MRS. B. S. HANKINS and THE HANKINS FAMILY OF BARTOW IN TAMPA
 

Mrs. B. S. Hankins was the wife of Bethel Stevens Hankins, a.k.a. Gilpin or just "Gilp" Hankins, which was his nickname.  One of Gilp's brothers who he partnered with in his Tampa saloon business was Sylvanus Masters Hankins, who was also known as "Marter.**"  Their father, William Wesley Hankins, was one of eight children of pioneer farmer Dennis DuPont Hankins who owned a large plantation in Madison County.  Dennis was a Methodist preacher and is credited with starting a Methodist Church in Madison County.   He was married to Sarah Connor and served as a Justice of Peace for Madison Co. at Cherry Lake. 

**Photos from the Florida Memory website name him as "Sylvanus Mortimer Hankins."
 

Gilp's and Marter's father, William Wesley Hankins, was a gunsmith and dry goods store owner in Bartow.  In town, and in most of the state, he was known as "Uncle Billy Hankins."  He was a skillful hunter and is credited with firing the last shot of 2nd Seminole War at age 16.  During the Civil war, he was a Confederate sharpshooter in the 5th FL Infantry, Company D, and was captured Apr. 6, 1865 at Highbridge.  Later he was released on oath from Point Lookout Prison MD.  William was a member of state House of Representatives from Madison and Lafayette counties in 1873, and a member of state senate in 1883 and 1885 from Taylor and Lafayette counties. From 1890 to 1891 he was the mayor of Bartow.

In all, W. W. Hankins and wife Almira Church had at least twelve children, but James, Lucius & Samuel died in childhood.

	MRS. HANKINS CONTINUES IN THE HOTEL/BOARDING HOUSE BUSINESS
	Mrs. Hankins was running a boarding house on North Ashley St. in Nov. 1895.  This may have been their home, as she advertised only for "A few first-class boarders..."  The Tribune was inconsistent on what initials to use for her husband, Bethel Stevens "Gilp" Hankins.          "Tiny" Hankins was Edward Summerfield Hankins.
In late 1896, W. T. Boyd was remodeling his saloon at Franklin & Polk streets.  He then sold to Gilp & Marter Hankins.		Below:  In Nov. 1895, Mrs. Hankins leased the upstairs at 905½ Franklin St. and opened a new "first-class boarding establishment."  She was well-known to the traveling public as one of the cleverest hostesses in all Florida, having formerly run the Gold Hotel in Bartow.
	Meanwhile, the Hankins brothers Gilp and Marter had closed the Missing Link Saloon, advertising it was "DEAD! DEAD! DEAD!" and were "still on top in Boyd's corner."	Mrs. Hankins called her new boarding house at 905½ Franklin St. the "COMMERCIAL HOUSE," throwing in a reference to her former Gold Hotel in Bartow.
	This was probably their home.

BLOODY BRAWL BETWEEN TWO PAIRS OF BROTHERS ON THE STREETS OF TAMPA - HANKINS vs. MCNEIL

In a letter to the Gulf Coast Breeze (Crawfordville, Fla.) newspaper from an unnamed writer, published Aug 13, 1897 about the Aug. 4th street fight between the Hankins brothers and the McNeill brothers, this was said of the Hankins and McNeill families:

