This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: HICKS, MCCORD, CATES, STIGALL, WISEMAN Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/Cei.2ACEB/4226 Message Board Post: Dear Hicks List: My father inherited an old Bible (copyright 1853) and within the leaves was a letter written 22 Feb 1863 from W.R. HICKS to his wife, M.C. HICKS (Mahala MCCORD) and on the reverse side of this letter was another letter written to his parents. W.R. HICKS was a Confederate Soldier stationed at Port Hudson, Louisiana. In the letter to his wife he tells about the price of food--eggs, $2 a dozen, sweet potatoes, $3 a bushel, etc. In the letter to his parents, he tells them that "Brother James" is dead. He also mentions Wash CATES who died and James CATES who he had not seen since Corinth and was presumed dead. I found (on the Internet) a W.R. HICKS, Pvt., Co. A, 15th Arkansas. I know that Port Hudson came under siege in May 1863 and that probably W.R. was there at that time. He says in the letter to his wife that he thinks the war will end by summer. My great-grandmother was Armitta Jane HICKS who married I.C. STIGALL. I believe W.R. HICKS was her eldest brother. My great-grandmother's obituary lists her parents as Nelson HICKS and Roseanne WISEMAN. They are found in Henry County, TN in 1850. Armitta Jane was not born until 1863. Could they have moved to Arkansas? Does anyone show this family in the 1860 census? Anywhere? I would also love to reconnect with fellow researchers Jerry Hicks and Krista Grant. Happy digging, Tina WHITE SMITH