The dad of Hawks's mom, C. W. Howard (1845–1916), lived in Neenah, Wisconsin in 1862 at age 17. In 15 years he had made his money in the town's paper mill and other business moves. Frank Hawks and Helen Howard met in the early 1890s and married in 1895. Howard Hawks was the oldest of five kids and his birth was followed by Kenneth Neil Hawks (August 12, 1899 – January 2, 1930), William Bellinger Hawks (January 29, 1901 – January 10, 1969), Grace Louise Hawks (October 17, 1903 – December 23, 1927) and Helen Bernice Hawks (1906 – May 4, 1911). In 1898, the family moved to Neenah, Wisconsin where Frank Hawks started working for his father-in-law's Howard Paper Company.