The Hankins brothers were originally from Middle Florida.  Their father, Hon. William Hankins, was a noble true and good man.  He represented at different times, the counties of Madison, Lafayette, and Suwannee in the Legislature and while under his control, Marter and Gilp Hankins were extra good boys.  Their older brother, Hon. W. D. Hankins, of Lafayette County, followed in the footsteps of their honored father, but Marter and Gilp engaged in the liquor saloon business, and followed the course of the average man in that business.  For the past ten years or more, they have enjoyed the reputation of being violent and dangerous men.
The McNeill brothers are originally from Sumter County, Geo.  James C. McNeill is an architect, and is sole proprietor of the Tampa Planing Mills and Novelty Works.  For several years he identified with the city government of Tampa as President of the Council and Mayor pro tem.  Lee McNeill assisted his brother at his mills, until disabled by the loss of a hand in the machinery.  Since then he has been in the employ of the city as manager of the city cemetery (Oaklawn.)	Tampa City Council Members	James C. McNeill from group photo of Hills. Lodge #25 members, Apr. 14, 1928 at the THCPLC Burgert Bros. Collection	Tampa City Council Members
	March 4, 1892 – March 10, 1893 Source: Council Minute Book #3, p.56. James C. McNeill, President George T. Chamberlain, President pro tempore Louis G. Cone Isaac S. Craft Henry L. Crane Jose Gomez William H. Kendrick Peter O. Knight James W. Roberts		March 10, 1893 – March 9, 1894 Source: Council Minute Book #3, p.211. James C. McNeill, President George S. Petty, President pro tempore George T. Chamberlain Henry L. Crane Robert W. Easley William H. Kendrick Peter O. Knight John S. McFall Emilio Pons Ramon Rubiera de Armas John Savarese
	JAMES C. McNeill - Born on July 2, 1858, James C. McNeill was the proprietor of Ybor City Novelty Works and also worked as a foreman at Tampa Lumber Company. He was a member of a committee created by the Board of Trade to police a cigar worker’s strike in 1892. With fellow council member Louis G. Cone, McNeill was elected to represent Tampa’s First Ward, the downtown area. He served two consecutive terms as the President of Tampa’s City Council. He died on February 26, 1948.From "The City Council of Tampa & City Hall Centennial Celebration"

THE MURDER OF GILPIN HANKINS

 

Bethel S. "Gilp" Hankins

About five months after opening the Commercial House boarding house, Mrs. Hankins was widowed in early Aug. 1897 when her husband Gilp Hankins, and his brother, Sylvanus Masters "Marter" Hankins, were involved in a street fight with the McNeill brothers James C. and Lee.  Gilp Hankins had been co-owner of "The Missing Link Saloon" in 1895 and in late 1896 closed it and opened the "Hankins Brothers Saloon" with his brother Marter. 

On Aug. 4, 1897, around 10 p.m., Marter and Gilp Hankins encountered the McNeill brothers on the streets at Franklin and Harrison.   An argument over an old gambling debt J. C. McNeill owed to Gilp ensued, which turned into a fight.

When the men began to fight, J.C. McNeill produced a knife and slashed Gilp's throat, then stabbed him in the chest.  From behind a telegraph pole, Lee drew his gun and fired twice at Marter Hankins but missed both times.  Then he fired twice at Gilp Hankins, hitting  him in his thigh, and in the back--between his shoulder blades.   Gilp Hankins died the next day.

At right: Locations of the Missing Link Saloon,
Hankins Bros. Saloon, & Commercial House.

Sylvanus Masters "Marter" Hankins

    
 Brother of Bethel S. "Gilp" Hankins
Photo on left from Tampa Tribune article on Sept 27, 1987 (below)
Photo on right by Judy Llamas at Find-a-Grave

THE BLOODY BRAWL
 

The coroner determined it was the gunshots that killed Hankins, so Lee and James McNeill were arrested and charged with murder and manslaughter.  The only eyewitness other than the fighting pairs of brothers was E. E. Long who saw the fight from across the street.

"Mrs. Hankins Denies a Sensational Story."

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE SEEN AT RIGHT

For all the article links in this feature,
when the article opens, click it again to see it full size.

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A preliminary hearing was held on Aug. 5, 1897 for both men on murder charges.  Marter Hankins testified at the hearing that the McNeils had just crossed Franklin St. from the "Greater New York Saloon."  Witness E. E. Long testified  that he was approaching the corner of Franklin and Harrison when he heard the shouting coming from Harrison St. The coroner and witnesses testified, and after the afternoon break, Judge Whitaker rendered his decision.  He ruled that Lee McNeill be charged with murder and held in jail with no bail, and that J.C. McNeill be charged with manslaughter and jailed on a $7,000 bond. In the article published in the Tampa Tribune Sat., Aug, 7, it was expected that J. C. would post bail that Monday.

