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. 

#ChristmasWishes with Santa

I had grand plans for my blog this Christmas season. Alas, it is December 21 and I haven't made the time to add anything to it until now. You know how hectic it gets this month! 

 I hope everyone will enjoy this little bit I can manage right now. 

 These are some of the Hicks or Harris kids with Santa. 

The back of this first picture says "C.W. Harris  c/o Lucille Gro. $1.49 3/3.4"  I'm pretty sure it is not Clarence W. Harris, he was born in 1910.  This kid looks to be between 3 and 5 years old or so, and the picture's quality is too clear and dark to be from 1915. I'm thinking this is one of the Harris kids and that it was taken at a shop. C.W. Harris's name is on the back so that they know who is going to pick it up. 

If you know who this kid is, please comment at the end of the post, so I can correctly identify it.
UPDATE: I got a message from Floyd Harris, that this picture is his youngest brother, Bruce Harris, who was born in 1953. Thanks Floyd!

Just for comparison, here is a photograph from 1915. 

I found this picture from the website http://www.antiquetoychest.com  

I am just using it to show one of the reason's I don't believe that the Santa picture of "Harris" is from 1915. 

This one is labeled Van Hicks 1952

It looks like Van is telling Santa what he wants. I hope his sucker doesn't get caught in Santa's beard. 

This one is labeled "Sandra (Hicks) Dillard" 

Sandra is the daugther of Larkin Hicks. (Son of Robert Henry Hicks Sr.)

This Santa picture is not labeled either. But, on my computer I labeled it as "Sandra Hicks". I don't know if that is correct or not. Someone must have told me that this girl was Sandra.

This one is Brenda & Barbara Hicks. You can see that Barbara is telling Santa what she wants, and Brenda looks like she is trying to figure out if Santa's beard is real or not.  The back of the picture is labeled "Brenda & Barbara Hicks w/ Santa Claus (Bob & Flo's Daughter's)" . I doubt that Bob or Flo would have labeled it this way, so this picture must have belonged to someone else, maybe Vesta? or maybe Willena. These pictures were all found in the same box. 

I believe it was my sister, Kimberly Hicks who told me that when she and a few of the other cousins were visiting Great Grandaddy's house during the holidays they would sit in front of the fireplace and wait to see if Santa would come talk to them. Great Grandaddy's house has what I call a double fireplace. The two bedrooms shared a fireplace in the middle. So, the kids would be on one side, and Santa (I think Uncle Bob) would be on the other side and talk to them to find out if they had been good or bad that year.

Edit: From Brenda Russell: Some of you know the history of Mama Flo's chimney. It was fake. Mama built it herself...laid every brick. On the other side of that chimney was the closet to the front bedroom of our house. That is where somebody, usually Daddy, would go and start with "ho ho ho". All the little ones would run over to "talk" to or "look" for Santa. Great fun...great memories!

Michael Meason looking for Santa in Mama Flo's Chimney.

I sent a lot of Save the Date  for the Family Reunion cards to extended family today. I hope to see you all there on May 17th 2014. Myrl provided me with your addresses. 

You can email me any stories or pictures to add to this blog. My email is at the top of the page. 

Happy Holidays

“The Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories (ACCM) allows you to share your family’s holiday history twenty-four different ways during December! Learn more at http://adventcalendar.geneabloggers.com.”

Friday's Faces from the Past

I have a large group of photographs that are "unknowns". I call them the "Hicks or Hunsucker Collection". Within that collection is a group of photographs all featuring this chair. The pictures all date from between 1920 - 1940. I know this because the back of the photographs look like this: 

 Many photo post cards have manufacturer marks to identify the paper the postcard was printed on. In this case, and in all the cases featuring the chair, the paper says "DEFENDER"  with a diamond where the stamp would go. This manufacturer used this mark between 1920 and 1940. I took the liberty to mark "1920 -1940" on the back of all these photographs because as of right now, that is all I know about them. 

The only book I have on fashion, stops around 1900. So, it will take a while to pinpoint the clothing styles of these children. I don't think that all the photographs were taken at the same time. Likely, this was just a favorite prop for this photographer. 

