Yes I hope this Ben Hawkins is my GGG-Grandfather too...however his wife from the Freedman's Bank lookup was listed as Amanda, whereas on the 1880 Census my B. HAWKINS wife was listed as "S"...I guess he could have been married 3 times. I know what you mean about the inconsistancy in birth places. I have ancestors from my mother's side especially the Indian/French side that had huge inconsistancies especially regarding year of birth...and place of birth was either Canada or North Dakota depending on the census year. I was told they didn't hold too much stock in birthday's back when trapping and skinning enough hides for trade/sale was more important if you wanted to survive.
Vera