George Sydney HAWKINS, Congress, FL (1808-1878)

1808-1878

HAWKINS, George Sydney, a Representative from Florida; born in Kingston, Ulster County, N.Y., in 1808; attended the common schools and was graduated from Columbia University, New York City; studied law; was admitted to the bar and practiced; moved to Florida and settled in Pensacola; served as captain in the Indian war of 1837; member of the Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida; appointed district attorney in 1841; appointed United States district attorney for the Apalachicola district in Florida in 1842; associate justice of the State supreme court 1846-1850; elected judge of the circuit court in January 1851; member of the State house of representatives; served in the State senate; collector of customs for the port of Apalachicola; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-fifth and Thirty-sixth Congresses and served from March 4, 1857, to January 21, 1861, when he withdrew; judge of the district court under the Confederate Government 1862-1865; commissioned by the legislation of 1877 to prepare a digest of the State laws of Florida; died in Marianna, Fla., March 15, 1878; interment in St. Luke’s Episcopal Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present