Namesake - 11 Ralph Hankinses in the Family Tree - Week 3 of #52Ancestors

 As I researched my ancestors, I realized there were a lot of men with Ralph as their first or middle name. Most it turned out were descendants of Ralph Hankins (1776-1863), first of my Hankins line to settle in New York or Pennsylvania. 

So for this week's theme of Namesake I thought I'd talk about all 11 Ralphs in my Hankins family tree. 

1. Ralph Hankins. Born Feb 29, 1776, in New Jersey (probably in Hunterdon County), son of Richard Hankins and Elizabeth Pinkerton. Ralph married four times. Ralph died on Sept. 9, 1863 in Tusten, Sullivan County, New York. Census records place Ralph in Lumberland, Ulster County, New York in 1800, Lackawaxan, Wayne County, Pennsylvania in 1810, Pike County, PA in 1820 and 1830, Lackawaxan, Pike County in 1840 and 1850, and Tusten, Sullivan County, NY in 1860. 

Ralph first married ______ Lambert, who died in Tusten in 1796 along with their baby. 

Ralph married second, Mary Dougherty (born between 1775-1784 based on age in census records, died between 1814-1818). Ralph and Mary had five children, Samuel (1798-1877), Elizabeth (1800-1844), John (1803-1847), Mary (1811-1877) and Ralph (1814-1842). 

Ralph married third Dolly Shearer (born 1779 died December 2, 1845) on August 31, 1818 in Sussex County, New Jersey. Dolly was the widow of ______ Dougherty (possibly a brother of Ralph's second wife). Ralph and Dolly had one daughter, Henrietta (1820-1905). 

Ralph married Betsy Lukens (born about 1793, death date unknown) after 1845. She later married Delos Allen. 

2. Ralph Hankins. Born November 29, 1814 in Pennsylvania, son of Richard Hankins and Mary Doughtery. Died in a lumber accident on the Delaware River on September 14, 1842.He married Carline Holbert (born about 1816 in Pennsylvania, probably died between 1875 and 1880). She later married William Morris and _____ Caughlin. Ralph and Caroline had two children Harriet (born about 1839 in Pennsylvania, died after 1850) and John D (1841-1916). 

3. Ralph H. Angell. Born October 24, 1833 in New York, son of Barton Angell and Mary Hankins, grandson of Ralph Hankins and Mary Dougherty. He died in 1902. Ralph married Eliza Mersereau (1824-1924) in 1873. They had no known children. 

4. John Ralph Hankins. Born August 6, 1843 at Hankins, Sullivan County, New York, son of John Hankins and Susan Thomas, grandson of Ralph Hankins and Mary Dougherty. He died on February 12, 1905 in Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York. He married Emma Buckley (1849-1934) in 1868. John Ralph and Emma had two children Susie E (1870-1930) and Bertha (1880-1891). 

5. Ralph Hankins. Born July 2, 1843, son of Samuel Hankins and Catherine Reeve, grandson of Ralph Hankins and Mary Dougherty. He died on September 25, 1844. 

6. Ralph H Hankins. Born September 8, 1856 at Ten Mile River, Sullivan County, New York, son of Samuel Hankins and Susan Tyler, great grandson of Ralph Hankins and Mary Dougherty. He died on June 5 1946 at Watertown, Jefferson County, New York. He married Celia Blanche Gaylord (about 1877 - 1937) in 1901. Ralph and Celia had one son Curtis G. Hankins (1902-1960). 

7. Ralph Nutting. Born about 1877 in New York, son of Newton Wright Nutting and Cynthia Adelaide Taft, great great grandson of Richard Hankins and Elizabeth Pinkerton.  Died July 9, 1928 in Washington, DC. He married Harriet Ellen Wheeler (1870-1931) in 1902. 

8. Theodore Ralph Hankins. Born July 10, 1907 in Tusten, Sullivan County, New York, son of Samuel Jackson Hankins and Nancy Anna Jane French, great great grandson of Ralph Hankins and Mary Dougherty. He died on June 5, 1978 in Binghamton, Broome County, New York. He married Wanda M. Bush (1912-1970). Theodore and Wanda had six children Theodore L. (1928-1971), Robert Samuel (1929-2007), Marjorie Jane (1931-2011), Betty Verna (1933-1991), Charles H (1936-2010), and Donald James (1937-1937). 

Ralph William Hankins (1927-1997)
Photo taken in 1946

9. Ralph William Hankins. Born August 5, 1927 in New York City, adopted son of Francis William Hankins and Evelyn Clara Call, great great great grandson of Ralph Hankins and Mary Doughtery. He died on August 21, 1997 in Schwenksville, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. 

10. Ralph William Hankins. Son of Ralph William Hankins, great great great great grandson of Ralph Hankins and Mary Dougherty. 

So there you have it - 10 males in the Hankins family tree named Ralph. 

But wait - wasn't there something about 11 of them! There is one more - not a descendant of Richard Hankins or Ralph Hankins. But a namesake nonetheless. 

Remember Caroline Holbert who married Ralph Hankins (1814-1842). A few years after Ralph Hankins died in a logging accident, Caroline married Ralph's friend William Morris on January 7, 1846. later that year, on June 14, 1846, Caroline gave birth to her first child with her second husband - Ralph Hankins Morris - named for his mother's first husband and father's good friend. Tragically, William Morris died in a logging accident on September 20, 1847, when Caroline was pregnant with her daughter Elizabeth. 

So the 11th Ralph Hankins is 

11. Ralph Hankins Morris. Born June 14, 1846 at Masthope, Pike County, Pennsylvania, son of William Morris and Caroline Holbert. He died on January 3, 1913 in Colesville, Broome County, New York. He married Emmeline Ophelia Mallery (1849-1933). Ralph and Emmeline three children Clinton Douglas (1869-1942), Minnie Idella (1871-1957) and George Andrew (1873-1961). 

So these are all the men named Ralph I've found associated with my Hankins family - there are still lines I haven't been able to trace forward - so there may be more Ralphs in my family tree.