# Abe Hawkins

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Abe_Hawkins
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Abe_Hawkins.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abe_Hawkins
> Source revision: 1258237866
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

**Abe Hawkins**, also known in later years as **Uncle Able Hawkins**, **The Black Prince**, **The Dark Sage of Louisiana**, and **The Slayer of Lexington**, was a slave on the [Ashland sugar plantation](/source/Ashland_Plantation) located in [Darrow, Louisiana](/source/Darrow,_Louisiana), in [Ascension Parish](/source/Ascension_Parish). [Duncan Farrar Kenner](/source/Duncan_F._Kenner) owned the plantation and for ten years Abe was his slave. He rode some 25 horses to victory.

Kenner was a businessman that owned and raced horses with a track located on the plantation grounds. In 1854, Kenner purchased slave jockey Abe Hawkins.[2] Abe was considered small and of "light figure" and suited to being a jockey. Abe rode for Kenner until he became a freeman in 1864, and then for [Robert A. Alexander](/source/Robert_A._Alexander) and was nationally known for fifteen years.[3]

By 1865, Abe was rated the second best known athlete behind white jockey [Gilbert Watson Patrick](/source/Gilbert_Watson_Patrick), known as Gilpatrick, and won against him in a [match race](/source/Match_racing) before a crowd of 25,000 in [New York City](/source/New_York_City).[4] Abe had a career twenty-five wins, including the two 1866 wins while under the employ of [Robert A. Alexander](/source/Robert_A._Alexander), the [Travers Stakes](/source/Travers_Stakes#Winners) riding Merrill with former slave trainer [Ansel Williamson](/source/Ansel_Williamson), and the first [Jerome Stakes](/source/Jerome_Stakes#Winners) riding Watson with trainer [Jacob Pincus](/source/Jacob_Pincus).[5]

Abe returned to Ashland in 1866 and lived there until he died on May 4, 1867.

In 2024 Hawkins was selected for induction into the [National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame](/source/National_Museum_of_Racing_and_Hall_of_Fame) by its Historic Review Committee.[6]

## References

1. ["Fair Grounds Hall of Fame Biographies"](http://docplayer.net/52232499-Fair-grounds-hall-of-fame-biographies-marie-g-krantz-lifetime-achievement-award-winners.html). Doc.Player.net. 2011-03-24. Retrieved 2019-09-09.

1. [A Legacy of Triumph: More Stories of Duncan F. Kenner and Abe Hawkins at Ashland Plantation](http://www.antebellumturftimes.com/category/heroes-of-the-new-orleans-antebellum-turf/)- Retrieved 2014-06-09

1. [*The Baltimore Sun*: Forgotten black jockeys take their place in history](https://www.baltimoresun.com/1999/03/14/forgotten-black-jockeys-take-their-place-in-history/)- Posted March 14, 1999, by Tom Keyser; Retrieved 2014-06-09

1. [Cincinnati.com: First star athletes; Abe Hawkins](http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2002/04/29/spt_black_jockeys.html)- Retrieved 2014-06-09

1. [Transatlantica: African American Jockeys; Abe](http://transatlantica.revues.org/5480)- Retrieved 2014-06-09

1. Grening, David (23 April 2024). ["Rosario, Gun Runner, Justify top 2024 Racing Hall of Fame inductees"](https://www.drf.com/news/rosario-gun-runner-justify-top-2024-racing-hall-fame-inductees). Daily Racing Form. Retrieved 23 April 2024.

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Abe Hawkins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abe_Hawkins) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abe_Hawkins?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.