In 1871 Mr James Hawkins of No. 1 High Street Court, Portland, Maine, received a letter postmarked in Wexford, Ireland.The image of the envelope sent from Wexford, Ireland, to James Hawkins in Portland, Maine, was once at Jim Forte's Postal History site but is no longer. Who was James Hawkins and does this postmark tell us anything about his place of origin in Ireland?
There is only one James Hawkins in Portland in this time period. When I started researching him I first found him at 8 Maple Street in the 1869 Portland City Directory. Maple Street is 2/10 of a mile from 1 High Street Court.1869 Portland Directory page 125, image 62 at ancestry.com. But the earliest he appears in Portland is in the John Deehan household on the 1860 Census, age 22, working as a mariner. 1860 Census, John Deehan Household, Ward 4, Portland, Maine, at familysearch.org. His listings in the Portland City Directories can be found below.
On July 9, 1861, James married Margaret McGlinchey in Portland,Maine Vital Records, Copy of an old marriage, Hawkins-McGlinchey, 1861, at familysearch.org. and in 1870 they were in Ward 6 with three children: Margaret (age 8), James Jr (5), and Ida (1).1870 Census, James J Hawkins, Ward 6, Portland, Maine, at familysearch.org. Margaret, the mother, died June 18, 1877, of typhoid fever,Maine Vital Records, Copy of an old death, Margaret E Hawkins, 1877, twice at familysearch, here and also here. and James, the father, died September 4, 1892.Maine Vital Records, deaths, James Hawkins, 1892, at familysearch.org. They are both buried in Calvary Cemetery.
The Irish records
James' death record said that his parents were James J Hawkins, a sea captain, and Margaret Furlong, both born in Ireland. On Griffith's Valuation, those two surnames overlapped most often in County Wexford. With the help of ancestry.com's index, I found baptisms of
Pat Hawkins, March 2, 1825, sponsor: Betsy Furlong
Pat Hawkins again, May 29, 1826, sponsors: Edward Durkham and Catherine Murphy
John Hawkins, May 9, 1828, sponsors Garret Roche and Mary Cleary
all in Wexford Parish, Ferns Diocese, and all sons of a couple named James Hawkins and Margaret Furlong.Irish Catholic Parish Registers, at the National Library of Ireland. I didn't find a baptism record for a James Hawkins born to this couple.
On Griffith's Valuation of the town of Wexford, Civil Parish of St Mary's, there is a James Hawkins leasing a house and yard on Stonebridge Lane. Stonebridge Lane is on the waterfront, which seems like a good place for a sea captain to live. And it is a 4 minute walk from the parish church where those three baptisms took place.
Conclusion
On the first go round of research, I wasn't very confident that I had found James Hawkins place of origin in Ireland, but as I look at it again, I think I did. An exact date of birth on the American records and a matching baptism would have clinched it. Or a sibling in Portland who was also found in Ireland. But I'm pretty sure we can say that James Hawkins of Portland is the son of the couple in Wexford.
After all that, it was a little disappointing to find out that James and Margaret (McGlinchey) Hawkins do not have descendants. Their children James and Ida are in the same household in Melrose, Massachusetts, in 1920, both single and in their 50's. Daughter Margaret married in Portland in 1909 at about age 47, and she and her husband Earl Ebersole are in Lansing, Michigan, in 1920, without children.
But maybe our James Hawkins had siblings, possibly the Pat and John baptized in Wexford Parish, and one of their descendants is interested in knowing what happened to their ancestor's brother.
Portland City Directories
When I moved this article to the new website I took another look at the Portland City Directories. The earliest I found James was in 1866, working as a clerk. Soon after, he opened up a lunch "saloon" or oyster house and stayed at that for many years. A few years before he died he became an insurance agent. The listings are as follows:
1866 James J Hawkins, clerk, 22 Cotton
1869 James J Hawkins, 8 Maple Street
1873 James J Hawkins, eating saloon, 356 Commercial, house same address
1875 James J Hawkins, laborer, 2 High St place
1877 James J Hawkins, lunch saloon 333 Commercial, house 1 High Street Court
1879 James J Hawkins, lunch saloon 339 Commercial, house 1 High Street Court
1881 James J Hawkins, lunch saloon 333 Commercial, house 1 High Street Court
1881 Business Section
Oyster and lunch rooms, James J Hawkins, 333 Commercial
1883 James J Hawkins, lunch saloon 459 Commercial and 132 Center, house 39 Cotton
1883 Business Section
Eating houses, James J Hawkins, 132 Center and 459 Commercial
1885 Business Section
Eating houses, James J Hawkins, 281 Commercial
1887 James J Hawkins, eating house 255 Federal, house 39 Cotton
James Jr clerk, bds 39 Cotton
1888 James J Hawkins, eating house, house 39 Cotton
1889 James J Hawkins insurance agent, house 39 Cotton
James Jr, clerk, bds 39 Cotton
1890 James J Hawkins insurance agent, house 39 Cotton
James Jr, clerk, bds 39 Cotton
1892 James J Hawkins, insurance agent, house 8 Parris
Jame Jr, clerk, 507 Congress, bds 8 Parris
Maggie, seamstress 238 Middle, bds 8 Parris