Abe Hawkins (abt. 1838 - 1867)

Born about 1838 in Mississippi, United States

Died Jun 1867 at about age 29 in Ashland Plantation, Darrow, Louisiana, United States

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Biography

Abe Hawkins is Notable.

A nationally famous African-American jockey born enslaved, though little is known about his origins. He is thought to have been born in Mississippi. He was owned by Duncan Farrar Kenner on the Ashland-Belle Helene plantation of Darrow, Louisiana. After much destruction during the Civil War, Abe returned to Ashland and Kenner where he died of consumption in 1867.

Research Notes

BIRTH Unknown DEATH June 1867 PROFESSION Jockey Childhood Abe Hawkins may have been born in Mississippi. Adam Bingaman, based in Natchez, Mississippi, might have enslaved Hawkins.

Hawkins was also known as:

Old Abe

Uncle Abe Hawkins

The Black Prince

The Dark Sage of Louisiana

The Slayer of Lexington

Researchers are seeking more information about Hawkins’ early life.

Career Beginnings In 1851, Hawkins raced at the Metairie Course near New Orleans, Louisiana. Hawkins was already a well-known jockey by 1854. Duncan Farrar Kenner, owner of the Ashland Plantation in Southern Louisiana, purchased Hawkins due to his expertise and reputation. It was during Hawkins’ time at Ashland that he rose to national prominence.2

• Duncan Kenner had a race track, raced horses, and in 1854 a slave named Abe Hawkins, riding Lecomte, won over a horse named Lexington in New Orleans. Abe was inducted into the Louisiana Racing Museum Hall of Fame in 1997. While Kenner was absent from Louisiana the Civil War ended. Abe left the plantation and in 1866 won the third running of the Travers Stakes, riding Merrill for Robert A. Alexander. The trainer was another former slave named Ansel Williamson. In attendance that day were Ulysses S. Grant, William Astor, Alexander Stewart, and Commodore Vanderbilt. Abe beat top Caucasian jockey Gilbert Patrick Watson in a match race before 25,000 fans in New York City^[1]

Hawkins and the Lecomte - Lexington Rivalry Hawkins’ fame began with the April 1, 1854 Great Post Stakes in New Orleans.3

Two well-known, undefeated horses -- Lecomte and Lexington -- faced each other in the first race, which Lexington won by four lengths. Hawkins had ridden the horse Arrow in this first race and suffered a dramatic defeat. Hawkins and Arrow finished so far behind Lexington and Lecomte that Arrow was officially disqualified.4

Yet, this loss did not hurt Hawkins’ reputation. Lecomte’s owner requested that Hawkins ride him in the rematch against Lexington. Hawkins, aboard Lecomte, won the rematch. He also set the world record for the four mile time at seven minutes and twenty six seconds.5

Career Highs Hawkins had many more impressive wins.

He won the Jersey Derby twice, at its first location at an unnamed track in Paterson, New Jersey.6 In 1866, Hawkins won the inaugural Jerome Stakes in Queens, New York.7 Hawkins claimed another win in 1866 at the Travers Stakes at Saratoga. He rode Woodburn’s Merrill, trained by Ansel Williamson.8 During this part of his career, Hawkins’ competition with the Irish jockey Gilbert Watson Patrick (“Gilpatrick”) made national news. Theirs was the first, notorious, long-running rivalry in modern American sports.9

The Legacy of “Old Abe” The May 4, 1867 issue of Turf, Field and Farm falsely reported that Hawkins died of consumption. Days later, he read of his own demise in the St. Louis Republican.

After a brief recuperation, he felt well enough to travel to Cincinnati to ride in the Buckeye Jockey Club’s spring meet. Unfortunately, here the consumption returned. Hawkins died on May 27, 1867. His body was shipped back to Ashland. Hawkins’ former owner, Duncan Kenner, buried him in a site overlooking Ashland’s training track.10

Additional Research Provided By Bill Cooke, Research Consultant

Sources Evening Star. 1905, August 6, 1905. Historic American Newspapers. Chronicling America.

Hotaling, Edward. 1999. The Great Black Jockeys: The Lives and Times of the Men Who Dominated America’s First National Sport. Rocklin, Calif.: Forum.

Johnson, Annie. 2014. “A Legacy of Triumph: The Red Fox of the South & Old Abe of Ashland Plantation.” Deep South Magazine (blog). March 3, 2014. https://deepsouthmag.com/2014/03/03/a-legacy-of-triumph-the-red-fox-of-the-south-old-abe-of-ashland-plantation/.

Lind, Angus. 1997. “Local Jockey Made Racing History.” The Times-Picayune, February 23, 1997. https://web.archive.org/web/20150702003412/http://ashlandbelle.com/famousjockey.html.

Moïse, Theodore Sydney. 1867. Life on the Metairie. Oil painting.

Mooney, Katherine. 2014. Race Horse Men: How Slavery and Freedom Were Made at the Racetrack. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

Sources

1. ↑ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashland_Plantation#Abe_Hawkins

• https://africanamericanhorsestories.org/research/people/abe-hawkins
• https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashland_Plantation#Abe_Hawkins
• https://deepsouthmag.com/2014/03/03/a-legacy-of-triumph-the-red-fox-of-the-south-old-abe-of-ashland-plantation/