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Perhaps the most interesting - and complicating - fact when researching the ancestors of Harold Hawes has been the change in name from "Haws", to "Hawes". There are even some references to "Hawse" thrown in for good measure!
Ross D. Hawes told a very amusing story to explain the name change, as accounted by his daughter Charlene:
Originally the family name was Haws. Someone along the line was painting the name on a barn. His mathematical ability was poor and in order to make the letters come out even added an "e" to the name - Hawes.
The change to "Hawes" seemingly happened sometime towards the end of the 1800s. Here is a list of documented evidence of the name change over time:
The book The Household Guide and Instructor, with Biographies, History of Guernsey County, Ohio, with Illustrations by T. F. Williams includes the following text regarding Joseph Haws, G3-grandfather of Harold Hawes:
Joseph Haws was born in Maryland in 1781, and married Ann Galloway. They settled in Montgomery county, Maryland, where he died in 1809. Three of their five children are living. John, the first child, was born in 1803. He and the other children went with their mother to Belmont county, Ohio, where they lived eighteen years. In 1822 he married Hester Perkins, and eight years later they moved to Spencer township.
The 1870 & 1880 census records for John V. Hawes are listed as "Haws" - the 1880 includes "Ross D Haws". Below is the 1870 image.
The death record for John Hawes (Sr.) in 1889 is listed as "Hawes", as is the death record for John V. Hawes (Jr.) in 1899.
The 1900 census records for Elizabeth Hawes are listed as "Hawes". This record includes Ross, as well as "grandaughter" Mary Daniel, who I believe is Mae Daniel, daughter of Della Hawes & J.W. Daniel, who married Arleigh Hite. Below is the image.
To confuse the issue between "Haws" and "Hawes", the marriage entry for John Hawes and Hester Perkins in 1822 lists his name as "Hawse". This is witnessed by Elijah Galloway, John's uncle, his mother's brother.
One last note: The page Parents of Joseph Haws suggests his father was Michael. The first piece of evidence is a Michael "Hawes" in "Montgomery County, Maryland Oaths of Loyalty" from 1778. If this is Joseph's father, and the name is accurate, then our name used to be "Hawes" in the beginning and was changed subsequent to 1778, probably through clerical error!
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