Born 1/23/1859

Died 11/5/1876 age 17

First person to be buried in what became the Cottonwood Cemetery

John Silvester Hawkins was born on 23 January 1859, in Independence, Jackson, Missouri, his father, William Henry Hawkins Sr., was 38, and his mother, Harriet Melissa Stayton, was 31. They lived in Mount Pleasant Township, Van Buren, Missouri. 

In 1875, the Hawkins family, along with many other families, took a trek from Missouri to the Verde Valley in Yavapai County, Arizona.

He died on 5 November 1876 in Yavapai County, Arizona when he was thrown from a horse at the age of 17. Interment was made in the Cottonwood Cemetery. He was the first person to be buried in the Cottonwood Cemetery.

Family Members

Parents

William Henry Hawkins Sr 1820–1883

Harriet Melissa Stayton Hawkins 1827–1895

Siblings

David Erastus Hawkins 1851–1882

Missouri C Hawkins 1853–1859

Sarah E Hawkins Alderson 1854–1879

William Henry Hawkins Jr 1857–1927

James Gabriel Hawkins 1861–1891 (Wife was Mariah May Dickinson)

Laura Belle Hawkins Hickey 1863–1892

Louisa Jane Hawkins Van Deren 1865–1887

Lee Andrew Hawkins 1867–1932

Emery Washington Hawkins 1869–1905

Thomas A. Hawkins 1871–1901