December 31

 Lora Gibson Burford died 31 December 1970, age 93

Lora Gibson Burford was my great-grandmother.

Lora was the daughter of Asa Gibson and Adaline Lucretia Gard Gibson

Lora married Alexander Oscar Burford, Jr.

Alexander and Lora had ten children: Deb, Helen, Ishmael, George, Killough, Bernice, Lester (my grandfather), Neil, Juanita, and Judy

PHOTO: Lora, center, with her children (L-R) Lester, Juanita, George, Deb, Bernice, Judy, and Helen

I only remember meeting Grandma Burford once.

PHOTO: Lora Burford, John Thomas, Wathada Burford Thomas

PHOTO: Back - Wathada, Juanita, Dianne (me). Front - Judy, Lora, Helen.

Even though I only met her once, I feel that I know a lot about her because I've heard my mother talk about her so often. Grandma Burford was a big influence in my mother's life. Here's what Wathada wrote in her memoirs:

I'm so glad I had the Burford family... and especially Grandma Burford, who tried very hard to teach me how to be a lady, bless her heart... Nobody who knows the Burfords ever accuses me of being like Mama's family because it's very obvious which side of the family I take after.  All my life, Mama has told me frequently that I was ‘just like them Burfords’, and she meant it as an insult.  Lots of times she would say, ‘If you ain't one of them Burfords!!!!  I'm telling you!!!!’  Personally, I feel like I got the good traits of the Burfords and avoided the other traits and I turned out to be just about right!

Wathada’s notes: I knew my grandma about as well as Frances did.  But maybe she had a side to her character that neither Frances nor I ever suspected.  If she did, how dare her to poke our elbows with a fork if we got them onto the table.  And how dare her to make me wear shoes and socks all the time when all the other kids went barefooted.  And made us use the English language the way it's supposed to be, good grammar and all.  And made me stay in the house and embroider pillow cases when the boys were outside playing, and told me I didn't want to be outside playing with "those old boys", and me saying all the time that yes, I did too.  Made me set the table properly - I still do that to this day and cannot do it any other way.  Shoot, I even set our TV trays that way!  I still am haunted by her when I do something the wrong way - like using my bare hands to put a dish into the cupboard.  (You're supposed to hold it with one end of the dish towel as you put it away - when you dry the dishes you never touch them with your bare hands. ) When I do that, what runs through my mind is "ooooh, Grandma will get me for that!" That also runs through my mind at various other times too, but it doesn't bother me - it just seems kind of amusing.  Well, she tried to turn me into a lady. Didn't work real well, but I'm sure I'm better than I would have been without her influence.    Mama always said that Grandma liked me.  Well, I guess it's a good thing because since I've been talking to all my Burford cousins, I've heard some pretty hairy stories about her and the ones in the family that she didn't like.  

Wathada’s notes: Grandma loved her stepchildren. When I talked to Hazel's (Daddy's half-sister) daughter-in-law, she said Hazel had told her that they loved their stepmother.   She said she didn't have a lot of clothes when she was growing up, but that what she had was beautiful - much nicer than most little girls have.  She said Hazel specifically mentioned a beautiful skirt and a satin blouse she had when she was growing up.  I guess it must have been her favorite.  She said it was beautiful.  I know Grandma made the clothes she had and she was a very good seamstress and was famous for her quilting.  She was actually an artist at whatever kind of needlework she did. 

[Note: Alexander Burford had three children from his first marriage when he married Lora. His first wife died when the children were still young.]

PHOTO: Alexander and Helen Virginia Burford with their children Raymond, Edith, and Hazel.

* * *

The anecdotes in this post are from my book When We Were Irish, which is available in paperback and Kindle (ebook) versions on Amazon.

December 30

 Ulysses Fillmore Hicks was born 30 December 1886 

Shiloh Battlefield, Hardin County, Tennessee

Ulysses was my great-grandfather.

He was the son of John Henry Hicks and Malisa Evaline Burns Hicks

I honestly feel inadequate to properly honor Ulysses Hicks with a simple blog post. He was a most remarkable man. He and Annie were both remarkable people, and they reared 9 children who also fit that description. I was privileged to be able to know them while they were still living. Grandma and Papa Hicks and their offspring were the major influence in my life while I was growing up.

Ruby, Cleffie (my grandmother), Evalee, Vernell, Bernice, and Lowell, with their families, all lived near us in Berrien County, Michigan, during my childhood. Irene lived in Missouri, Elvin lived in California, Olan lived in Arkansas, so we didn't see them as often, although they did come to Michigan occasionally, or we went south to visit them. Elvin is the only one I don't have any memories of.

Here is what my great-grandmother Annie Arnold Hicks wrote in her memoirs:

I married Ulysses Hicks February 22, 1910.  

PHOTO: Ulys and Annie, George (Annie's brother) and Jessie Arnold. 1910.

We had ten children. The first (a boy) was born dead April 18,1911.  We were married February 22, 1910.  I would have been 17 years old February 25.  Ulys was 23 years old.  We spent the first year after we were married at Macon, Tennessee making a share crop, mostly cotton.  Then we came back to the hills in Arkansas and stayed one year, then moved to Judsonia, Arkansas where Ruby was born in 1912, and Ulys worked all winter in Judsonia, some at the cotton gin, and some for the dray man.  Then we moved to Bliss, Arkansas and Ulys went to teaching school again.  He taught one school before we were married.  He didn’t like school teaching very well, but he taught about 15 years at one place and another.  He taught in one room school houses with all eight grades.  

PHOTO: Crossroads School, 1915. Ulysses Hicks, teacher.

