The Hanks Family
History
The Hanks Family
Travels
Thomas
Hanks arrived in Virginia in 1654. He lived at the intersection of Richmond,
Lancaster and Northumberland Cos. His son, William I and grandson, William II,
also lived in Richmond Co. Richard Hanks was born in 1723 and throughout his
life moved west and south through Virginia, finally moving into North Carolina.
His son, Joshua Hanks grew up and was married in North Carolina before moving
into Virginia in Grayson County. Joshua's daughter Ruth lived in Carroll County
where she married John Vaughn.
PASSENGER AND IMMIGRATION LISTS
INDEX
Hankes, Tho n.a.; Virginia,
1654 2772 p.145
Excerpt from The
Hanks Family of Virginia and Westward by Adin Baber
THE FIRST HANKS OF
RECORD
John Hanks came
up from below decks of the sailing vessel, away from the stench of the constant
bilge, as her sails were lowered and furled, and gazed upon this Faire Land,
the land of "In the Beginning" for the Hanks family of America.
Just so he came
to Jamestown. Within a few years he patented 200 acres of land, as is the
record in the very first Patent Book of the Colony of Virginia.* Other Hanks
followed.
John
Hanks 1623-1643
George
Hanks 1633-1700
Thomas Hanks 1653-1675
Robert
Hanks & his 1661-1691
wife, Margaret
*The
name is spelled "Huck" in one place, Aug. 15, 1637.
THE
LAND OF THE "FOUNDERS"
From the historic and heroic settlement
of Colonial Virginia at Jamestown, the settlers first moved up the James River,
and northerly along the coasts, and into the navigable streams, the York, the
Rappahannock, and the Potomac Rivers.
This is the Tidewater country; a land of
undulating tree covered ridges alternating with undrained swamps of scrub and
vine whence the waters sluggishly drained into the nearby rivers when the tide
ran out into Chesapeake Bay.
When the land was cleared the virgin soil
was fairly fertile and the production of tobacco developed as the basic crop.
The climate was mild and conditions favorable. The use of tobacco, learned from
the Indians, became a fad and a habit and an addiction, and the demand for it
increased enormously. It was exported to England in exchange for goods and was
legal tender in the Colony for payments of pounds, shillings, and pence.
The parallel running rivers afforded easy
access for the light draft sailing vessels to come upstream for their cargoes.
Many of the planters had their own landing places and their own rolling roads.
By tedious process the tobacco was cured and packed into huge casks for
shipment, and rolled to the wharves.
The growing, processing, and
transportation of tobacco entailed hard hand labor and laborers were scarce in
Colonial Virginia before the introduction of slavery. It became the practice of the planters to pay the captains of the
ships the price of passage for such of the immigrants, who had been deported
from England, or had agreed to sell their own service for a period of seven
years, to be transported to the colonies.
In this way the planters obtained a guaranteed source of labor. In addition they received a certificate of
award for fifty acres of land for each new inhabitant brought in.
The certificates were negotiable and were
usually accumulated as script until an area larger than fifty acres could be
entered and patented. Mr. Thomas Fowke
of Westmoreland County received such certificates. One of them was for the passage of Thomas Hanckes.*
*Hanks is variously spelled in the early
records: Hanckes, Hancks, Hanck, Hanc, Hank. Bona fide signatures on extant
papers are generally signed plain Hanks, with occasional Hancks. The Hank and
Hawks spelling are of entirely different families, and not Hanks.
THOMAS
HANCKES
Thomas
Hanckes himself purchased certificates or received them for the transportation
of two people, and on the 16th day of February 1653 received a patent for
"One
hundred acres of land Situate in Gloucester County in the Woods upon the North East
Side of a Swamp upon the South East Side of Mattapony River. .2
Within two
years Thomas Hanckes had patented over a thousand acres and within the next ten
years he increased his holdings to over two thousand acres of land. Obviously
he was a good operator. This land was above present West Point on the York
River and extended northward to the south bank of the Rappahannock River. This
may have given him the advantage of a port of entry and exit upon his own land.
On April 8,
1674 Thomas Hanckes and Cornelius Chessman received a patent for 260 acres,
part in Glocester and part in New Kent Counties . . . adjoining a former tract
of said Hanckes whereon he now liveth. . ." This is the last entry
of record pertaining to Thomas Hanckes. There are no Grantee nor probate
records to show what became of his land. There is no record of his family or of
his death.
It
has been conjectured that his name and property disappeared during the troubled
times of the Bacon Rebellion and it may very well have been. On the route of an
antient road from the Rappahannock River to the Falls of the James River, now
Route 360, near the boundary line of Essex and King and Queen Counties, stands
an historical marker, which reads:
BACON'S NORTHERN FORCE
At
Piscataway, near here, the northern followers of Bacon the rebel assembled in
1676.
