Francis Hawks Cameron Jr.

b. 20 October 1872, d. 15 December 1948
  • Francis Hawks Cameron Jr. was born on 20 October 1872 in North Carolina.
  • Apparently when he reached adulthood he spelled his middle name "Hawkes," unlike his father or sister.
  • Francis Hawks Cameron and Eugenia LeGrand Weaver appeared in the US federal census of 1 June 1880 in Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina, at Jones Street. Other members of the household included Francis Hawks Cameron Jr., Duncan Haywood Cameron. Also in the household were two domestic servants.
  • The following appeared on 11 July 1900 in The Sun: (Raleigh, N. C., July 10) Duncan Cameron, a son of the late Gen. Francis H. Cameron, of Raleigh, left today for China, where he has been in business two years. He was called home by the death of his father at Richmond. Francis H. Cameron, his brother, is in the regular cavalry in the Philippines and expects to go to China with a battalion of his regiment.
  • The following appeared on 16 March 1905 in The Times-Dispatch: (Fort Ethan Allen, Vt., March 15) The wedding of Miss Frances Hawks Cameron, a resident of Richmond, Va., to Lieutenant Charles Burnett, Fifteenth United States cavalry, occurred at this garrison last evening at 8 o'clock, and was the social event of the season.
         Miss Cameron is the daughter of the late General Francis Hawks and Mrs. Cameron, of North Carolina and Virginia. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. Herbert A. Shipman, chaplain at the West Point Military Academy, assisted by Chaplain W. W. Brander, Fifteenth cavalry, a resident of Richmond, Va. The wedding took place in the new gymnasium, which was tastefully decorated with flags, and a very beautiful chancel was formed by palms and white Easter lilies in a semi-circle. The altar was artistically lighted with many candelabra, and held two large vases of lilies, and the chancel rail was covered entirely with the same flowers, interwoven with Southern smilax. Just above the altar were draped the national standard and the regimental colors of the Fifteenth cavalry. During the arrival of the guests the Fifteenth cavalry band dispersed soft music from some hidden bower in the hall above. Trumpets announced the coming of the bridal party, which entered to the strains of Lohengrin's wedding march. The ushers, brother officers of the groom, Lieutenants Clifton Norton, Victor Foster, Wiley P. Mangun, Milton G. Holliday, Arthur J. Lynch and Scott Baker, in full dress uniform, led the way, followed by two pretty little flower girls, Misses Floy Rodman Barnhardt and Dorothy Walker, who carried basket trays of rosebuds. They were followed by the bridesmaids, Misses Kathrine and Isabel Gresham, Grace Russell and Edith Hoyle, carrying immense bouquets of yellow daffodils--the cavalry color. They were gowned in dainty white lace-trimmed organdies. Miss Jean Cameron, the maid of honor, wearing a dress of silk mull and carrying a large bunch of spring violets, immediately preceded the bride, who entered on the arm of her brother, Lieutenant Francis Cameron, Fifteenth United States cavalry, and was met at the altar by the groom and his best man, Lieutenant Samuel W. Robertson, Fifteenth United States cavalry, both in full dress uniform. Lieutenant Burnett wore the handsome gold sabre presented to him in the Philippines by the members of Troop C, Fifteenth cavalry, with whom he served.
         The ceremony was the beautiful ritual of the Episcopal Church, and at its conclusion the bridal party left the chancel to the happy strains of Mendelssohn's wedding march. The company then repaired to the large hall above, where supper was served, and the bride followed the time-honored custom in the army of cutting the wedding cake with the groom's sabre, and as the event waned many toasts were drunk to the happiness of the newly-wedded couple.
         The Bride's dress was very beautiful, being of a lustrous wihit silk--the gift of her brother Duncan Haywood Cameron, of Canton, China, and she wore a veil which enveloped her entire figure and fell in graceful folds to the end of her train. Her bouquet was lilies of the valley, and a spray of orange blossoms was caught in the veil on her hair.
         Both Lieutenant and Mrs. Burnett are very popular in the Fifteenth cavalry, and they will be granted every concession so that no change can be made to take them from the garrison. They were the recipients of many handsome gifts. The wedding trip has been postponed a few weeks, owing to the recent illness of the bride. In April they will visit New York and West Point, where the Lieutenant graduated in the class of 1901.
  • Francis Hawks Cameron Jr. registered for the draft on 18 September 1918 in Baltimore, Maryland, while living at 1706 Madison Avenue in Baltimore, employed there as an inspector by Bartlett Hayward Company. He lists as his nearest relative his "mother," Mrs. F. H. Cameron, 102 Waverly Place, New York City.
  • The following appeared on 21 July 1948 in The Alexandria Town Talk: Mrs. Eugenie LeGrand Cameron, 85, died at the home of General George Paine on the Military Highway, Pineville, Tuesday, June [sic] 20, 1948. She is the widow of the late General Francis Hawks Cameron, of North Carolina and Virginia, and the daughter of the late Dr. Leroy Gardiner Weaver of Selma, Ala., and of Margaret LeGrand, his wife.
         Mrs. Cameron is survived by her son, Captain Francis Hawks Cameron, Jr., U. S. Army, retired; her daughters, Mrs. Charles Burnett, widow of General Charles Burnett of Washington D. C., Mrs. George Paine, wife of General George H. Paine, U. S. Army, retired, and Mrs. Arthur J. Hanlon, wife of Colonel Arthur J. Hanlon, U. S. Army, retired, of New York; one grandson, Commander Alexander Scammel Cameron Wadsworth, U. S. Navy.
         Burial will be in Selma, Ala., home of her childhood on Saturday, July 24, 1948. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Hixson Brothers Funeral home.
  • Francis Hawks Cameron Jr. died on 15 December 1948 at age 76.
  • He was interred at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.
  • Last Edited: 13 Jan 2014