2469 : accessed 2 Nov 2020) > Tennessee > Nashville > 1911 > Nashville, Tennessee, City Directory, 1911 > image 264. Nashville City Directory 1912 (New York, NY: Marshall-Bruce-Polk Company Publishers), p. 434, entry for T. Richard Hankins; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469 : accessed 2 Nov 2020) > TN > Nashville > 1912 > Nashville, TN, City Directory, 1912 > image 234.

Dick married Edith Rhea Jackson on 3 October 1912 in Davidson County.¹² FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/004486162 : accessed 6 Jun 2019), digital film 004486162, images 241 and 242, Davidson Co., TN, Marriage Licenses 1912, no. 4246, Hankins-Jackson, 3 Oct 1912. Rhea was the daughter of William Jackson and Susan Pope of Robertson County, Tennessee, born there on 26 September 1883.¹³“Alabama Deaths, 1908–1974,” database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/683729 : accessed 7 May 2009), Edith Rhea Hankins, 1959, Jefferson Co.; AL Dept. of Health, Montgomery. 1910 U.S. census, Robertson Co., TN, population schedule, Adams, enumeration district (ED) 152, sheet 5B, dwelling 102, family 103, William Jackson; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7884 : accessed 16 Jun 2020); from NARA microfilm T624, roll 1516. Elmwood Cemetery (Springfield, Robertson Co., TN), Thomas R. and Edith R. Hankins marker, section 11, lot 472; photographed by Linda McCauley, 18 Aug 2011; birth date. Their only child, Forrest Payne Hankins, was born in Nashville on 11 January 1914.¹⁴ “U.S. World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940–1947,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2238 : accessed 4 Nov 2020), Forrest Payne Hankins, serial no. 307; from Records of the Selective Service System, 1926–1975, Record Group 147, NARA, St Louis, Missouri.

Dick may have had another wife between Bettie and Rhea. This blurb ran in the Earlington newspaper, The Bee, on 16 May 1911. “Mrs. Dick Hankins, of Nashville, is visiting friends here.”¹⁵“News of the Town,” Bee (Earlington, KY), 16 May 1911, p. 3, col. 2; digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 7 Mar 2018). That was about two years after Bettie died and more than a year before he married Rhea. “Visiting friends” indicates she may have been from Hopkins County, but no other evidence of another wife has surfaced.

Dick and Rhea lived at 1113 Division Street in Nashville until moving to Birmingham about 1917, where they remained for the rest of their lives.¹⁶ Nashville City Directory 1914 (New York, NY: Marshall-Bruce-Polk Company Publishers), p. 347, entry for Thos. R. Hankins; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469 : accessed 2 Nov 2020) > TN > Nashville > 1914 > Nashville City Directory, 1914> image 118. Nashville City Directory 1915 (New York, NY: Marshall-Bruce-Polk Company Publishers), p. 338, entry for Thos. R. Hankins; digital image, Ancestry (https://ancestry.com/search/collections/2469 : accessed 2 Nov 2020) > TN > Nashville > 1915 > Nashville, TN, City Directory, 1915> image 173. Nashville City Directory 1916 (New York, NY: Marshall-Bruce-Polk Company Publishers), p. 317, entry for Thos. R. Hankins; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469 : accessed 2 Nov 2020) > TN > Nashville > 1916 > Nashville, TN, City Directory, 1916> image 533. In Birmingham, they lived in three locations in the Inglenook area (524 Terrace Blvd, 29 Water St, and 4229 Jackson St) before moving to 1317 28th N about 1935.¹⁷ Birmingham City Directory 1918 (Birmingham, AL: R. L. Polk & Company), p. 806, entry for Thos. R. Hankins; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469 : accessed 2 Nov 2020) > Alabama > Birmingham > 1918 > Birmingham, Alabama, City Directory, 1918> image 402; 524 Terrace Blvd, Inglenook. Also 524 Terrace Blvd, 1919 > Birmingham, Alabama, City Directory, 1919 > image 424. Birmingham City Directory 1920–1921 (Birmingham, AL: R. L. Polk & Company), p. 844, entry for Thos. R. Hankins; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469 : accessed 2 Nov 2020) > Alabama > Birmingham > 1920 > Birmingham, Alabama, City Directory, 1920 > image 456, 29 Water, Inglenook. Also 29 Water, 1922 > Birmingham, Alabama, City Directory, 1922 > image 339; 1924 > Birmingham, Alabama, City Directory, 1924 > image 389; 1925 > Birmingham, Alabama, City Directory, 1925 > image 299. Birmingham City Directory 1928 (Birmingham, AL: R. L. Polk & Company), p. 529, entry for Thos R Hankins; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469 : accessed 2 Nov 2020) > Alabama > Birmingham > 1928 > Birmingham, Alabama, City Directory, 1928> image 267; 4229 Jackson, Inglenook. Also 4229 Jackson, 1929 > Birmingham, Alabama City Directory, 1929 > image 267; 1930 > Birmingham, Alabama, City Directory, 1930 > image 191. Birmingham City Directory 1935 (Birmingham, AL: R. L. Polk & Company), p. 348, entry for Thos R Hankins; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469 : accessed 2 Nov 2020) > Alabama > Birmingham > 1935 > Birmingham, Alabama, City Directory, 1935> image 175; 1317 N 28^th St.

They lived at the Terrace Blvd address when Dick registered for the World War I draft in Birmingham on 12 September 1918. He was an engineer with L&N by that time and was described as tall with a medium build, brown eyes, and black hair.¹⁸“U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6482 : accessed 4 Sep 2013), Thomas Richard Hankins, serial no. 2717, Jefferson Co., AL; from U.S., World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, M1509, NARA, Washington, D.C.

