Taylor County GaArchives News.....My Family Tree (Martha Miller Hicks) May 14, 1930 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/copyright.htm http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Harris Hill http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00011.html#0002514 August 31, 2005, 8:01 pm The Reynolds New Era May 14, 1930 The Reynolds New Era Wednesday, May 14, 1930 NEW ERA OFFERS PRIZE TO REYNOLDS SCHOOL The Editor of The Reynolds New Era has offered a prize of five dollars to the High School student submitting the best composition upon a subject to be decided upon by the Superintendent Mr. E.H. Joiner. We publish in this issue four of these papers with the others to be published next week. The winner of the prize will be published after all papers have been published. MY FAMILY TREE (Martha Miller Hicks) Although someone has has given this bit of advice, "Don't trace your history too far backor you will find yourself up a tree," genealogy continues to be a most fascinating study to me. In fact, when I have more time to devote to those branches of knowledge which i especially prefer, I am inclined to believ that this study will be my favorite hobby. It is interesting not only from a personal but also from a scientific viewpoint since heredity palys an important part. Although the Hicks family has not succeeded in tracing its history as far back as we should like to, we have found some definite facts. We are of irish descent and of this fact I am Justly proud, since they are a warm-hearted impulsive people with a romantic history. The irish are characterized by their love of nature, their mysticism and dreamy fancy, their intense love of country, and their inimtable wit and humor. I ahve inherited many of these traits and I have a warm place in my heart for the little "Emerald Isle." I have not been able to determine the date of departure of my ancestors from Ireland. Neither do I know what experiences these brave adventurers passed after their arrival in America but I am sure they all met misfortunes with a renewed determination and showed to the world only their gay Irish air. Some of the family gradually pushed on toward the frontier and settled in Tennessee not far from Nashville and today in that state many of the inhabitants bear the family name. According to a recent investigation I have found that there were three brothers Edward William and Jones. The following account is taken from a clipping in a Nashville newspaper, printed in 1894 "Edward Dixon Hicks, Sr., was born in this city June 8, 1831, except for a few years before his maturity, as a pioneer in the California immigration of 1849, his life was identified with the business of this community. For more than twenty-five years, he was the secretary of the Commercial Insurance Company and for a number of years he was Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the University of Nashville. About 1889 he retired from business retaining only his connection with the University. His intellectual tastes tended to ancient authors and elemental principles, interspersed with higher literature, and to statistical and historical data. He was an active member of the ???te Historical Society. I found an old letter written to my grandmother's sister, Katherine. One paragraph contained these words" "Uncle William Hicks is at this time in Mexico engaged in the silver mines. From the letters that we have received, we gather that he is in fine spirits and he thinks that in the course of time he will amass a great fortune." The other brother, Jones Hicks, my great grandfathercame from Tennessee to Crawford County, Georgia. After remaining there several years, he moved to what is now Taylor County and set up a sawmill near the place now commonly known as Hick's Mill. Other families such as the Gordons, Corbins and Carsons moved into this section then covered by virgin forests. In the meantime my great-grandfather had married Betty Howe, a descendant of the Howes prominent in the Revolutionary War. From the choicest material he built a home in colonial style near the sawmill. This was always known as the "old Hicks' Home" and it stood until it was destroyed by fire in 1924. According to stories handed down in the family, it was built in such a wooded section that wolves used to come up to the door at night and howl. At this home eight children were born, six boys and two girls. Three of these sons-Aritus, Rufus, Daniel fought in the Civil War. Daniel who waas the eldest son, was killed in the Battle of Chancellorsville. The folowing paragraph is taken from a letter written to one of the girls, Katherine, from Jones Hicks, Jr., of Cumberland City: We have just received news of the death of my brother, William. He was wounded in the third days fight of the battle of Gettysburg--and captured and sen to Chester Point. His leg was amputated on the 25th of July and he died on the 10th of August." My grandfather who was best known as Dicky Hicks, married Julia Arrington and built the house taht the Liggin family now occupy. My father James Milton Hicks, was the eldest of five children. Although every tree is full of sap(s), mine is a history of of which I wish to learn more. I once knew of a woman, who in tracing her family tree came to a member of her family named Adam but she was unable to find who came before him. She wrote to one of her relatives and asked her if she knew who came before Adam. She received this reply, "My dear, if you have traced the family history back to Adam, I think you have gone quite far enough." Although I haven't traced my family tree back to Adam, the facts that I have learned have been quite interesting to me and have stimulated me to further investigation in the future. File at: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ga/taylor/newspapers/myfamily83nnw.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/gafiles/ File size: 6.1 Kb