On July 10,
1676 an action was fought with Governor Berkeley's supporters, some of whom were killed and wounded. Several houses
were burned. Passing here the rebels marched south to the Pamunkey River, where
they joined their leader, Bacon.
2Patent; Book 3, P 369
3Barton, Lineage
of Lincoln, p 165
The Virginia Hanks in the Census Records
Virginia In 1720: A Reconstructed Census
Hancks,
William, Richmond Co., 10:163
Virginia In 1740: A Reconstructed Census
Hanks
Ann. Richmond Co.,
North Farnham, 095
Catherine. Richmond Co., 097
Charlotte. Richmond Co., North
Farnham, 095
Elijah. Richmond Co.,
North Farnham, 095
John. Richmond Co. 097
Luke. Richmond Co. 097
Sarah. Richmond Co.,
North Farnham, 095
William. Richmond Co. 097
William. Richmond Co., North Farnham, 095
Hanks
(?)
Thomas. Princess Anne, 093
Virginia
In 1760: A Reconstructed Census
Hanks
Abraham. Amelia Co. 32:64
Joseph Amelia Co. 32:64
Richard Amelia Co. 26:313,
32:47
Sarah Lancaster Co. 67:61
William Amelia Co. 32:19
1787
Montgomery Co., VA Personal Property Tax Lists-List “A”
Hanks,
Joshua Self 0 0 0 3 4
1850
Carroll Co., VA Census: Annotated by John
P. Alderman
The annotation was done by a
Carroll Co. historian and is found in the Virginia Room of the Roanoke City
Library in Roanoke, VA.
362. Joshua Hanks, Jr.45 Farmer $3000
b.. VA
Roseyman 45
Martin 17 Farmer
Creed 12
Friel 11
Eliza 10
Orville 8
Joshua Hanks, Sr. 91 Farmer
Joshua
Hanks, Sr. was the son of Richard and Mary (Hinds) Hanks. He married Ruth Bryant (1764-1840) in 1784
in Surry Co., NC. They settled on Cole
Creek in the early days of the county and raised a family of about
sixteen. Joshua held a variety of
offices in old Grayson County and was still active almost to the time of the
census. He died in 1854. Joshua, Jr., one of the younger children,
married Rosamond Carrico (1807-1891) daughter of William and Jane (Taylor)
Carrico. He also lived on Cole Creek
and there was an older daughter, married and gone at the time of the census. Young Joshua died in 1853.
565.
William Hanks 66 Farmer $500 b. VA
Nancy 61
George W. 18
Schuyler,
Ann 14 NC
William
(died in 1868) was the son of Joshua and Ruth (Bryant) Hanks, probably born on
Cole Creek not long after his father came here. He was married four times.
The first wife’s name is unknown. The second was Dicey Tucker whom he married in 1810 in Surry Co.,
NC. Nancy, shown here, was probably the
daughter of Abel and Elizabeth (Sims) Carrico; they were married in 1820, and
after her death he remarried in 1863, Elizabeth Cain. There appears to have been ten children by the four marriages.
646.
Solomon Hanks 25 Farmer b.
VA
Susan 24 NC
Selah 4
Nancy 3/12
His
name is often given as Sylvanus Hanks.
He was the son of William and Nancy (Carrico) Hanks, born some earlier
than his age here indicates. I have
never learned who Susan was. There were
six children.
647.
Enoch Hanks 26 Farmer $200 b. VA
Delah 50 NC
Polly 17 VA
Stephens,
William O. 9 NC
This
is the family of John Hanks, deceased son of Joshua and Ruth (Bryant)
Hanks. John’s wife, Delia, was the
daughter of William and Jane (Taylor) Carrico, born in NC just before her
people moved to Stephens Creek in Grayson.
They married a little before 1820 and John died about 1834, leaving
Delia with six small children.
648.
Henry L. Hanks 24 Farmer $200 b. VA
Luraney 19
Henry
was one of the children of John and Delia (Carrico) Hanks. He married Lurana Felts in 1849 in Surry
Co., NC. Her parents were Jordan and
Sarah (Kester) Felts; her name is sometimes given as Irena and she married
Henry W. Moore in 1868. Henry Hanks was
killed in the battle near Staunton in 1864.
786. Jane Hanks 50 $600 b. NC
Edward 28 Farmer VA
Mahaley 23
Leroy 21 Farmer
Canoy 20 Farmer
Hugh 18 Farmer
Thomas 16 Farmer
Susan 13
This is Thomas
Hanks’ widow and children. Thomas
(1797-1840) was the child of Joshua and Ruth (Bryant) Hanks. He married Jane Moore in 1819 in Surry Co.,
NC. There were eight children. Jane, born in 1799, died in 1852. Most of the children left here.
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