Finding of Remains of Rev. W. T. Hawkins
Solves 18-Year Mystery
By LARRY W. MULL
Herald Staff Writer
Twilight was descending over
the roiling, grassy slopes of the
picturesque Sapphire mountains
in Western North Carolina. Deep
red, bright orange and pale pur
ple splashed the sky and a soft,
misty haze hung over the verdant
countryside.
A stout man trudged slowly
along the mountainside, his sharp
eyes searching carefully the peace
ful scene before him. This stout
mountaineer with the tanned,
-wrinkled face and the bright eyes
was Parson W. T. Hawkins, be
loved circuit riding Methodist
minister, who spent most of his
time traveling about the hill coun
try, preaching the gospel to h.s
neighbors.
Person Hawkins paused and
wiped the* sweat from his brow.
He had started out a short time
before?the exact time being 3:30
p. m. on that peaceful afternoon
of March 18, 1930, in search of a
stray cow that had failed to come
up at milching time. This had
worried the old man and he had
set out immediately in an Intenive
hunt for the missing animal.
His first step was to search the
fields and pastures near his home
but this failed to produce results.
Next, he turned his attention to
the dense patches of woods and
thickets that dotted the adjoining
hills. Finally he reached the dense
under brush along Timber Ridge,
still looking for some signs of the
wayward cow.
From time to time he halted
at various homes along the way
and made inquires regarding his
cow but none of his neighbors could
remember seeing the animal. Later
they were to recall that he was in
the best of spirits except for be
ing slightly worried over his pest>
cow.
Pushing deeper into the jungle
like vegetation, the Parson paused
occasionally and called out to the
animal but failed to hear the ani
mal low back in return as was its
custom. Presently he found that
soft darkness draped the moun
tains and the stars were out. Tired
and weary, he turned back to
wards his home, walking briskly.
He was anxious to reach his abode
where a warm, nourishing meal
awaited him. Despite his seventy
three years, he moved at a fast. |
pace.
He entered a small woods and]
disappeared l'rom sight . . . mys
teries in the history of Western
North Carolina?a mystery that'
"Was to defy solution for a period j
of eighteen ye;.rs and was to cause
much wild speculation and guess
ing as to just what really had
happened to the kindly old parson
*Yi that fatal March evening. There
wore vague tales about vengeance
seeking bootleggers, cruel bandits
and poisonous snakes that struck
down the;r deadly enemy.
Back in the Hawkins home, the
parson's wife waited patiently,
peering through a window from
time to time, hoping to catch sight
of her husband. At first she wasn't
worried because she knew her hus
band was an expert woodsman
who would hardly lose his way|
in a region he knew so familiary.
But as time passed and he failed
to return, her conflicting emotions
aroused to action.
She picked up a shawl, draped
it over her shoulders and stepped
out into the ch.ll darkness. With
a heavy heart, she directed her
steps to the home of Joe L. Wright,
son-in-law, who lived nearby. She)
found tiie family in the living1
room where a fire blazed cheerily
on t!;c hearth.
"What's wring?" Mrs. Wright1,
a?ked anxiously, not.cing the wor- I
r o I expression uti her mother's1
face
S o twisted her hands nervously,
"lis . . . trie Parson . . ."
"What about him?"
"lie hasn't come home and I|
have a feeling something has hap- j
peocd He left the house.about i
3:3') to look for a cow arllfc haven't
seen him since."
Knowing the minister as they
did, Mr. and Mrs. Wright believed,
at first, that Mrs. Hawkins was
unduly alarmed. They were sure
t':?l no man alive knew the hills
anund the settlement of Cashiers1
any better than the old man. Many
ti'ftcs the parson had led them un
erringly to and from some lonely,
isolated spot in the mountains
whore they were sure they could
ne?'er find their way back: They
fell reasonably sure that Hawkins
h ?d lingered aJong the way to
ch it v/Jth some neighbor and treid
to reassure Mrs. Hawkins that he
would show up soon.
Yet when an hour passed, Wright
fojnd his own suspicions aroused.