I do have one clue though. This picture says "Myra Elizabeth Hunsucker" on the back. But, who is Myra? I haven't found her in my family tree. Robert Henry married Vesta Hunsucker, so Myra must be a niece of Vesta's or in some way related. Because this photograph is labeled, I can assume that all the models are Hunsuckers. As, families often lived in the same area, and frequented the same photographer. Too bad there is no photographer's mark. If there was, I could research the photographer's place of business and then figure out who was living in the area of the photographer around 1920 -1940. 

This family photograph features the chair. The low waist and the length of skirt on the mother, looks like the 1920s to me. From a brief search on Google, it looks like the 1930's dresses had higher and tighter waists. I have an earlier picture that I believe features this same baby, but not the chair. The hat looks identical in both photos. 

I have another clue to the chair portraits. It involves a picture of a little girl without the chair. 

The back of this picture says "Dorothy Hunsucker". 

I actually have several pictures of this girl. She has distinct facial characteristics and expression. But this is the only photograph that is labeled. I compared this picture to another chair picture. 

It looks like this is Dorothy to me. Another brief Google search leads me to believe that this was in the 20's also because of the mom's hair. But, she is showing off a lot of leg in this picture. Was that appropriate? 

I have another picture that I labeled "Probably Dorothy and sister". 

And finally, I have an picture of an adult Dorothy, that is labeled. 

Could this be the same girl? It is labeled Dorothy Hunsucker. 

I have one other picture, not involving the chair. But I believe it was taken in the same studio as the chair, because the carpet is the same. It also has the DEFENDER manufacture mark on the back. 

My educated guess, is that all the subjects here are Hunsuckers. They must all be related to Vesta, or they may even be Vesta. Vesta Hunsucker was born in 1893. She would have been in her late 20's early 30's in this time frame. Vesta married Robert Henry Hicks on November 21 1909. 

Sentimental Sunday at findagrave.com

I recently went on a findagrave.com marathon. Sometimes when you get going on findagrave, you get lost. You keep finding ancestors and clues and photographs, and that leads to questions and more questions.
I started with looking for the tombstones of Martha Jane Gourd Hicks (1825 - 1900) and her husband Harold Hicks (1811 -1880). Martha Jane and Harold are the grandparents of Robert Henry Hicks, and the parents of Larkin Hicks, and my great great great grandparents. ....I think that's right.

I found Martha Jane in Grove Level Community Cemetery. With a picture! 

findagrave memorial # 100876106

Her tombstone says that she was born on Nov 5 1826. My research says 1825. I don't know where I got my dates from, so that will have to be something I look up later. You can't always trust the birth dates on really old tombstones. Sometimes the people just didn't know or couldn't remember. 

I have not been able to find her husband on findagrave, nor on billiongraves.com, nor on USGenweb Tombstone project. I'll have to keep on the look out for him. 

Then I went for a search on Larkin and Mary Jane Gassaway Hicks. (Great Granddaddy's parents.) I did find that someone put their information on findagrave.com but no pictures. I have put a request for a picture, but we will have to wait until a volunteer goes out to Pleasant Hope Cemetery in Floyd County Georgia to search for them and take the picture. I went out there once with my husband, Chris, and we could not find Larkin nor Mary Jane.  Their findagrave memorial #'s are Larkin: 11510268 and Mary Jane's is 11510269. 

A person named Karlene, a volunteer for findagrave, entered their information on findagrave.com. But, I think she must have just got the information out of a book or death records or something. Otherwise, why not add the picture, if you are already surveying a cemetery. I have contacted her via email to see if she would transfer ownership of the virtual memorials to me so I can add the correct information about their children. We'll see what happens. 

I also virtually visited Willena and her first baby, Henry. 

findagrave memorial #24304966

findagrave memorial # 24305019

Robert Henry and Vesta's infant Ira has no tombstone picture yet, but his memorial # is 118250434

My Grandaddy, Robert Stanley and Grandmother Marjorie

findagrave memorial # 39606963

Uncle Bob and Aunt Flo

findagrave memorial # 88205669

Uncle Ralph, who recently passed away has a findagrave memorial page as well. I don't think he has a marker yet. But his memorial page on findagrave is 116451811

Why do I give you these memorial numbers? You can go to findagrave.com and go to the "search grave records" link on the right side of their page. Instead of filling out all the research queries, you can simply type in the number of the memorial and go right there. I also have a link to findagrave on this blog. My virtual name on findagrave.com is Stompee.

