Francis Lister Hawks
| Francis L. Hawks | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
Francis Lister Hawks June 10, 1798 New Bern, North Carolina |
| Died | September 26, 1866 (aged 68) New York, New York |
| Alma mater | North Carolina University |
Francis Lister Hawks (June 10, 1798 – September 26, 1866) was an American priest of the Episcopal Church, and a politician in North Carolina. After practicing law with some distinction he entered the Episcopalian ministry in 1827 and proved a brilliant and impressive preacher, holding livings (a church benefice including revenues) in New Haven, Philadelphia, New York City and New Orleans, and declining several bishoprics. Scandals in the 1830s and 40s led him to posts on the American frontier, although he eventually returned to New York City.
Hawks's work on church history remains important today. On his appointment as historiographer of his church in 1835, he went to England and collected the abundant materials afterwards utilized in his Contributions to the Ecclesiastical History of U.S.A. (New York, 1836–1839). These two volumes dealt with Maryland and Virginia, while two later ones (1863, 1864) were devoted to Connecticut.
Hawks edited the single volume Appletons' Cyclopaedia of Biography (1856), which added American biographies to the volume edited by Elihu Rich and published in 1854 by Richard Griffin & Company (London).
Hawks was born in New Bern, North Carolina. He graduated from the state university, now known as the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in 1815, where he was a member of the Philanthropic Society. He then entered the practice of law. He represented New Bern in the North Carolina House of Commons in 1821. Hawks also became active in the Episcopal Church, where he took the post of lay reader of his parish. Hawks felt drawn to the ministry and entered the tutelage of Bishop John Stark Ravenscroft.
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