He decided it was time for action
Mr. And Mrs. Wright Recognize Knife,
Watch And Teeth Of "Parson" Hawkins
Shown standing before the general delivery window at the Cashiers
Post Office are Mr. and Mrs. Joe L. Wright, daughter and son-in-law
of Rev. W. T. Hawkins, holding the knife, watch, pocket book and
false teeth recovered with the skeleton found by Ernest White on
June 17, and which identified as the belongings of Mrs Wright's father,
the missing "Parson."
and immediately rounded up sev
eral- neighbors to help him search
for the parson. With flaming
torches, the group began to comb
the underbrush and forests along
Timber Ridge.
Meanwhile, word was rushed to
the home ot Deputy Frank Allen,
a capable, hard-working officer,
who soon joined the searching
party. Throughout the long hours
that followed, the men worked
feverishly, believing that Parson
Hawkins might be lying some
where in the darkness seriously
injured. Time after time they
called, his name, their shouts ring
ing through the hills but they re
ceived no reply.
Speculation was that he had
fallen and broken a leg, had been
attacked by an animal or had
suffered a heart attack. Some
I of the men even hinted that the
kindly old preacher might have
fallen victim to foul play.
For hours the hunters stuck
grimly to their - task but not a
single clue to the old man's where -
abouts was lound. Eventually one
member of the party pointed out
that if Hawkins w?.re alive and
merely crippled, he would have
attempted to attract attention to
n's plight by building a signal lire.1
Others agreed that he might be
right.
Finally dawn tinted the eastern
horizon with shades of pink, gold
and purple and a. yellow sun crept
up slowly from behind the White
side mountains. Tired and ex
hausted. the weary men assembled
at a point near the Wright home
to get the:r breakfast and discuss
their next move. A grim, fore
boding silence hung over the
tensed, sorrowful men as they
conversed in undertones. They
now feared the worst; that Parson
Hawkins was dead somewhere in
the desolate thickets..
Many of these men had known
Hawkins since their childhood
days. He had converted and bap
tized many of them into the church.
At the funerals of their loved ones,
he had spoken the final words.
Always in their hour of deepest
sorrow, they had received renew
ed faith from the strer^th he had
given them. Never had he failed
to enme to their assistance. Now
they must not fail him.
But what had happened to h m?
That was the question on t verv
body's lips.
"Shucks," one man in the cr.nvri ;
spoke up encouragingly. "I rock op I
the parson ran take ware of !
<e\i in tne hills. A.n't nobody
i.round here knows t'".em any bet
ter than he does."
"Yeah," another added. "Any
one who can handle rattl snakes
like he can. sure can take care of
himself in the woods. Look what
he did over :it Cashiers thai t.me.
Didn't get riled a bit either."
The others nodded agreement
They recalled the incident to which
he was referring. For years Haw
kins had made studying poisonous
snakes a hobby. He had spent
many hours watching the ^ptiles
and often he would remove their
noiso.n sacs. On one occasion he
had appeared in the Cashiers bar
ber shop with a particularly vicious
looking rattlesnake.
"Well, boys", he said, while a
group of spectators looked on
lervously, "I'm gonna make this
-ere critter harmless. Snakes are
i whole lot like human beings.
" ?r e of them are dangerous and
some ain't. You got to knew the
deadly ones and watch thorn."
Then, slowly and car??fuHy, he j
began to extract the sac containing
poison from the mouth of the rep
tile. He worked with clear cut
precision and without fear. The
frightened spectators looked on in
tense silence.
Suddenly some one cried,
"Watch out, Parson! He's coil
ing!"
The next instant there was a
swift blur of motion. With lightn
ing fast speed, the brown snake
drove his fangs deep into the
wrinkled flesh of the old man's;
arm. Hawkins dropped it mo- j
mentarily. Then he quickly
scooped up the snake.
One of the bystanders wanted
to kill the reptile but Hawkins
refused to let him. He carefully
caged the rattler and |hen admin
istered first aid. For a long time
afterwards everyone in the com
munity wondered what effect the
snake bite would have on the par
son. They were amazed to learn
that he was fully recovered with
in a lew days.
"The parson sure knows how1
to handle rattlers," an old man in
the hunting party said, after a few
minutes of siknee.
"The same thing goes for moon
shiners." another put in.