FUNERAL OF BETHEL S. "GILP" HANKINS

On Aug. 6, 1897, the day after Gilp's death, his widow and four children (Eugene 12,  Edgar 11, Corrine 9 & Bethel S. Hankins, Jr. 3), along with Gilp's brother Marter (incorrectly referred to as "M. S. Hankins) and his family, took Gilp's remains to Bartow where his funeral and burial in the family cemetery took place. 

      Photo by Judy Llamas at Find-a-Grave

THE CRAWFORDVILLE "GULF COAST BREEZE" PRINTS A LETTER FROM TAMPA

Crawfordville is located about fifteen miles south-southwest of Tallahassee where the McNeils had many connections.  The paper printed a story allegedly received in a letter, the source unnamed, giving an all-for-the McNeils story of the fight.

About the two Hankins brothers, in contrasting their occupations with the other men of the Hankins family, the article says:

"...but Marter and Gilp engaged in the liquor saloon business, and followed the course of the average man in that business.  For the past ten years or more they have enjoyed the reputation of being violent and dangerous men."

This article reveals that Lee McNeill was "crippled" having lost one hand in a sawmill accident.  The article alludes to both the Haskin's brothers to be considerably larger than the McNeils. 

READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE

HANKINS BROS. PORTRAYED AS AGGRESSORS, MCNEILLS AS INNOCENT VICTIMS

This Christmas Eve article in the Gulf Coast Breeze claims the McNeils were "peaceably returning to their homes when the Hankins brothers, each of whom were far their superiors in size and muscular strength.." and again states that they were "well known as violent and dangerous men" stepped in front of them near the Hankins' saloon and began the fight in self defense.

The McNeill brothers' big connections are revealed, friends of the late Gen. O. C. Horne of Georgia having retained prominent Georgia lawyer Tom C. Taylor to assist in the defense,  Also, that Mrs. Governor Colquit and two ex-governors of Georgia were related to the McNeils.

THE MCNEILL BROTHERS TRIAL

The trial started on Monday, Jan. 3, 1898 with jury selection, which took up the morning session.  The jurors were D.B. McKay (the newspaper editor and future Tampa mayor), B.B. Simmons, H.F. Pollard, Henry Clemmens, C.M. Clinton, H.H. Greer, H.T. Robles, R.F. Turner, C.E. Webb, C.H. Ohme, J.G. Ball, and Joseph Brown.

The McNeils were represented by Hugh Macfarlane and F. M. Simonton, both of Tampa, R. D. McCleod of Crawfordville, and Col. Taylor of Georgia. 

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE SEEN AT LEFT

Witnesses were called in the afternoon session of the first day and the first was Dr. Bird who performed the autopsy.  Next was S. M. "Marter" Hankins who on cross examination testified that Gilp struck the first blow but only after he had seen the knife in one of the McNeil's hands.  The last part of his statement was ordered stricken from the record as the defense argued that the witness had no right to tell what the deceased saw as that could only be a matter of opinion.  Before his cross-examination could be completed the court adjourned until the next morning at 9 a.m.    The jurors and witnesses were given the usual caution in regard to talk to anyone about the case nor be present anywhere that others may be discussing the case.

Macfarlane managed to discredit the witness, E. E. Long, who testified he heard the shouting and the shots, then saw the men from across the intersection of Franklin & Harrison.  Long could not identify the men and who said what.  Macfarlane argued that the McNeils acted in self defense (despite the fact that Lee fired multiple times, once in the back of Hankins who had already had his throat slashed and had been stabbed in the chest.) 

During the trial, photographs of the the intersection of Franklin & Harrison were used for witnesses to point out where the various men were standing during the incident.

