Benjamin Hawkins

Benjamin Hawkins
United States Senator from North Carolina
In office November 27, 1789 – March 4, 1795
Preceded by	None
Succeeded by	Timothy Bloodworth
Member of the Congress of the Confederation
In office 1781 – 1783 1787
Member of the North Carolina House of Representatives
In office 1778 – 1779 1784
Personal details
Born	(1754-08-15)August 15, 1754 Granville County, Province of North Carolina, British America
Died	June 6, 1816(1816-06-06) (aged 61) Crawford County, Georgia, U.S.
Resting place	Roberta, Georgia, U.S. 32°40′0.61″N 84°5′45.73″W / 32.6668361°N 84.0960361°W / 32.6668361; -84.0960361
Political party	Pro-Administration (1789–1791) Anti-Administration (1791–1795)
Relations	Philemon Hawkins II (father) Micajah T. Hawkins (nephew) William Hawkins (nephew)
Alma mater	College of New Jersey

Benjamin Hawkins (August 15, 1754 – June 6, 1816^[1]) was an American planter, statesman and a U.S. Indian agent. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress and a United States Senator from North Carolina, having grown up among the planter elite. Appointed by George Washington in 1796 as one of three commissioners to the Creeks, in 1801 President Jefferson named him "principal agent for Indian affairs south of the Ohio [River]", and was principal Indian agent to the Creek Indians.

Hawkins established the Creek Agency and his plantation near present-day Roberta, Georgia, in what became Crawford County. He learned the Muscogee language, and had a Creek woman, Lavinia Downs, as common-law wife, who, in the Creek's matrilineal society, provided an entry into that world. He had seven children with her, although he resisted Creek pressure to marry her^[2]: 9 until near the end of his life. He wrote extensively about the Creek and other Southeast tribes: the Choctaw, Cherokee and Chickasaw. He eventually built a large complex using African slave labor, including mills, and raised a considerable quantity of cattle and hogs.