Alter a brief rest, the men eager
ly renewed their search for Haw
kins. The party began to increase
as others, learning that the parson
was missing, had hurrii d from the
nearby towns of Sylva, Highlands,
Cullowhee and Tuckaseigee, North
Carolina along with other citizens
i'rom Walhalla and Pickens, South
Carolina. By now a huge posse
delved and probed every nook and
c ranny on Timber Ridge, expand
ing the hunt to cover a larger area.
But noon came and there was
still no signs of the missing minis
ter. At last it was decided that
he might have fallen in Lake
Cashiers and drowned. Soon the
pl;.cid, glassy waters of the beau
tiful mountain lake were dotted
with a half dozen boats loaded',
with men who probed and dragged |
the bottom. Nightfall finally
came and the prolonged search
had failed to produce results.
By now relatives of the preacher
were frantic with grief. They
were positive that Hawkins was
dead or had fallen victim to am
nesia. Still the search continued!
for two long weeks. Then one
morning, Deputy Frank Allen
t;ilked the matter over \v\th Haw
kin's neighbors.
"Looks like it's u.-elrss to keep!
his up, boys," he said. "Under j
? ma! circumstances, I'm sure'
we'd have found h.s body by now
. o,\' if it was close by. We've
j marched everywhere within miles
| 'f his home and dragged the kike
1 w.thout any luck."
"That's right," Joe Wright re
marked. "We've struck a cold
tr; il."
Thus the organized search for
the aged minister was abandoned,
although for many months to come
?ome of his neighbors voluntarily
spent much of their spare time
combing the hills.
The burning question on every
one's lips in the sparsely populated
mountain region w;is: What hap
pened to Parson Hawkins? It was
the subject of conversation every
where in the community. News
papers picked up the tragic story
nd spread it across the nation.
Of course, there was considera
*>1 - speculation, as there always
is when a person disappears under
mysterious circumstances. There
v re two theories that were given
nuch thought. One, that the old
parson had become an amnesia
v ctim and had wandered from the
Directed Search
Deputy Sheriff Frank Allen,
above, was responsible for assem
bling groups and directing the un
successful search for ."Parson"
Hawkins at the time of his disap
pearance on the afternoon of March
18, 1930. Deputy Allen did all in
his power to locate the beloved
old preacher, and although it look
ed as if the case never would be
solved, Mr. Allen never closed
his books on the case, hoping some
day a break would come to solve
the mystery. He was one of the
first to recognize the remains
found June 17, 1948, as those of
the missing man.
hills, was the most widely ac
cepted.
The other was that Hawkins, a
fiery opponent of alcoholic drink,
had been murdered by moonshiners
and his body concealed some
where in the mountains. This
theory was strengthened when it
was recalled that the old man's
life had been threatened by sev
eral men who it was believed
manufactured illegal whiskey and
sold it in the nearby towns. Yet
their threats failed to disturb j
Hawkins who continued to preach)
vigorously against the traffic in
liquor.
"You can be assured," Deputy i
Allen iniormed relatives of the
missing minister, "that I'll never
^e satisfied until I locate the Rev
erend Hawkins. If he met with
foul play, I'll do my best to see
that ti.ose responsible are caught
and punished." .
True to his word, Deputy Allen
never closed his book on the baf
fling case through the years to
come. He worked unceasingly to
locate the parson. His first step
was to talk with the missing man's
wife and other relatives. But he
failed to find a reason for the old
man disappearing.
Next, he contacted hundreds of
police departments throughout the
country, sending them a complete
description of Hawkins^ suggest
ing that he might turn up an am
nesia v.ctim. and requesting that
if he did, they immediately get in
touch with him. Often he went
back to the hills, nosing around
and keeping alert for some clue to
Rev. Hawkins Remains Fotind in Rugged Section
Looming up in the background of this picture is Whiteside Mountain (4930 feet elevation) in the
Southwest of Jackson county, which is surrounded by some of the most dense growth of timber and under
brush to be found anywhere. It was in the center of the timber shown in the foreground of the picture that
Ernest White came upon the remains of the long-lost Mountain "Parson", Rev. W. T. Hawkins, as he
was doing some logging on June 17, 1948. Finding of the remains cleared up Jackson County's most
outstanding mystery in recent years.
the mystery. He picked up sev-|
eral promising leads and spent |
much t me on them without tangi
ble results. It was as though the
old man had gone up i:? smoke.
