Francis L. Hawks
Who was Francis L. Hawks?
American writer, historian, educator and priest of the Episcopal Church
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on Francis L. Hawks (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
Francis Lister Hawks, born on June 10, 1798, in New Bern, North Carolina, was a notable and ambitious figure in 19th-century American public life. He started as a lawyer, showcasing his skills in that field and briefly participating in North Carolina politics before turning his focus to the Episcopal Church. He became an Episcopal priest in 1827 and gained a reputation as a talented and engaging preacher, taking on roles in New Haven, Philadelphia, New York City, and New Orleans. Although he was considered for several bishop positions, he either declined or was passed over, partly due to personal controversies in the 1830s and 1840s.
These scandals affected Hawks's standing in the church, leading him to accept positions in frontier areas of the United States and impacting his rejection as Bishop of Mississippi. Despite this, he pursued his intellectual and institutional interests, becoming the first president of the University of Louisiana, now Tulane University. This role showed his talent for educational leadership, even as his church career was limited.
Hawks later moved to Baltimore, Maryland, and eventually returned to New York City, where he spent his final years. Throughout these changes, he remained deeply involved in historical research and writing. In 1835, the Episcopal Church named him its official historian, acknowledging his previous work and encouraging further research. He traveled to England to gather materials and wrote Contributions to the Ecclesiastical History of the U.S.A., published in New York between 1836 and 1839. The first two volumes covered the church histories of Maryland and Virginia, while two more volumes in 1863 and 1864 focused on Connecticut.
In addition to his church history work, Hawks made significant contributions to American reference literature. He edited the single-volume Appletons' Cyclopaedia of Biography, published in 1856, which expanded on an earlier British version by Elihu Rich, published in London in 1854 by Richard Griffin and Company. Hawks's edition included American biographies, adapting the work for an American audience. This project demonstrated his broad knowledge and the increasing U.S. demand for accessible biographical references.
Francis Lister Hawks died on September 26, 1866, in New York City. His career touched on law, politics, preaching, education, and editing, leaving behind a body of work that proved more lasting than his often troubled personal reputation during his lifetime.
Before Fame
Francis Lister Hawks grew up in New Bern, North Carolina, a town with colonial roots and a well-established culture of law and trade that encouraged professional aspirations. He initially pursued a career in law and showed enough talent to gain recognition in the North Carolina legal community. Like many educated men of his time, he briefly dabbled in politics, seeing public service as a natural extension of his professional life.
In 1827, Hawks made the switch from law to the Episcopal priesthood, which wasn't uncommon when a classical education and strong public speaking skills were useful in both fields. The early nineteenth century saw many educated Americans moving between legal professions and the Protestant ministry. Hawks's skills as a speaker easily transitioned from the courtroom to the church. His early clerical positions connected him with large urban congregations, where his preaching quickly drew attention and propelled him into the upper ranks of the Episcopal church.
Key Achievements
- Appointed official historiographer of the Episcopal Church in 1835 and produced the landmark Contributions to the Ecclesiastical History of U.S.A. (1836–1839, 1863–1864)
- Served as the first president of the University of Louisiana, now Tulane University
- Edited Appletons' Cyclopaedia of Biography (1856), expanding the work to include American biographies for a national audience
- Built a distinguished preaching career with livings in New Haven, Philadelphia, New York City, and New Orleans
- Established a prior career of notable distinction in law and North Carolina politics before his ordination as an Episcopal priest in 1827
Did You Know?
- 01.Hawks declined multiple offers of the episcopate during his career, making him one of the more prominent Episcopal priests of his era never to have served as a bishop.
- 02.He was the founding president of the University of Louisiana, the institution that later became Tulane University, one of the American South's most prominent research universities.
- 03.Hawks traveled to England specifically to collect archival materials for his ecclesiastical history project after being appointed the Episcopal Church's official historiographer in 1835.
- 04.His edition of Appletons' Cyclopaedia of Biography in 1856 was built upon a British reference work and deliberately expanded to include American biographical subjects for a domestic audience.
- 05.His multi-volume church history, begun in the 1830s, was still receiving new volumes as late as 1863 and 1864, meaning the project spanned nearly three decades of his working life.