Pole Vaulting Grandaddy

Edit: another genealogist suggested that this is probably actually the "high jump" instead of pole vaulting.

I don't know anything about my Grandaddy playing sports. But, he clearly did. But when? Because I can faintly see a guy in a particular hat in the background, I think this may have been when he was in the Army, and the hat on that guy looks like the ones I see of uniformed men in other photographs I have. 

See the hats? Grandaddy, Robert Stanley Hicks is the guy in the middle, 4th from the left. 

I have this other photograph as well. Is this from the same time period? How would I find out?

What could the "L" stand for? 

It looks like they had a mascot, a black kitten. 

Edit: another genealogist suggests "The Lions" perhaps with a kitty mascot?

If you have information about Robert Stanley Hicks and when he played basketball or pole vaulting, please send me some information.

Wordless Wednesday

Marjorie 17yrs, Linda 6 weeks, Stanley 22

Wordless Wednesday

Another group of people who we don't know who they are. They may be Hicks' or Hunsucker s or maybe even Harris folks. Do you know who they are? The boy is probably younger than 14 since he is still wearing short pants. 

Wordless Wednesday

Anyone have any idea who these kids are?  They were with a bunch of "Hicks" and "Hunsucker" photos. They could even be "Harris" kids. 

Friday's Faces from the Past

Bessie Hicks (Robert Henry Hicks sister)

In August I had the pleasure to spend a little time with Margaret Edmonson. Margaret is the daughter of Bessie Kathrine Hicks and John Truman Andrew (Andrue) Williams. 

I will share with you some of the stories she told me. 

Margaret remembers that Bessie said that Larkin and Mary Jane (Bessie's parents) came from Arkansas to Georgia in a covered wagon. Bessie (b. 17 August 1906) said that sometimes when she would get tired of riding, that she would get down and walk beside the wagon. When they were kids, Bessie and her brother Clarence got in trouble for tying two cow's tails together. They thought they would do that to make it easier to "bring the cows home" but instead one cow went left and one went right and it didn't work out as planned.  

Bessie's first husband was a Mr. Reid. I do not have his first name. Margaret said that Mr. Reid was killed while he was hitch hiking on or in a railroad car. 

We don't know how or when. 

On October 5 1925 Bessie Reid and Truman Williams (b. 18 Jan 1900) were married at the courthouse in Dalton Georgia. They both worked in the mills. One Christmas after the mills had closed down, Bessie and Truman sold bootleg liquor. They dug a big flower bed and put the liquor in there and put the dirt and flowers on top. They also hit it in the door frames of the house. 

Selling it was the only way they could get any money.

Bessie and Truman had three children. 

Truman, Bessie, Margaret, Jeanette, & Ralph

Ruby Jeanette Williams born 28 February 1927

Margrett Louise Williams born 23 May 1928

(spelled Margrett in the family bible, but Margaret on photographs. I'll have to ask...) 

Ralph Stuart Williams 27 July 1930

Truman and Bessie have left an awesome bible full of  family information. 

I'll post detailed pictures in a later post. 

Truman died 7 April 1938. He had surgery on his neck, and unfortunately a blood clot traveled to his heart. He was 38 years old. 

click here to see his findagrave memorial

When J.T. Died (Margaret was 10yrs old), Bessie took her 3 kids Jeanette, Margaret, & Ralph and lived with several of her brothers on and off for a few years. They were at “Uncle John and Aunt Bea's” house then moved to “Uncle Henry and Vesta's house” they spent one school year there. 

At one time when they were living with Aunt Bea (Beatrice) and Uncle John, Margaret and the other kids were being loud. At that time her grandfather, Larkin (Robert Henry's dad) was staying there. He told the kids that they would have a contest, whoever could stay quiet the longest would win and get a prize. The prize was a box with five handles. Margaret "won". He told her to come over and slapped her on the face. He said that was the prize. Palm of hand = box and 5 fingers were the 5 handles. 

While they were staying at Uncle Johns' house, he wanted Bessie to give him her money to hold for her. She didn't want to and they had a big argument. Bessie gathered the kids and they started walking down the road even though it was almost night time. John's kid Grady, drove up and tried to get them to get in the car/truck and go back to the house. Bessie told the kids not to talk to him. They went into the woods so he couldn't follow in the truck. They went to a farm house. The farmer took them to town the next day to rent a house.  

