Moses Hanks

Birth: Jul. 15, 1746 Richmond County, Virginia, USA Death: Aug. 19, 1831 Maury County, Tennessee, USA

Assumed to be child of Luke Hanks and Elizabeth Glasscock, he was orphaned at age 11; Soldier Rev. war. Married Agatha Dodson in about 1767 in Virginia.

Additions and corrections are rejoiced over (please, include sources).

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Spouse: Agatha Dodson Hanks (1749 - ____)

Children: Elijah Hanks (1793 - 1871)*

Calculated relationship*

Burial: Old Knob Creek Cemetery Maury County, Tennessee, USA

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Maintained by: Janet Originally Created by: Gary Hood (inactive) Record added: Jan 09, 2005 FiFind A Grave Memorial# 10293871

With two gaps of fifteen years each before and after the birth of Turner Hanks, the obvious conclusion is that other children were born. Record searches of Richmond and Lancaster Counties discloses names of Hanks men and women that were not children of either William (II) or John Hanks. These names are:

LukeJunr., Dawson, George, and Abraham.

In other records there are James, Joseph, and Moses.

In the winter of 1958-9, Mrs. C.W. Waldrop of Murray, Kentucky, found in an old Bible of her grandmother, who was the wife of William Reuben Hill, an old piece of foolscap paper, upon which was a list of names. William hill was a grandson of Joiasy Hanks, who is the daughter of Moses Hanks of Virginia. The paper contains two lists of names without surnames, but it is known from family records and letters that the list of names under Thomas are the son's of Thomas Hill and the other list under Luke are the son's of Luke Hanks.

J John

Luke Thomas

Allexander Abraham

Abraham Thomas

Moses Samuel

Joseph John

James James

Luke Joseph

Thomas Reuben Gen 29

Daniel

Jonathin

Sarah J. Gen 17

Reuben Gen 29

The original paper is in the possession of Mrs. Waldrop.

Of the above lists, it is known that the name Sarah J. is Sarah Joiasy Hanks the daughter of Moses Hanks. She married Reuben Hill, son of Thomas Hill. The list of Hanks names is so near that of the known and presumptive children of Luke Hanks to be a coincidence. That it is not a complete list is proven by the register of North Farnham Parish birth records.

Combining the list and presuming probable birth dates from the eividence and records the birht dates listed on the family page were arrived at.

Luke (I) aged about 75 years died in the winter of 1756/1757, according to the probate records of Lancaster Co. Moses Hanks was then 10 years of age, as stated by his Grandson Hanks Neville Hill. He was survived by his second wife Sarah, mother of Martha and Abrahma and Moses.

Moses and his eldest son George received land grants of 200 acres each in Lincoln County, Kentucky, in 1798. The records of these grants are to be found in Book 2, pages 9 and 103 of the "Land Grant Record of Grants South of the Green River". They had to live on the land a year before applying for ownership--a law to discourage speculators. Moses received title 4 December, 1798, said land being situated on Pitman Creek. About this time Lincoln County was cut into other counties, one being Pulaski. This is where most of the Hanks kin and friends were.

Excerpts from "Genealogy of Hanks and Allied Families" by Gladys Hanks Johnson, published April 27, 1965-Houston, Texas:

Among the Hanks families was the orphan boy, Moses Hanks. Our first record of him shows in a note for land. By record, he shows in Pittsylvania County,Virginia in 1782, 1785, and 1790. Before 1800 Moses and other Hanks families moved to Kentucky and David Puckett, a boundary neighbor, was one of the witnesses to the deed. David was kin to William Baber, also of Pittsylvania County, and the two later removed to Green County, Indiana. William was the great-great-grandfather of Adin Barber (also a descendant of Luke Hanks) mentioned on these pages.

Hanks Neville Hill, born March 10, 1813, and survived until 1898, being old enough to have known his grandfather before he passed away, made a statement to E. E. McClure in May 1890 to the effect that "Grandfather (Moses) Hanks was born in Virginia where his parents died leaving him an orphan at an early age. Luke Hanks died in late 1756 or January 1757. His first wife Elizabeth died before 1752. The death of these two Hanks left their children without parents, and Moses, being born in 1746-1748, would have been left "an orphan at an early age". There is no doubt in our minds that Moses was the son of Luke Hanks.

There has been no record of a marriage for Moses, tho' he had a wife, Aggatha, until around 1960 when the Dodson family records were published and here it was shown that "Aggy" married Moses Hanks. We are not given a birthdate for her, or a marriage date, though with their firstborn being in 1769, we presume the marriage to have taken place in 1767 -1768.

There are several Bibles in existence in the family dating a hundred years or more back, but the Thomas Hanks Bible in Palestine, Texas, is the only one which lists "my father Moses Hanks". His Bible and the one of his sister Joisey Hanks Hill do not list their mother at all. The Bible, which had belonged to a son of Elijah, son of Moses, lists what we presume to have been Aggatha. Presumably the name was placed in the Bible as Aggy and at sometime later, someone erased part of the name and wrote back over it making the name "Ann". No identity for her is given and part of the page has been torn out taking the year of her death.