What else did I collect or find on my findagrave marathon? 

I found Abraham Russell Hicks Jr. That is great granddaddy's granddaddy's brother! 

1831 - 1872  findagrave memorial # 26755454

Abraham's wife, Susanna 

findagrave memorial # 26755507

Robert Henry's brother Harold Clifford. I think the family called him Cliff. 

Oh my gosh, and so many more. I can't post them all here today. I feel more searching in my future. 

Wordless Wednesday

Cliff and Sally Hicks (Sallie)

Harold Clifford Hicks (1895-1967) is brother to Robert Henry Hicks Sr.

Looks like a baseball player?

Cliff's findagrave memorial # is 50051572
Sallie's findagrave memorial # is 50051601

             

Sentimental Sunday: Three Cartersville People Die in Collision 1950

My grandfather, Robert Stanley's older brother Woodrow was married to Bernice Willis. Bernice had been married previously to a John Scott. Bernice and John had one daughter, Inez.

Woodrow and Bernice

There are a lot of people in this picture. Back to Front Left to Right: Willena, Henry, Vesta, Bernice, Glen, Ralph, Larkin, Robert, Ed Harris, Jr., Woodrow, Clarence, Inez. 

When I first saw this picture, and saw that Inez was labeled here. I didn't know who she was. The only Inez I knew of was the little girl who burned from fire. I just came across an email from someone who found me on ancestry.com. This lady, Joyce, sent me an email telling me that Bernice's first husband was John Scott, and that she had a daughter Inez. That is when I remembered I had a picture of an Inez, and here it is. 

Joyce also sent me part of a copy of an article from the Weekly Tribune-News Cartersville, GA from January 12 1950. The article is titled Three Cartersville People Die in Collision. 

According to the article, on January 8th 1950 at 12:45 in the morning, Woodrow, Bernice, Bernice's mother and brother were riding in a 1936 Oldsmobile and were hit head on with a dump truck driven by a young 20 year old guy named Jack D. Rhoden.  Bernice's mother, Mrs. Lee Alton Willis Sr. (Etta) and Jack D Rhoden died at the scene of the accident on Canton Road. Bernice's brother, Bradley died about 4 hours later at the Howell-Quillian Clinic. Woodrow suffered a bad laceration on his head, mouth and lip and had bruises and abrasions. Both of Bernice's legs were broken in the accident. One in several places, and she also suffered severe lacerations, bruises and abrasions. 

Picture of the Car Wreck

Part of the article is missing. But it looks like Jack D Rhoden had a bad driving record. Mr. Rhoden's passenger, Fred Tolbert of Dahlonega said that Rhoden was driving the dump truck as fast as it would run and with no lights. Then the article is cut off. But another part on the side says that someone reported the dump truck as almost wrecking them on Christmas Eve. The article ends with "Mrs. Cantrell was returning to her home....when suddenly appeared from the south, and crashed into the rear of the Cantrell machine. Rhoden pleaded with Mrs. Can-  that is the end of the article.

It seems, Mr. Rhoden may have pleaded for Mrs. Cantrel to not call the police. But, if she had done so, and Rhoden had been sited, or had his license revoked, that maybe Bernice's mother and brother wouldn't have been killed.  I have emailed the newspaper, to see if they had a way to find the article for me, so I can get the missing information. I will update the article if they respond. 

Please leave a comment or email me if you have more information for this story. I also would like to know if Woodrow and Bernice ever had children. I would like to know where they are buried too. I have a date of death for Woodrow as January 28 1989, but I'm not sure where I got that information from.

FINDAGRAVE.COM

Etta Willis memorial page is #36297967 

Jasper Bradley Willis's memorial page is #36297973 

I believe that Inez's memorial page is #36291216 

I haven't found Woodrow or Bernice's memorial page yet, if they have one that is.