Later Bessie and the kids would move in with Robert and Vesta for a school year. Vesta would make the kids hot chocolate in the mornings for breakfast before they got on a school bus to go to school. They would eat pinto beans and cornbread for dinner. Sometimes Vesta would open a can of tomatoes that she had canned earlier in the year. “Uncle Henry” would give the kids a quarter every Saturday for an allowance. They would walk to the corner store. Sometimes they would buy tobacco and hide it behind the barn. They would roll it and smoke it. They would get in trouble because Vesta could smell the odor of cigarettes. She would get on to them. When she turned her back the kids would go “yeah, yeah”. Vesta was hard of hearing, so she didn't know. 

Labeled: Vesta, Sally holding Jeanette, Beatrice, Willena, Ellazine, Willie Hicks

Bessie married for a third time to Robert Marion Moon on 27 April 1945 at the court house in Atlanta Georgia.  -Bessie's 3^rd husband said she died (19 September 1949) when she went to the woodpile for supplies for the stove and the woodpile fell on her. She was 43 years old. Though she had a third husband she was buried with her 2^nd husband John Truman Williams in the Trion Cemetery. 

click here to see Bessie's memorial on findagrave

I'm not entirely sure, but I think this is Mr. Moon's memorial. It looks like he may have had a 1st wife that died in 1930. 

Wordless Wednesday

Who is he?

I've been really terrible about keeping up with my family newsletter blog. But, here's to new beginnings. On Wednesdays I'm going to participate in "Wordless Wednesdays". I am going to post pictures of people that probably belong in the Hicks or Hunsucker line of the family. These will be pictures of people that I don't know. So...please let me know if you can identify the photographs.

I will also be blogging more about the family, as I have time. Please keep coming back!

Wedding Wednesday

WEDDING WEDNESDAY

John Truman Williams and Bessie Hicks Williams

Today I spent two hours with Margaret Williams Edmonson. She brought out her father's bible. Bessie, her mother (great granddaddy's sister) had filled up the pages on marriages, births and deaths. 

I am going to write up a bigger entry on the blog about Bessie and her family. But, until then here is a little snippet of information. 

Mr. Truman Williams of Dalton Ga and Bessie Reid of Dalton Ga 

on October 5 1925 at Court House. 

Bessie had been married to a Mr. Reid, who had died. 

Mr. Williams was her 2nd husband. 

Stay tuned. Hopefully I will get the bigger story up here in a week or two. 

Friday's Faces from the Past

Friday's Faces from the Past 

is a way to highlight photos, of known ancestors or complete unknowns. 

I've been terrible and lazy lately when it comes to working on my genealogy! That happens to me almost every summer. I work outside in the garden in the summer, and get back to my genealogy in the winter. 

Well, I am working on a new genealogy project, (even though it is summer) and I hope to post it for you here soon. In the mean time here is an unlabeled photo. Do you know who these people are?

Please message me if you do! stompee@bellsouth.net  

or by facebook if you are my "friend". 

EDIT: Brenda, Byron and Barbara all believe that this is their Aunt Doris from England. She may not be a "Hicks" but she is family nonetheless! Sister* (I'm guessing) to their mother Florence Holland Hicks.

Treasure Chest Thursday

Last weekend we had a Family Reunion. My Aunt Myrl and her son, Greg brought Great Grandaddy's Baritone Instrument! This instrument is what I remember sitting on the fireplace mantel when we would go visit him. 

But according to Myrl, he also played the clarinet.

She also sent me this picture of him in a band. We are pretty sure he is the second guy from the left on the top row. He is partially hidden by the guy in front of him. What kind of band is this? Does anyone recognize these uniforms?

Stay tuned for more pictures from the Family Reunion. I am working on getting them organized and will be posting them soon. 

Sentimental Sunday: Easter

I found this Easter card. It is from my grandfather, 

Robert Stanley Hicks to his mother, 

Vesta Hunsucker Hicks. There is no date listed and no envelope. 

Interestingly, Grandaddy signed it with his first and last name. I guess in case his mom wasn't sure who "Robert" was. hehehe. It was probably just habit or something. I think I have signed cards this way to my parents before too. 

Robert Henry and Vesta Hicks. I realized that I do not have any pictures of Vesta on her own. She is almost always with her husband, kids or other family members. 

This picture is labeled Robert Stanley 20 yrs old 1940. 

Don't forget to RSVP to the Hicks Family Reunion on May 17th 2014! 

You can RSVP to me at stompee@bellsouth.net

Hicks Family Reunion

labeled: Uncle John Hicks, Cliff Hicks, Dad R.H. Hicks

Hicks Family Reunion

May 17 2014

11am - 4pm

Bring a dish to share

The Reunion will be at the old Hicks homestead in Stockbridge GA.