In her papers, Joisey Hanks Hill mentions that her family first settled on "the French Broad" in East Tennessee, so we believe they did journey to Tennessee with Donelson. The family later went to Kentucky.

Moses and his eldest son George received land grants of 200 acres each in Lincoln County, Kentucky, in 1798. The records of these grants are to be found in Book 2, pages 9 and 103 of the "Land Grant Record of Grants South of the Green River". They had to live on the land a year before applying for ownership--a law to discourage speculators. Moses received title 4 December, 1798, said land being situated on Pitman Creek. About this time Lincoln County was cut into other counties, one being Pulaski. This is where most of the Hanks kin and friends were.

William Dodson--spelled Dotson on the land grant--received his land on Singing Creek about 1795 as a Revolutionary War Soldier. Mr. Baber has visited there and says the creek really does sing and can be heard from some distance away. On July 25, 1799, William Dodson set aside 40 acres of his grant for a County seat and this land was presented to the County Council. This body voted on it's acceptance February 24, 1801, with the condition that the land be fully surveyed and platted for a town within a year's time and they required a bond of $1000 be posted, which William Dodson, Reubin Hill, and Moses Hanks did. During their long trek and the first years after their settlement in Kentucky, these people suffered untold hardships but their religion and their churches went along with them.

Large segments of the people here pulled out for Tennessee when that territory was opened up in 1806; among them being many of the Hanks kin. Moses still seeking the "promised land" sold the 200 acres for $150 on 14 December 1806, and sold 128 acres he owned for $110--right tidy sums. The May 1808 county council ordered the road surveyed "past Moses Hanks house---", showing it was still known as Hanks property.

These families settled in Williamson County, Tennessee, which was later cut to form other counties, one being Maury County and most of the Hanks families and kin were in the new county of Maury. We find many county records of land tradings by the Hankses. A descendant, John Monroe Littlefield, who lived to be 99 years old, was always proud of his Hanks lineage. He stated that the family was one of the most intelligent families wherever they went and that they were very keen traders and judges of people.

Volume 1, book H, page 201; Moses Hanks sold to Asa Dodson---son-in-law of Reubin Hill---120 acres on Knob Creek, for $400, July 28, 1819. In 1827, Moses bought a 320 acre farm five miles north of the county seat, Columbia. This farm adjoined one that belonged to Henry Moore whose brother later married a grad daughter of Moses, she being Eliza Ann, daughter of Mose' son Elijah. This property is off the highway from Columbia to Nashville, a mile or so, and is not far from the James Polk farm, which fronts the highway. When the property was sold after Aggatha's death, Wash Miller, a very wealthy and influential man of the times, bought the property for his home. For many years after this it was still called "the old Hanks place". Mr. Miller's widow Esther, married Elijah Hanks and lived on his place west of Columbia and her home was allowed to run down. Many years ago the house was torn down, and the land has washed badly.

Moses spent his last days with his daughter, Joisey Hill, who lived on the James Polk place, and he was buried many miles away just outside the rock wall of the Witherspoon Cemetery. Here other kin--Jones, Allen and a Dodson or so are buried. Many graves are here around Moses but few have markers other than just stones. The cemetery is out near Elijah Janks' home, toward the present location of the Knob Creek Church. Here Elijah Hanks, two of his sons and his wife, Mary, are buried, along with Moses. These graves are well marked. There is no record of Aggatha. Moses died August 19, 1831. His headstone reads, "In memory of Moses Hanks--died August 19, 1831, aged 85.

Moses' will named Elijah as his executor and he left "$500 to my widow Aggatha and the property to her as long as she may live" at which time the property was to be divided equally among his children. It is not known when Aggatha died, except for the month, which was shown in a Bible of Elijah's son, as being in November--with the page torn out, taking the year along with it. In the 1830 census she was shown as being near 90 years old.

The Bible left by Thomas Hanks in Anderson County, Texas, gives the names of his sisters and brothers, as does the Bible of his sister Joisey; this Bible being in the possession of her descendants in Kentucky. Thomas listed his own children, with some death dates and marriages. Below is the combined lists of the children of Moses and Aggatha as taken from the two Bibles; (All born in Pittsylvania Co., Virginia)

1. Joisey Hanks b. 13 July 1769 d. ca.1847
2. Frances Hanks b. 6 September 1771
3. George Hanks b. 6 June 1773 d. 1 September 1859
4. Mary Hanks b. 9 June 1776
5. Moses Hanks, Jr. b. 6 January 1779
6. Elizabeth Hanks b. 9 September 1782
7. Troy Hanks b. 2 March 1784
8. Thomas Hanks b. 30 April 1786 d. 28 November 1857
9. Idella Hanks b. 5 January 1788
10. Annie Hanks b. 5 January 1788
11. Sarah Hanks b. 15 March 1790

Elijah Hanks b. 12 December 1793 d. 12 August 1871

Source:

• Find-A-Grave
• Ancestry