John Hawkins was a Quaker who arrived in Pasquotank Precinct, North Carolina by November 1682. In addition to serving as a judge on the Pasquotank Precinct Court, he also served in the North Carolina Colonial Assembly and on the General Court. In 1704 the North Carolina Council ordered him, along with several other men, to assist in a land survey for the Yeopim tribe. He died in Pasquotank on December 12, 1717.