# Squire Hawkins — The Hoosier Schoolmaster character guide

> Squire Hawkins in The Hoosier Schoolmaster by Edward Eggleston.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** The Squire, Hawkins, The old Squire, the Squire, Squire

**First appearance:** 0004-ii-a-spell-coming

## Snapshot

Once a poor Yankee schoolmaster who married rich and learned to talk like a Hoosier, Squire Hawkins is the district's peartest old man and its most polished survivor.

## Who they are

Squire Hawkins commands respect as the district's leading citizen, the man most likely to preside over spelling-schools and pronounce the smart words with polite precision. His rise from threadbare Yankee pedagogue to prosperous squire, sealed by a rich wife and a carefully acquired local accent, makes him a living lesson in how Flat Creek rewards adaptation. To Ralph, he is both a model of reinvention and a reminder that book-learning alone buys nothing here.

## Relationships

### [Ralph Hartsook](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hoosier_schoolmaster_se/characters/ralph_hartsook)

_professional_

Squire Hawkins, a wealthy landowner, employs Ralph as the schoolmaster and holds authority over his position.

### [Bud Means](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hoosier_schoolmaster_se/characters/bud_means)

_social_

Bud and Squire Hawkins interact as community members, with Bud showing deference to the squire's position.

### [Ralph Hartsook](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hoosier_schoolmaster_se/characters/ralph_hartsook)

_professional_

Squire Hawkins, a wealthy landowner, employs Ralph as the schoolmaster and holds authority over his position.

### [Bud Means](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hoosier_schoolmaster_se/characters/bud_means)

_social_

Bud and Squire Hawkins interact as community members, with Bud showing deference to the squire's position.

### [Ralph Hartsook](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hoosier_schoolmaster_se/characters/ralph_hartsook)

_professional_

Squire Hawkins, a wealthy landowner, employs Ralph as the schoolmaster and holds authority over his position.

### [Bud Means](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hoosier_schoolmaster_se/characters/bud_means)

_social_

Bud and Squire Hawkins interact as community members, with Bud showing deference to the squire's position.

## In the story

### [IV: Spelling Down the Master](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hoosier_schoolmaster_se/chapters/iv-spelling-down-the-master)

The appointed word-giver, described with a comical inventory of his appearance, including a glass eye and dyed whiskers.

### [IX: Has God Forgotten Shocky?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hoosier_schoolmaster_se/chapters/ix-has-god-forgotten-shocky)

Thoughtfully invites Ralph to stay at his house for the weekend.

### [The Hardshell Preacher](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hoosier_schoolmaster_se/chapters/xii-the-hardshell-preacher)

Comments on the preacher's attack on his denomination, the 'Reformers' or 'Campbellites', and jokes about the 'Sarpent' inspiring him.

### [The Flight](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hoosier_schoolmaster_se/chapters/xxviii-the-flight)

Ralph meets him in Clifty and asks to be arrested and tried.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hoosier_schoolmaster_se/characters/squire_hawkins
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hoosier_schoolmaster_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_hoosier_schoolmaster_se/characters