One small notice in the Christian Visitor may give us one of the most important clues about Michael Hawkins and Eleanor / Leaney Brewer’s earliest years in New Brunswick.
Their son, John Michael Hawkins, was born on May 12, 1786. He died in Douglas, York County, New Brunswick, on May 22, 1877.
The only direct notice I have found for John Michael Hawkins comes from the Christian Visitor, published at Saint John, New Brunswick, on June 6, 1877:
“d. At his residence, Mouth of the Keswick (York Co.) 22nd ult., John M. HAWKINS, age 91 years 9 days. This aged man died on the farm on which he was born. He was never known to have been out of this Province. The services were participated in by Rev. J.E. Ruel and his remains interred in the old grave yard near the Parish Church.”
That sentence is extremely important:
“This aged man died on the farm on which he was born.”
If true, it suggests that Michael Hawkins and Eleanor / Leaney Brewer were already living on, or at least occupying, the Keswick/Douglas-area farm by the time John Michael Hawkins was born in May 1786.
That raises a fascinating question:
When did Michael and Eleanor actually arrive in the Keswick/Douglas area?
Michael’s own memorial says he came to New Brunswick in the May Fleet of 1783. But John Michael was not born until nearly three years later, in May 1786. That leaves a gap:
May/June 1783 → May 1786
Where were Michael and Eleanor during those years?
The Pregnancy Window
If John Michael Hawkins was born on May 12, 1786, then Eleanor / Leaney was likely pregnant by about August 1785, give or take a few weeks.
That matters because travel in New Brunswick was difficult, especially in winter. It is hard to imagine a heavily pregnant woman making a major overland or upriver move from Saint John toward the Keswick/Douglas area in the dead of winter, especially between November 1785 and March 1786.
So if John Michael truly was born on the same farm where he died, it seems reasonable to ask whether Michael and Eleanor were already settled there before the winter of 1785–1786.
This does not prove they were there by then. But it makes it a very strong possibility.
Possible Timeline
A cautious working timeline might look like this:
May/June 1783
Michael Hawkins arrives in New Brunswick with the May/Spring Fleet.
1783–1784
Michael and possibly Eleanor may have remained near Saint John, Parrtown, Carleton, or another Loyalist staging/settlement area while land was being sorted out.
Summer/Fall 1784 or Summer/Fall 1785
Michael and Eleanor may have moved upriver or inland toward the Keswick/Douglas area.
By late 1785
If John Michael was born on the Keswick/Douglas farm in May 1786, then Michael and Eleanor may already have been occupying that land before winter set in.
May 12, 1786
John Michael Hawkins is born.
1788
Michael Hawkins officially purchases or secures the land associated with Lewis Fraser.
That creates an interesting possibility:
Michael and Eleanor may have lived on Lewis Fraser’s land for roughly two and a half years before Michael formally acquired it in 1788.
If the obituary is accurate, then Michael did not simply appear on that land when the paperwork was finalized. He may have been living there earlier.
Why This Matters
This changes the way we search for Michael and Eleanor.
Instead of only asking, “Where was Michael granted land?” we should also ask:
Where was he actually living?
Who allowed him to occupy the land before purchase?
Was there an informal settlement arrangement before the legal transfer?
Was Lewis Fraser connected to Michael Hawkins?
Were other Loyalist families nearby before official land titles were finalized?
Did Michael and Eleanor marry before arriving in New Brunswick, or after arrival?
If they married in New Brunswick, where would that record likely be?
Was Eleanor on the same ship as Michael, or did she arrive separately with the Brewer/Brower family?
These are not small questions. They may help locate the missing records.
The Marriage Question
If Michael and Eleanor’s son was born in May 1786, then Michael and Eleanor were almost certainly married before that date. The real question is where and when.
Possible locations include:
New Jersey / New York before evacuation
They may have married before leaving the old colonies, especially if the Hawkins and Brewer/Brower families were already connected in the Loyalist refugee world.
British-held New York or Staten Island refugee zone
If Eleanor’s family was part of the refugee population around New York, a marriage may have occurred there before the fleet sailed.
Saint John / Parrtown / Carleton after arrival
If they arrived separately or married after evacuation, the marriage may have taken place in the early Loyalist settlement world around Saint John.
Keswick / Douglas / Maugerville area
If they moved upriver before 1786, a marriage or informal family record may have been connected to the early inland Loyalist settlements.
The problem is that early Loyalist records can be scattered, incomplete, or lost. But the obituary gives us a new way to think about the search.
A Working Theory
Here is the theory I would test:
If John Michael Hawkins was truly born on the same farm where he died in 1877, then Michael Hawkins and Eleanor / Leaney Brewer were likely living in the Keswick/Douglas area by late 1785, before John Michael’s birth in May 1786. This means they may have occupied the land before Michael’s formal 1788 transaction, possibly living on Lewis Fraser’s land for two or more years before officially acquiring it.
That is not proven.
But it is a very reasonable deduction — and it gives us a direction.
Where to Search Next
This line of reasoning points toward several record sets:
Early Saint John / Parrtown / Carleton church records
Possible marriage, baptism, or settlement references between 1783 and 1786.
Early York County / Maugerville / St. Mary’s / Douglas-area church records
Possible baptism of John Michael Hawkins or early family references.
Land petitions and memorials
Especially anything involving Michael Hawkins, Lewis Fraser, Robert McCargo, Keswick, Madam Keswick, Douglas, or Lot 10.
Deeds and land transfers
To determine when Michael first occupied the farm versus when he officially purchased or received title.
Loyalist refugee lists and ship records
To determine whether Eleanor / Leaney Brewer arrived with Michael, with the Brewer/Brower family, or separately.
Brewer / Brower family records
Especially any record placing Eleanor, Leaney, Lanny, or her family in New York, New Jersey, Staten Island, Saint John, or York County between 1783 and 1786.
Why the Obituary Matters
One obituary sentence may be the clue that connects Michael’s migration to his first real New Brunswick home.
“This aged man died on the farm on which he was born.”
If accurate, that sentence places Michael and Eleanor on the Keswick/Douglas farm by May 1786.
That means the Hawkins family’s New Brunswick story may have begun there earlier than the formal land paperwork suggests.
And if that is true, then the missing years between the May Fleet of 1783 and John Michael’s birth in 1786 become one of the most important windows in the entire Hawkins investigation.
That is where we need to look.
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