Please let me know if you need the address.

Email stompee@bellsouth.net to RSVP . 

If you can't make it, please send me a picture of you and your family to display. You can send it in an attachment to an email. If you prefer to send it by USPS, email me for my address.

Census Sunday "What's in a name?"

What's in a name? That which we call a rose 

By any other name would smell as sweet.

Let me take you on an adventure into trying to research 

Robert Henry Hicks Sr's brother, Olley G. Hicks

Census from the Social Security Administration dated 15, June 1966

Addressed to Olley G Hicks to use in lieu of a birth certificate. 

Showing results from the 1910 census of Oklahoma for an "Olie Hix" in the family of Larkin and Mary J Hix. This is one good reason to look for alternate spellings of the names you are looking for in the census. The census takers didn't always know how to spell the names correctly, or they didn't ask, or they asked a neighbor or someone who wasn't sure, or the people themselves didn't know how to spell it. In this case Larkin and Mary Jane Hicks are not that far from my generation, or my grandfather's in any case. So, I was surprised that just only 100 years ago (!) the name was different. Because of this document, I also know to look for "Hix" in the censuses when I can't find someone I'm looking for. 

I decided to do a blog entry on Olley, because this census record showed a different spelling, but once I got to researching him I found so many different spellings, that he was hard to locate. 

First let me show you a few pictures. 

Labeled: Clarence, John, Ollie, and Henry 1969

Labeled: Henry, Clarence, Olie

Labeled: Left Olley; Right John

The only thing I could find in my internet search was in the Social Security Death Index which showed that Olley Hicks died in August 1981. I know it is the correct person because the social security number on the census form and the social on the death index matched. The death index shows a birth date of 29 September 1903. I had 1904 in my "Ancestry" family tree. I got that date from "The Hicks Family and Allied Family Lines" booklet that was compiled by Cathy L Harris in 1987. (Daugter-in-law to Willena Hicks Harris I believe. Willena would be the niece of Olley.) But wait! The book has a different name/spelling too. 

On this Family Group Sheet near my thumb you can see that Cathy spelled it "Olif". 

I decided to edit my "Ancestry" family tree to what the SS Death Index showed. 

I tried to look up Olley on findagrave.com. By now you know, that is my passion! I love digging through that website and creating virtual cemeteries to compile all my ancestors in one place. I was having no luck finding him. I tried all the different spellings and I tried both birth dates of 1903 and 1904. I decided to go another route and find his wife Pearl Lee Hicks first. I thought that if I could find her, there might be a link to her husband, or at least I would know what cemetery to search in, because it would be likely that Pearl and Olley would be in the same place. 

Labeled: Robert , Pearl, Ollie Hicks. 

I believe I also see my grandmother, Marjorie Hicks on the far left there, though I have never seen her with her hair down, or long hair. We can see the back of the heads of two boys in the front. They are dressed identical, which leads me to believe it might be Lloyd and Floyd Harris, as twins are often forced to wear identical clothing by their mothers. The woman with the camera is Mildred Hicks. (wife of R. L Hicks son of Olley and Pearl, I believe.)

Back to the story: I look up Pearl Lee Hicks on findagrave.com and I look in LaGrange, as that is the address on the SSI form. I guessed they didn't move. I got a hit! I found Pearl Lee Hicks on the Restlawn Memory Gardens memorial page and there was a picture of her there! You can look at her memorial page if you put in this number in the "findagrave" link at the top left of this blog page. 97621282 

I used a picture I have: 

to compare to the picture I found on findagrave.com:

(photo provided by Sharon Frank Patrick who sent me a great email with helpful information in it. thanks)

Yep! The same person! But her husband was not linked to her site, so I just went to the Restlawn Memory Garden's search page and type in "Hicks".  I found him! But guess how his name is spelled?  

"Olecy G Hicks" ! There is no picture for me to compare, but the dates match.  To see his memorial page type in this number on the findagrave link at the top of the page: 97621269 

I added my own picture to the page though. 

Edit: 9-6-2014

His name was corrected on the search index to 

"Oleey G Hicks" as it is on his marker. 

(another new spelling!)

I have sent a request to the volunteers at findagrave for photos of the headstones or markers. While on the findagrave site, I got in contact with a nice woman named Sharon Patrick. She told me this little tidbit about Pearl. 