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE SEEN AT RIGHT

THE VERDICT IS IN

If you want to know how two men armed with a gun and knife can stab and kill unarmed men and plead self defense and be found not guilty then read this...

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE SEEN AT LEFT

                         JAMES MCNEIL

APRIL 14, 1928 - Senior members of the Hillsborough Lodge honored
Click to see full size.
Photo courtesy of the Burgert Bros. collection at the Tampa Hillsborough Co. Public Library System.

MRS. HANKINS AND HER FOUR CHILDREN AFTER GILP'S DEATH

Not long after Gilp's funeral in Bartow, Mrs. Hankins, whose first name never appears in the papers, returned to Tampa with her children and continued operating the Commercial House until acquiring the lease of the DeSoto in early April, 1898. 

MRS. HANKINS LEAVES THE DESOTO

By the end of July 1898, Mrs. Hankins left the DeSoto and opened a fashionable boarding house in Hyde Park across from the Tampa Bay Hotel on Hyde Park Avenue. 

After six months of running the Crescent Hotel, on Sept. 29, 1899, the Tribune announced that Mrs. Hankins closed the Crescent Hotel and left Tampa to reside in Savannah, GA, "permanently."  In Savannah, she rented the Marshall House, a popular boarding house which she opened on Sept. 20, 1899.

Well-known and substantial Tampa grocery man Allen C. Strickland visited Savannah and upon his return to Tampa in mid Oct. 1899, he gave a report that Mrs. B. S. Hankins was doing a fine business conducting the Marshall House in Savannah, and that "he was very smitten with Savannah," and "thinks it is one of the best business places in the South." 

Maggie Hankins and her four children, Eugene, Edgar, Corrine, Bethel.  Mary Stubbs was Maggie's mother, not mother-in-law.

Mary E. Hankins, listed as a daughter can't be correct.  Notice she isn't in chrono order and in 1880 Maggie would have been 11 years old.  Mary E. was probably  listed in reference to Mary Stubbs and is actually Maggie's sister. See the 1885 Census below for proof.  Maggie's child status shows mother of 4 children, 4 living. 

Notice Allen C. Strickland listed last as a boarder in the home. 

MRS. HANKINS MARRIES A. C. STRICKLAND IN JACKSONVILLE
 

By summer of 1901, Allen C. Strickland and his brother A. J. Strickland had taken their grocery business to Jacksonville where they had "unprecedented success." 

Apparently, Allen Strickland was smitten by more than Savannah, because on Dec. 5, 1901, he married Maggie A. Hankins in Duval County.  According to their Duval Co. marriage record, he was 34, she was 33.

 THE ARTICLE INCORRECTLY IDENTIFIES HER AS MRS. S. M. HANKINS

1910 Census, Jacksonville, Duval Co., Fla.  Mrs. B. S. Hankins is Margaret Strickland

Unfortunately, it appears that Mr. Strickland didn't last much longer than Maggie's hotels.  The 1910 Census in Jacksonville shows Margaret Strickland was now twice widowed and living with her three Hankins sons: Eugene [24], Edgar [22], & Bethel Stephens (Jr.) [16].  Also listed was Maggie's married daughter (Corrine Partridge, 22)and her husband, Henry Partridge, and their two very young children, Margaret Ann (3) & Ethel Corrine (1).  Listed last is Maggie Hankins's widowed mother, Mary Jane STUBBS.
 

Margaret appears here at age 38, but using her Florida marriage info, she would have been 42 in 1910.  This indicates she was 18 when her first son Eugene was born.  

Mrs. S. B. Hankins was Miss Margaret "Maggie" A. Stubbs, born around 1865 in S. Carolina, a daughter of John J. Stubbs and wife Mary Jane.  Maggie's last known full name was Margaret A. Stubbs Hankins Strickland.  Maggie's sister, Elizabeth, was Sylvanus "Marter" Hankins' 2nd wife when they married in 1887.