"Birds of a feather flock together", this should be the family motto! The family tree is truly full of birds; Hawkins, Howle, Byrd, Sparrow, & Parrot are surnames that first come to mind. There is even a tale of Birdtown, South Carolina where most of these families lived way back when. I am still hunting information about this particular town.

The Hawkins/Howle family is like a vine entwined a few times over on the same branch. My father is his own first cousin! The Howle line has been traced as far back as the 1600's/1700's. The Hawkins line comes up against a brick wall in the 1800's, and hence, the line I am desperately researching the most. There have been claims made that our Hawkins' line can be traced to Sir John Hawkins, but there have been some minor/major discrepancies in others' researches as to who married who and who was born, leaving doubt as to the accuracy of those researches.

To be continued....