Soon summer came to the beau
tiful mountain country. Flowers
bloomed profusely on the hillsides
and birds played in the green foli
age of the trees. As usual tourists
from everywhere flocked to the
Land of the Sky to spend their
vacation. The tempo of mountain
life was stepped up and in a short
while the puzzle of the missing
minister was a secondary matter
to the natives. Summer gave way
to fall and then chill winter came
ta the mountains, spreading a
blanket of snow over them.
With aching harts and a down
cast.'feeling, r.latives of the par
son waited patiently for his re
turn. They never let their hope
that he would return safely waver.
Months passed slowly and still i
there wr.s no answer to the riddlej
and it looked as if there newr!
would be.
Years passed. War flamed in j
Europe and the South Pacific.
?Jen fought and died miles away
from home and time erased, ex
cept from a few hearts, any hope
that the missing minister would
every be seen alive. For if he
were still alive now, he would be
nearly ninety years old!
On the Sunday morning of June
17, 1948, eighteen years after the
parson had walked from his home
looking for a stray cow, Ernest
White was engaged in cutting logs
in the Whiteside Cove, a Ion ly,
isolated sect.on near the Hawkins
home. Pushing through the dense
underbrush, he kept his eyes peel
ed lor rattlesnakes. Presently
something near his feet attracted
his attention. An icy finger touch
ed his heart as he saw a human
skull, grinning aft him, glittering
in the bright sunlight.
He backed up a couple of steps
and caught his breath. A second
quick look revealed a skelton
sprawled in the grass. He hurried
to the nearest home and reported
the find.
Several people who overheard
White tell of his find, and Deputy
Frank Allen accompanied him
jack to the scene.
Presently, White gathered up
several articles lying near the re
mains and held them up for others
to see. They consisted of a gold
watch, a pockct book, a key and
a pair of weather worn shoes. As
the men looked at the pitiful pos^
sessions of the corpse, they won
dered who the d.ad could be. No
one recalled hearing of any one
missing from the community re
cently.
"Maybe he was murdered some
where else and brought here," a
spectotor suggested.
"Sa^," Deputy Allen cut in anxi
ously. "I just thought of some
thing. These are the remains of
the Rev. Hawkins who was miss
ing eighteen years ago." Ernest
White snapped his fingers excited,
ly. "Great Scott! I think you've
hit it. It must be the remains of
Hawkins."
His surprising statement in
stantly aroused old memories in
the minds of the others and they
greed that the skeleton might be
Rev. H&wkins And Two Grandchildren
This s a picture aP-Eev. W. T. HawlWis with two of his grand
children, taken shortly before his mysterious disappearance. This
shows th? beloved "Parson" as he looked to his many friends and
acquaintances and proves that he was a man of large frame and fine
physique ajs well as a determined character, a man to be reckoned with
in any ev^nt.
The grandchildren in Rev. Hawkins' arms are Joe and Charlie
Wright, novlr grown, around 20 years of age.
the long awaited ansvved to- the
baffling puzzle. There was one
way, Deputy Allen told them, they
could make sure. He wrapped the
articles and took them to the home
of Mrs. Genevieve H. Wright. Mrs.
Wright examined them carefully
ancK finally nodded. "Yes, these
things belonged to my father. I
well remeber those false teeth
where he carved on either side,
because he said they hurt his
mouth. I'm sure it is his body you
found."
At last the mountain mystery
was ended, although there are still
many puzling questions that will
probably never be answered. So
far as the authorities could deter
mine there were no signs of foul
play but then, after eighteen years
there was hardly enough of the
LK.riy l<.ft to tell anything about
how the old man actually died,
i Just what did happen there in
Wnitei.de Cove on the night of
March 18, 1930? Did Hawkins die
of a heart attack? Was he killed
by a wild animal? Or, did the
moonshiners make good their
threats to silence his fiery tongue
forever?
You have all the known facts.
Go over them closely and see just
whrt theory you like best. What's
the verdict? Did the kindly old
man vyho never harmed a soul die
of natural causes or was he brutally
murdered and his body concealed?
For the information of those who
do not know it the cow which Mr.
Hawins went out to find came in
alone late that evening . . .another
reason for Mrs. Hawkins* uneasi
ness that evening 18 years ago.
The End.
This Mid-Morning Refreshment
Makes Home Work Smooth Sailing