This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: HICKS Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/Cei.2ACEB/2907.2925.1.3.1 Message Board Post: My husband's Hicks were in Blount Co, Tenn, until the depression era. 2 of their children attended the deaf school in Knoxville, Knox Co, Tenn. Before 1833 this Hicks line was in North Carolina before coming to Tenn. I believe they may have been in Virginia before that. William Hicks was a deaf man, he married Elizabeth Dunnaway 1825 in Caswell Co, NC. They had several children in North Carolina, and then moved their family to Tenn--my husband's great grandfather, James D. Hicks, was born 1833--the first child born in Tenn. He was one of the hearing children. It was not until the 1850 census, when all of this was actually recorded, that there is any evidence of a deaf gene. But, it was there none the less. It is my personal opinion, with nothing to base it on in terms of documentation, that there was someone with a deaf gene who married into the family, and produced William. On his marriage certificate, when he married Elizabeth, in 1825, the witness was Daniel Hicks. There was a Daniel Hicks in Caswell Co, NC, and I have found him and what appear to be his sons, in Caswell and Person Counties. But, can't tie our William to them through documentation--and the census is too broad to make a conclusion from. This branch of the Hic! ks lines did not own land, serve in the military, or hold a public office--in short, there is very little to go on. I have had better luck finding facts about them through allied families that married into this Hicks family. There were Hicks on the Mayflower, and there were some famous Quaker Hicks people--one well known preacher. But, so far, I can't make a connection to any of these people. If you can tell me if or how our William fits I will be eternally grateful! William was born 1796 in NC, and died between the 1850 and 1860 census for Blount Co, Tenn. Record of his burial can't be found, but it is believed that he is probably buried in Middlesettlement Cemetery, Blount Co, Tenn, with a fieldstone to mark the location of his grave. His living descendants, whom I interviewed back in the 1970's, spoke of visiting his grave with their parents, but couldn't tell me an exact location other than Middlesettlement Cemetery. This has not been an easy family to research! Warmest Regards, Mary Hicks [email protected]