Robert Hastings Hunkins Explained
| Robert Hastings Hunkins |
| Birth Date: | 15 September 1774 |
| Birth Place: | New Hampshire Grants, British North America (now Vermont) |
| Death Date: | March 11, 1853 |
| Occupation: | Settler, Pioneer, Farmer, Legislator |
| Known For: | Historical figure |
|
| Spouse: | Hannah Emerson |
| Children: | 6 verified, including Benjamin Hunkins |
| Parents: | Captain Robert Hunkins and Lydia Chamberlain |
| Relatives: | Eugene W. Chafin (son-in-law) |
Robert Hastings Hunkins (September 15, 1774 – March 11, 1853) was an American politician. He was an early settler of the Wisconsin territory and served in the Vermont House of Representatives.
Biography
Hunkins was born on September 15, 1774, in the New Hampshire Grants, territory that was disputed between the Province of New Hampshire and the Province of New York. He was the third son of Captain Robert Hunkins and his second wife, Lydia Chamberlin.[1] The territory became the Vermont Republic in 1777, and joined the United States as the state of Vermont in 1791.
In 1806 Hunkins was both a selectman and treasurer for the town of Navy, Vermont.[2] From 1811 to 1812 Hunkins was Town Representative to the Vermont General Assembly for the town of Charleston, Vermont.[3] [4] In 1811, the Vermont General Assembly was a unicameral legislature; in 1836, the Vermont Senate was added and the Vermont General Assembly became a bicameral legislature.[5]
Three of Hunkins' sons, Sargeant, Robert and Benjamin, moved to the Wisconsin Territory. In 1839 Hunkins followed them and set up a large farm that he worked alongside his two other sons James and Hazen.[6]
Hunkins died in New Berlin, Wisconsin in 1853. He was buried in the plot of his brother, the Hazen Hastings Hunkins plot, at Prairie Home Cemetery in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
Family
On November 15, 1798 Hunkins married Hannah, the daughter of Watts Emerson and Lois Trussel. They had five sons:[7]
- Sargeant Roger Hunkins (born March 12, 1802), who married Rebecca Whitcher (born September 6, 1807) on September 25, 1825;
- Robert W. Hunkins;
- Benjamin Hunkins, born 1810. Benjamin was called twice to service in the territorial legislature of Wisconsin. He was a delegate to the first constitutional convention of Wisconsin and served in the State Legislature in 1860;[8]
- James Hunkins;
- Hazen Hastings Hunkins
and some daughters, including:
External links
Notes and References
- Book: McKeen, Rev. Silas . Bradford, Vermont . 1875 . J. D. Clark and Son . 207 . de . 29 March 2015.
- Book: Hemenway, Abby Maria. The Vermont Historical Gazetteer: A Magazine, Embracing a History of Each Town, Civil, Ecclesiastical, Biographical and Military. 1877. 3 . 115. .
- .
- Book: Vermont Legislature . 1810 . Journals of the General Assembly of Vermont, General Assembly of Vermont convened at Montpelier on October 12, 1809 . Sereno Wright, printer . 3, 5.
- Web site: Wayne State University School of Public Works and Social Works-American Experiences With Unicameral Legislatures, IV. Unicameralism in Vermont, pg. 9-12 . 2015-03-29 . 2014-12-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141205201028/http://crcmich.org/PUBLICAT/1930s/1937/rpt147.pdf . live .
- Book: Hunkins, Hazen Hendricks . 1961 . Genealogical records of the Robert Hastings Hunkins family . University of Wisconsin . 4 .
- Book: Geo. A. Ogle & Co . Memorial and Biographical Record and Illustrated Compendium of Biography: Containing a Compendium of Local Biography, Including Biographical Sketches of Hundreds of Prominent Old Settlers and Representative Citizens of Butler, Polk, Seward, York and Fillmore Counties, Nebraska, with a Review of Their Life Work... Also a Compendium of National Biography . G.A. Ogle & Company . 1899 . 1101. 29 March 2015.
- Book: Quaife, Milo Milton . 1919 . The Convention of 1846 . Constitutional series: Publications of the ... / Collections . 27 . State Historical Society of Wisconsin . 778 . 29 March 2015 . 29 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210729155117/https://books.google.com/books?id=EY0UAAAAYAAJ . live .