Pearl Lee Hicks

b: Jan 30 1904

d: Feb 1 1994

Pearl was in the hospital with pneumonia and though she was unaware, they decorated her room and had a party. She had wanted to live to be 90 years old, and did! She passed away the next day. 

Sharon Patrick says that "Olley G" is what is listed in the 1972 LaGrange city directory. Who can tell me how to actually spell Olley's name? Do you have any documents with his signature? 

Edit: Sharon was kind enough to go take photos of the markers for me. 

Spelling: Oleey

I recently spent some time with the daughter of Oleey's sister, Bessie. She showed me her father's bible, which Bessie had used to write down all the family data. In addition to her husband's family, Bessie noted her brothers as well. She also spelled her brother's name as Oleey. 

So do I use the spelling from the bible and grave marker in my family tree, or do I use the spelling from the Social Security Death Index?

Wordless Wednesday

Picture titled: Willena Harris, Bernice and Vesta Hicks

I got an email from findagrave.com that the picture I requested of the tombstones of Bernice's family had been taken. I had wrote about them in the story about the car wreck. See the story here. I neglected to request a photograph of Etta's grave for some reason. You can look at their findagrave pages using the link at the top right of this blog and the memorial numbers below. Just plug the numbers in and see where they take you. 

Etta Willis 36297967

Jasper Bradley Willis 36297973

Lee Alton Sr 36297976

Lee Alton Jr 36297977

Wordless Wednesday ........................... late night on Tuesday

Who are these guys? Do you know? 

The photo is with those that were found in Robert Henry Hicks Jr's house in Stockbridge GA.

(formerly Robert H Hicks Sr's house). 

It was also with a lot of Hunsucker or possibly Harris photos.

Lets go way back

I had a couple of different things I wanted to share about my Great Grandfather Robert Henry Hicks. But, I needed more information first, so I decided to put that on the back burner for a few days. Next, I decided to do a little on Ollie Hicks, which is Great Granddaddy's brother. But, my scanner has died! So, I am going to have to put that on the back burner for a bit too. Then I decided to go way back! Way way back to one of Vesta's ancestors, the Reverend Basil (Bazzel) Lowrey. I'm going to go ahead and say, that I don't have any real documentation on this, only leads from the internet that lead me to believe this information is correct, so lets go....

Reverend Bazzel Lowrey 1812-1894

findagrave memorial # 77185063

Methodist Minister and Doctor in Marietta Georgia

married to 

Emily Yarbrough 1815-1905

findagrave memorial # 77185360

They had a several children one of which was a daughter, 

Martha A. Lowrey (1840-1907). 

She married Charles Shepherd and they had a daughter, 

Mary Shepherd (1871-1896) 

She didn't get too live very long, but she did marry Aaron Wesley Hunsucker and they had two children, Vesta Hunsucker and Ira Hunsucker. 

Vesta (my great grandmother) married Robert Henry Hicks. 

I'm slowly working on getting information to confirm this Hunsucker tree. I got the information about the Lowreys from an internet site several years ago. Sadly, I saved the pictures, but not the name of the website I got the information from. That is a prime example of why you should always cite your sources when doing genealogy. If I had cited my source from the internet, I could go back and do more research. As of now, I have to trust that the pictures are who I claim them to be, and I have to hope that where ever I got the information that the Reverend was Vesta's great grand parents is correct.

If you have any information let me know. 

Friday's Faces From the Past

I really wish I could claim ownership of this picture. But, I actually found it online from findagrave.com . I think the picture is so fantastic, that I want to share it here on the Hicks Family Newsletter.

This is Luther Amos & Mary Hicks. 

In this picture it looks like Luther is placing a ring on Mary's finger! They are both smiling and it seems to be a happy moment. The photograph was linked to Luther and Mary's findagrave memorial (#37717636 use the link at the top of the blog to find it.) It was posted by someone named Jim T. I don't know who that is, but I am guessing he may be related to us in some way because he had this picture. I am going to send him an email to find out. 

Let me try and tell you how Luther is related to me. 

He is my 2nd cousin 3x removed. 

Our common ancestor is my 4th great grandfather 

Abraham Russell Hicks (1781 - 1861). 

Abraham had 5 kids. 

Two of them were Harold (1811 -1880) and Abraham Jr. (1831 - 1872) 

One of Harold's kids is Larkin, who had Robert Henry who had Robert Stanley who had my dad Earl. 

One of Abraham Jr's kids was William Abraham who had Luther Amos. 

They both died in 1965.

Don't forget about the Hicks family reunion on May 17 2014. 

My contact information is at the top of the page.