During Dick’s career with L&N, he worked as a fireman and an engineer.¹⁹ Nashville City Directories; see footnote 16. Birmingham City Directories see footnote 17. He retired in 1951, two months short of having forty-two years of service.²⁰“Our Honor Roll,” L&N Magazine, October 1951, p. 52; digital image, University of Louisville, Louisville and Nashville Company Records (https://digital.library.louisville.edu/cdm/description/collection/ln/ : accessed 22 Nov 2017), Thomas Richard Hankins.

Dick and Rhea still lived at the 28th Street address when she died on 29 August 1959 in Birmingham.²¹“Mrs Rhea Hankins, longtime resident,” Birmingham (AL) News, 26 Aug 1959, p. 7, col. 3; digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 16 Feb 2020). Rhea was buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Springfield, Robertson County, Tennessee.²²Elmwood Cemetery (Springfield, TN), Thomas R. and Edith R. Hankins marker.

Dick died on 11 January 1965 at St. Vincent Hospital in Birmingham of inanition (exhaustion caused by lack of nourishment). He was just over a month from turning eight-five years old. Arteriosclerosis, pulmonary fibrosis in both lungs, and a fractured left leg, which he suffered in a fall at home eleven days earlier, contributed to his death. He was living with Forrest at 8005 9^th Avenue South when he died.²³AL death cert. 816 (1965), Thomas Richard Hankins. Dick was buried next to Rhea in Springfield.²⁴Elmwood Cemetery (Springfield, TN), Thomas R. and Edith R. Hankins marker.

Garah Emma Hankins

Garah was born 24 July 1906 in Hopkins County, Kentucky, and lived there all her life. She married George “Jack” Gamblin in 1929 and they had eight children.²⁵ “Jack Gamblin, 57, Heart Victim,” Madisonville (KY) Messenger, 18 Jun 1962, p. 7, col. 4; digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 20 Jan 2021). Jack was born on 20 May 1905 in Hopkins County, the son of S. H. Gamblin and Sarah Ann Furlow.²⁶“Kentucky, U.S., Death Records 1852–1965,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1222 : accessed 15 Nov 2020), death certificate no. 13116 (1962), George Gamblin; from microfilm 7016130–7041803, KY Dept. for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort. He worked for St. Bernard and West Kentucky Coal Companies.²⁷“Jack Gamblin, 57, Heart Victim,” Madisonville Messenger, 18 Jun 1962.

Garah died of a cerebral hemorrhage on 9 December 1961 at the Hopkins County Hospital in Madisonville.²⁸“Kentucky, U.S., Death Records, 1852–1965,” 26594 (1961), Garah Emma Gamblin. Jack died there of a heart attack on 18 June 1962.²⁹“Kentucky, U.S., Death Records, 1852–1965,” 13116 (1962), George Gamblin. They were both buried in New Suthards Cemetery in Hopkins County.³⁰Hopkins Co. Genealogical Society, editor, Hopkins County, Kentucky Cemeteries, Vol. I (Utica, KY: McDowell Publications), p. 164, New Suthards Cemetery, Jack G. Gamblin and Sarah E. Gamblin; Sarah is a typo, should be Garah.

Roxie Hankins

Roxie was born in 1907 and died of spinal meningitis on 12 July 1909 in Hopkins County. She was buried in Grapevine Cemetery in Hopkins County.

Forrest Payne Hankins

Forrest was born on 11 January 1914 in Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee. He married Lillian Irene Turk and they had one daughter.³¹Find A Grave (https://www.findagrave.com : viewed 2 Jan 2021), memorial 112409381, for Forrest Payne Hankins and memorial 112409514, for Lillian Irene Hankins, (Jefferson Memorial Gardens East, Trussville, AL), digital image, 16 Jun 2013, by Essex. Elizabeth McCauley Carver, Lois McCauley Dockins, Kathryn McCauley Tomes, and Jimmie McCauley Knight; knew Forrest had one child. “Turk,” Birmingham (AL) News, 19 Jan 1946, p. 8, col. 4; digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 2 Jan 2021); Lillian’s maiden name. Lillian was born on 6 April 1918, the daughter of Emmett Little Turk and Lillian Gertrude Parker.³²“U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935–2014,” database, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/3693 : accessed 24 Jan 2021), entry for Lillian I. Hankins, 2010, SS no. 420-03-7852; from Social Security Death Index Master File, Social Security Administration. 1920 U.S. census, Jefferson Co., AL, population schedule, Bessemer, enumeration district (ED) 145, sheet 5A, dwelling 103, family 111, Emmett Turk; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6061 : accessed 8 Jan 2010); from NARA microfilm T625, roll 576; Lillian’s parents. “Alabama, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1805–1967,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61365 : accessed 20 Jan 2021), Leonard Dougless Turk-Sara Clyde Connell, 19 Oct 1939, Jefferson Co.; from Alabama Marriages, County courthouses; Lillian’s mother’s full maiden name. Like his father, Forrest worked for the Louisville & Nashville Railroad in Birmingham.³³“U.S. World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940–1947,” Forrest Payne Hankins.

Forrest died in 1981 and was buried in Jefferson Memorial Gardens East in Trussville, Jefferson County, Alabama.³⁴Find A Grave, memorial 112409381, digital image, Forrest Payne Hankins, gravestone photo by Essex. Lillian died on 9 May 2010 and was buried next to Forrest.³⁵ “U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935–2014,” entry for Lillian I. Hankins; Lillian’s DOD. Find A Grave, memorial 112409514, digital image, Lillian Irene Hankins, gravestone photo by Essex.