James was educated in the hog and hominy and hickory stick schools of Glaize Township, and labored on his father's pioneer farm. When his father died in 1859, as eldest child, although only 12 years of age, he was immediately the head of the house for his mother.
Considered too young for military service, he was, because of his strong determination and insistence, enlisted anyway and early in 1862 at the age of 14, rode southwest with Union Lt. Col. S. N. Wood's battalion in company C, 6th Cavalry Missouri Volunteers.
Price's rebel columns were first engaged near Marshfield, then again at Sugar Creek near the Arkansas Line. Eventually, having pushed into Helena Arkansas, he was wounded and because of his disability, discharged from service.
Upon returning home, he labored on the farm, but when Gen. Sterling Price launched his raid into Missouri in 1864, James re-enlisted at Linn Creek, mustered to Company G, 45th infantry, Missouri Volunteers. Several hard skirmishes were fought before he was discharged from the service on June 29, 1865.
After the war, his mother removed the family to Texas and later died on the way back to Missouri. He married Julia Ann Martin when he returned to Miller county and subsequently raised 12 children.
James Hawkins married Mariah Catherine Graham Wall, 21 Nov 1918, after their spouses each died. They were divorced 1 Apr 1924 in Camden County; family stories say his children and her children were the precipitating factor. She had a prenuptial agreement and received a cash settlement of $1,000 when the divorce was final.
James Hawkins was very influential in southwestern Miller County. He was an active member of the GAR following the Civil War.
He formed the bank of Brumley and Henry David Wall (wife of Mariah Catherine Graham Wall) helped build the bank building.

Below is from the Miller county historical society biographies:
James Martin Hawkins, who has a prominent place in the public life of Miller County, was born on September 19, 1847, two miles northeast of Brumley. His father, Presley Hawkins, a native of Virginia, moved from there to Hart County, Kentucky, thence to Miller County in 1842. His mother, S.B. (McCubbin) Hawkins, was born in North Carolina of Scottish parents. His paternal ancestors were English. He is related to Alvin P. Hawkins of Huntington, Tennessee, a former Governor of that state.
When the Civil War broke out Mr. Hawkins enlisted at Rolla, January 10, 1862. He was discharged for disability but re-enlisted in September 1864, in Company G, 45th Missouri Infantry. He was finally discharged on June 29, 1865.
Mr. Hawkins has always been a stalwart advocate of Republican principles. In 1864 he cast his first vote, which was for Abraham Lincoln, and he has voted for every Republican presidential candidate since then. In 1873 he was appointed deputy sheriff and collector by William Carroll Brumley. He has also been a member of the county court. He was elected Miller County representative to the General Assembly in 1890, since which time he has never been a candidate for office. Mr. Hawkins was postmaster at Brumley for 12 years. He was the first president of the Bank of Brumley and has been its cashier since January 1, 1908. He was instrumental in the establishment of the high school there and served on the building committee when the first building was erected and when an annex was built.
Mr. Hawkins is active in the Christian Church, of which he is a charter member. He is affiliated with the Masonic Lodge at Iberia, is a charter member of the G.A.R. Post at Brumley, as well as its first Commander, and the only living charter member of the Masonic Order, Lodge 203, at Brumley.
On March 19, 1871, Mr. Hawkins was married to Miss Julia A. Martin, only child of Moses T. Martin and Nancy (Reed) Martin, who were from Kentucky. To this marriage were born Edwin P.; William Carroll, who was named for William Carroll Brumley; Phillips C.; James C.; George C.; Robert P.; Charles R.; Lena, who married W.E. Thornsberry; Mary C.; Nellie, who married Lloyd S. Pugh; and Nancy, who married Walter Craft.