Allen Hanks (abt. 1841 - 1863)

Born about 1841 in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, United States

Ancestors

Died 30 Apr 1863 at about age 22 in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, United States

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Biography

Native of Louisiana
born c.1840, Vermilion Parish

Allen Hanks was born in southwest Louisiana about 1841, a son of Benjamin Hanks and Rachel Abshire. When his father (presumably) died just a few years after his birth, Allen's mother took him, his brother John, and sister Johanna to live with her parents, John Abshire,Jr and Marie Marguerite Comeaux in Vermilion Parish. They were listed on the 1850 US Census in Vermilion Parish.^[1]

By 1860 Rachel had a small farm in the Western District of Vermilion near her family, and when his older brother John started his own family, Allen worked the farm with his sister and their mother. ^[2]

La Guerre des Americains

Allen was 20 when the Civil War broke out. By 1862 the Confederacy passed a conscription law, drafting able-bodied men of age 18-35.^[3] Had Allen been conscripted he would have had to leave his mother and sister unprotected and unprovided for in rural Vermilion Parish, at the mercy of both armies as well as roving bands of armed robbers who would take whatever they wanted or needed.^[4] With no record of military service, Allen apparently successfully avoided conscription, only to have been hunted down and summarily executed on April 30, 1863.^[5][6]

Civil War Memorial

Abshire Cemetery is the location of a humble memorial-- all the more eloquent for its hand-hewn, quiet dignity-- to eleven sons of Vermilion Parish who were executed in the chaos that was the Civil War in 1863. The memorial is a vivid reminder that when history and truth do not coincide the truth must not be forgotten. Both versions are presented as legends on the USGenweb Abshire Cemetery page.

Sources

1. ↑ "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MCJ6-1CZ : 9 November 2014), Ellen [sic] Hanks in household of John Abshire, Vermilion parish, Vermilion, Louisiana, United States; citing family 11, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

   Household Members:

   John Abshire, M, 68, Louisiana

   Margaret Cameron, F, 66, Louisiana

   Rachel Abshire, F, 33, Louisiana

   John Hanks, M, 12, Louisiana

   Ellen Hanks [sic], F [sic], 8, Louisiana

   Johanna Hanks, F, 6, Louisiana

2. ↑ "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MFPF-SZY : 30 December 2015), Allen Hanks in entry for Rachel Abshia, 1860.

   Household Members:

   Rachel Abshia, F, 45, Louisiana

   Allen Hanks, M, 19, Louisiana

   Joanna Hanks, F, 16, Louisiana

3. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederate_States_Army
4. ↑ W.T. Block, "Some Notes on the Civil War Jayhawkers of Confederate Louisiana."
5. ↑ Allan HANKS, ABSHIRE CEMETERY; VERMILION PARISH, LA; with image Submitted by Anna Marie Silvia Hayes, June 1998, http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm. See Abshire Cemetery legends.
6. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images: accessed 12 February 2021), memorial page for Alean[sic] Hanks (1842–30 Apr 1863), Find A Grave: Memorial #10382117, citing Abshire Cemetery, Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, USA; Maintained by Alvenia Thibodeaux (contributor 46775259).

• Note that in southwest Louisiana the pronunciation of 'Allen' sounds like "Ellen."