Local hawthorn experiences?

Anyone in the region have experience with hawthorns? I ordered a few from an out of state nursery, and well, they all got hawthorn-cedar rust. I started asking around about local varieties or native species of any kind, and basically turned up empty handed, so far. One person in a local native plant group stated they used to be very common but are now rarely seen. It was somewhat implied that the proliferation of cedars may coincide with the decline of hawthorns? Anyway, if anyone has had luck getting them to grow successfully I want to know your secret. If there's a source for disease-resistant varieties, either in a local nursery somewhere, or a wild population that can be cloned, I'm interested in that too.

What region are you actually in?