This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/Cei.2ACEB/3530 Message Board Post: I posted earlier hoping that someone had information about the Hicks' in Missouri and I received a bit more information that may help, even though it is really not a lot. My father-in-law, Gary Hicks, lives in Mountain Grove, Missouri, Wright County, and he was born in Cabool, Missouri, which is either Texas County, or Houston County, I can't remember. Gary's father was Delbert Cecil Hicks and he was born in Alton, Illinois. Gary's grandpa was Lewis Hicks, but they aren't sure of where he was born, and I have NO dates on any of these yet. I was also told that Lewis had a brother named William Lewis Hicks. (Delbert Cecil and Lewis are both deceased) My mother-in-law told me that before Delbert Cecil died, he told her that he was 2/4 Cherokee Indian and 1/4 German, but as of yet, she has not had that verified to be factual. So, if anyone knows this is true, she would love to know. So, I guess we are searching for any Hicks that would be in this line of the Hicks family, those beyond Lewis Hicks, the Grandfather. I believe that most of the older Hicks' in Gary's family is no longer around, so getting all of this information is hard. That is why we would appreciate any help that we can get on this. I am assuming that since Delbert Cecil Hicks was born in Alton, Illinois, and than obviously migrated into Missouri, at least a few of the Hicks' did, I should look to the Illinois area, even though I realize that they could have gone to Illinois from another state. She did say that they do not know of any Hicks relatives that are from either Tennessee or Arkansas, but again, they aren't absolutely certain on that, as people are known to move around here and there. Thank you. Susie

> > Message Board Post: > > I posted earlier hoping that someone had information about the Hicks' in Missouri and I received a bit more information that may help, even though it is really not a lot. Dear Susie, Rather than posting several messages per day, each with insufficient information, why not take a moment or two, and get yourself organized? There are a number of free resources to be found on the internet. One of the most useful for people looking for recent individuals is the social security death index. For instance, DELBERT C HICKS SSN 500-05-0267 Residence: 65711 Mountain Grove, Wright, MO Born 30 Jun 1912 Died 15 Jun 1991 Issued: MO (Before 1951) Now you have a birthdate for Delbert, and a death date. Now you know that you should be looking in the 1920 census for a William or a Lewis Hicks with an 8 year old son, Delbert. When did William Lewis Hicks die? If it was after 1970 or so, he might be in the SSDI as well. Did any of these guys have wives? Go to http://www.rootsweb.com/~mowright/wright.htm and look to see what is available there. For instance, you will find Hicks, William Louis: Hartville, MO; died at Cox Medical Center on Jan 19, 1979 at 9 p.m.; machine operator for Standard Pipe in St. Louis; born Dec 24, 1910 in Fayette County, IL; s/o Louis Hicks and Sarah Ann Booth; h/o Ollie Hicks; 1 son Elbert Hicks of Hartville; 1 sister Mrs Pearlie Fullington of Mountain Grove, MO; 1 half sister Mrs Ruth Smith of Green Mountain, MO; 1 brother Delbert Cecil Hicks of Macomb, MO; 1 half brother Troy Hicks of Valley Park, MO; 9 grandchildren; 1 great-grandchild. Burial Cabool Cemetery. So now you have a birthplace and a birthdate for Delbert's brother, as well as a sister and some half sibs. That implies that you should be looking for two marriages for the grandfather William Louis/Lewis. And now you know the name of the mother, as well, or at least one to start with. (obituary information is only a clue - often the info is half-remembered, wrongly remembered, etc.) . This also means that you should be able to find William Lewis Hicks in the 1920 census for Illinois with (at least) two sons. Go to http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilfayett/ilfayette.htm for Fayette County. Go to http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/marriage.html for the Illinois marriage index Go to http://www.familysearch.org and click on "How do I get started" (found on the lefthand side of the page) If you have no genealogy program, click on "Order and download products" then on "software downloads" the on PAF - personal ancestral file... spend some time with the program. It is the granddaddy of all gen programs. And it is free. Later, you can swith to Legacy or Brothers Keeper or TMG - or any other gen program (as long as it has GEDCOM capability). (and while you are at familysearch.org, look to see where your nearest Family History Center is. The internet is a marvelous place to do genealogy research, but it is only the beginning. The resources microfilmed by the LDS are astounding, and invaluable). Start entering your data, and remember to enter where you found information. You may think that you will remember where, but trust me, you won't once you have 3500 individuals in seven countries. Go to http://www.cyndislist.com/ spend some time on the "New to Genealogy" section, then spend some happy hours looking at the Missouri and Illinois sections. And - forget for the time being about the Cherokee/German clues. Too many people have wasted years looking for Native American connections. Get the basics first: Census. Census reports are the backbone of (recent) genealogy research. And, when you are armed with the 1900 - 1920 census,go back to the familysearch.org, and look in the (also free) 1880 census index. If there is a Cherokee connection to be found, something will pop up in one of the census reports, and then you can look thru the Dawes rolls, etc. Queries are a nice way to find people researching the same families, but rarely do they substitute for actual data. Good luck!