McCauley, Lanier, Hankins, Hopkins & Taylor Families

James Bailey "Jimmy" HANKINS ^434,1502

  More Information:

• 1910 United States Federal Census, Tom L. Hankins household, Hopkins County, Kentucky: Jimmy was living with his parents. He was listed as Jimmy B. Hankins, son, age 9, born in Kentucky, working as a farm laborer. ¹⁵⁰²

• World War I Military Service, 30 March 1917-29 July 1919: Jimmy enlisted in the US Army on 30 Mar 1917 at Earlington, Kentucky and was discharged on 29 Jul 1919 at Louisville, Kentucky. At some point during his service, he was stationed in France. Jimmy's company and regiment was 265, Military Police. ^{1513,2841,2842}

• Photo: Elvie & Jimmy Hankins, ca. 1918.

• Letter to Lee & Samantha Hankins from Jimmy, at Camp Merritt, New Jersey: Jimmy wrote his parents a letter before he shipped out to France during WW I. They had the letter printed in the local newspaper [probably the Earlington Bee, date of publication unknown]. Text of the newspaper article is as follows:

James Hankins' Farewell Letter Before Sailing
The following letter was written by James Hankins, who is now with the American army in France, to his parents, Rev. and Mrs. Lee Hankins, of Earlington, on the eve of his departure for France:

Camp Merritt, N. J.
Mr. and Mrs T. L. Hankins.
Dear Father and Mother: I write you my farewell letter. I received your kind letters. I was so glad to hear from you all. Mother, you ask me why I had to go to France. They wanted some good men over that and I thought it was my duty to go. I didn't have to go. Just wanted to go, and when you are reading this letter I will be sailing across the briny deep. But don't grieve or worry about me. If I never get back you can say I died fighting for my country and nobody can say I was a slacker and if I get beck, like I feel I will, I can tell you something of this war. So do the best you can and have a good time. Don't grieve for me. I will be back some day if I live, and if we never meet here on earth any more we will meet some day where parting is no more and there are no more goodbyes, for there is a better land than this, and if we never meet here we will meet up there. So I will close [this] farewell letter in the good old U. [S. A.] [Part of the last sentence is missing. Words in brackets are guesses.] ²⁸⁴³

• Photo: Jimmy, Elvie & Perry Hankins during WW I, ca. 1918, France.

• 1920 United States Federal Census, Tom Hankins household, Hopkins County, Kentucky: Jimmy was living with his parents on McEuen Ave. in Earlington. He was listed as James Hankins, son, age 19, working as a car repairer for the railroad. ²⁸⁰⁶

• Physical Description: At age 23, Jimmy was described as 5' 11½", with medium complexion, dark brown hair and grey eyes. [This description from the records of U. S. National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, Sawtelle, California where he spent a year recovering from Tuberculosis.]. ²⁸⁴⁴

• Occupation: Jimmy worked as an Electrican for Warner Brothers Studio in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California. ⁴³⁴ He worked on movie sets both in LA and on location.

• Residence: bef. 1967, California. ⁴³⁴ Jimmy and Rachel lived in the Los Angeles area for many years but at some point they moved to Carlsbad as they were living there when she died in 1967.

• Residence: 1967 1974, Carlsbad, San Diego, California. ⁴³⁴ Jimmy and his 2nd wife, Goldie, lived in Carlsbad but also had a trailer (that belonged to Goldie before their marriage) in western Kentucky where they spent some time in the summers for a few years.

• Ashes Scattered: ⁴³⁴ Jimmy was cremated and his ashes were scattered over the Pacific Ocean off the coast of southern California.

Jimmy married Rachel "Rae." (Rachel "Rae" was born on 16 June 1903 in Washington ²⁸⁴⁵ and died on 9 May 1967 in San Diego County, California ²⁸⁴⁶.)

• Photo: Jimmy and Rae, California.

Jimmy next married Lucille G. "Goldie" on 11 October 1967 in Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona.²⁸⁴⁷ (Lucille G. "Goldie" was born on 16 November 1903 ²⁸⁴⁸ and died on 20 February 1997 in Hopkins County, Kentucky ^2848,2849.)

• Photo: Jimmy and Goldie at their wedding, 11 October 1967, Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona.