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Great-Grandfather Immigrates to Land of Opportunity

By Capper's Staff
Published on March 4, 2013

Vincent Hawkins was a native of England, born in Derbyshire in July 1800. He came to the land of opportunity and located in Pennsylvania, where he was married to Annie Crowell, a Maryland native. He enlisted at the first call for troops at the beginning of the 1861 rebellion. He was 61. When asked his age, he said his fighting age was 48. He served his term of three years and then returned home. He enlisted again a few months later in Cleveland, Ohio, in the 413th Ohio Infantry. He remained there until the close of the Civil War, when he was discharged from the invalid corps. In 1873, he visited his son and family in southern Minnesota; he died a few weeks later. He was my husband’s great-grandfather.

Erma Hawkins
Tucson, Arizona


Back in 1955 a call went out from the editors of the then CAPPER’s Weekly asking for readers to send in articles on true pioneers. Hundreds of letters came pouring in from early settlers and their children, many now in their 80s and 90s, and from grandchildren of settlers, all with tales to tell. So many articles were received that a decision was made to create a book, and in 1956, the first My Folks title – My Folks Came in a Covered Wagon – hit the shelves. Nine other books have since been published in the My Folks series, all filled to the brim with true tales from CAPPER’s readers, and we are proud to make those stories available to our growing online community.