A Reading List for Adults

Below you will find the books that were a part of Benjamin Hawkins' Estate. 
(Hawkins was Agent to the Creek Indians--Born, August 15, 1754, Granville (now Warren) County, he died June 6, 1816, Crawford County, Georgia).  This was a frontier library.

Hawkins grew up in North Carolina with enough education to later attend the College of New Jersey (now Princeton).  When we arrogantly presume that certain books are beyond the level of ability of our children we are giving them a short shrift on their education. Those who prepared Benjamin Hawkins and his colleagues at the Continental Congress did not realize they were preparing founders for a new nation.  They merely prepared them to be educated men with a broad background to prepare them for whatever they might encounter.  There was no question as to the validity of teaching sound/letter correlation...they were taught a phonetic language phonetically.  They learned the roots of words by learning Latin and thereby extended their vocabulary.  They were taught to think by reading great thoughts in their original languages (Latin and Greek).  As Sir Isaac Newton said, "I stand on the shoulders of giants."   They were taught to write by having them write in the style of those great writers in those original languages.  Notice the "ancient" texts.  (Refer back to Marva Collins to see those she shares in common.)