  In the fall of 1919, we moved back to Judsonia.  In February, 1920 Elvin was born.  Irene and Cleffie was born in the hills of Arkansas, close to Banner P.O.  We lived around Judsonia and Bald Knob till 1941 and we came to Michigan.  For several years before we came to Michigan, we had a photo studio and jewelry shop.  We made our living that way through the 1930’s (depression).  All through the depression there was a family of 10 of us.  Sometimes we hit it pretty hard, but we always had three meals a day somehow.  Quite a few people were in a poorer condition than we were.  We worked hard and managed, and got by O.K.

PHOTO: Ulys and Annie with their 9 children, Ruby's husband Arvil Barnett and daughter Oma Dell. 1930. 

  When we came to Michigan, we worked on a farm in 1941 and 1942.  In the fall of ’42 we got jobs in the shops and the children went to school at Bridgman, and we drove to Benton Harbor to work.   In the summer of 1943, we rented an apartment at 120 Sixth Street in Benton Harbor and stayed there six years.  In the meantime, in 1945 we bought a 20 acre farm about 20 miles south of Benton Harbor.  We rented the farm out for three years, then we moved on it and Ulys quit working in the shop but I kept working till 1953.  Ulys worked in the shop till 1948.  He got so disabled that we sold the farm and bought a house in Benton Harbor at 602 Empire.  He didn’t work any more, but I worked about two years more.  We bought the house in Benton Harbor the fall of 1951.

PHOTO: Ulys and Annie at the farm

PHOTO: Ulys and Annie at their house in Benton Harbor. 

This is where they lived during my childhood. Their daughter Bernice and her daughter Cindy lived in a little apartment they made for them in the upstairs part of the house after Bernice and her husband were divorced.

Annie and Ulys 1954

A few notes from Wathada (my mother):

When my grandparents, Ulysses “Ulys” and Annie hicks first moved to Bridgman, in Berrien county, Michigan in May 1942, they found there wasn’t a Church of Christ in all of southwestern Michigan...

 They found an ad in the newspaper (News Palladium in Benton Harbor) asking for anyone who was interested in starting a congregation of the Church of Christ... Ulys answered the ad, and he and four or five other men and their families started the Church of Christ in southwestern Michigan.  Ulys was a very good singer, so he led singing most of the time.  He taught a course every once in a while on reading and singing by shaped notes.  He was also a very good preacher.  He never “preached at” us, but he was a teacher, and he was so good at that.  Everyone loved to hear him preach. He used charts pretty often when he preached, so he could lead the congregation visually through his sermon. In 1952, there were so many people coming to church from Coloma, Watervliet, Hartford and that whole area, that they decided they needed to have a congregation in  that vicinity.   So with the blessings of the Benton Harbor congregation, we started having church in Watervliet.  Ulys was retired and he agreed to preach for the Watervliet congregation for one year, with no salary.  The congregation rented an apartment in Watervliet for Ulys and Annie to live in during that year.  

[On a personal note -- My parents lived in that same apartment when I was born.]

Ulysses Hicks passed away in 1965 at the age of 79 years. 

Annie Hicks passed away in 1972 at the age of 78 years. 

December 29

William Calvin Barnett married Alice Eldora Quattlebaum 29 December 1901

PHOTO: William Calvin Barnett

I don't have a picture of Dora Quattlebaum (I wish I did)

The Barnett family is entwined with the Hicks branch of our family tree in several ways (much like the Bullards and Tamsetts)

William Calvin Barnett's first wife was Mattie Oliver. They had two children - Nora and Iva. Mattie died in 1891.

William Calvin Barnett's second wife was Emma Harrel. They had three children - Gradie, Pearle and Earl (twins). Emma died in 1900.

Gradie Barnett was the mother of Mildred McKay, who married Elvin Hicks (brother of Ruby and Irene Hicks - see below)

PHOTO: Elvin and Mildred McKay Hicks

Earl Barnett married Luvena Prothro 

("Aint Loovenie" is how she was introduced to me when I met her, I was 5 years old.)

PHOTO: Back - Aunt Luvena, Wathada (my mother), Cleffie (my grandmother), Aunt Ruby (Cleffie's sister). Front - Me, Donna Kay and Mike Hawley (Aunt Ruby's grandchildren).

Aunt Ruby, Cleffie, Wathada and I went on a car trip from Michigan to Arkansas and Missouri to visit relatives. One of the places we went to was Aunt Luvena's house. We stayed overnight there. It was the first time in my life I had ever heard of -- much less, USED -- an outhouse. That's the main memory I have of the time I met Aunt Luvena Barnett. 

William Calvin Barnett's third wife was Dora Quattlebaum. They had eleven children - Everett, Vida, Arvil, Emmitt, Beral, Benny, Maudie, Golden, Orlan, Carvil A. (when I was a kid I thought this was one name - "Carvillay" I never heard anyone just call him Carvil), and Dennis.

Arvil (aka 'Jack') Barnett married my great-aunt Ruby Hicks

PHOTO: Arvil and Ruby Hicks Barnett

Golden Barnett (aka 'Doc') married Irene Hicks, sister of Ruby Hicks.

PHOTO: Jack and Ruby, Irene and Doc 

I don't remember ever meeting Maudie Barnett, but I do have a picture of her

I don't remember ever meeting Carvil A. Barnett, but I was surprised to find that he is buried in the Thomas Family Cemetery in Bangor, Michigan. 

The Thomas Family Cemetery was owned by my Dad's family. (Carvil A. is related on my mother's side of the family.)

December 28

James Madison Herdman married Cienda Brown 28 December 1873

Grace, Edna, Alta Herdman, daughters of James Madison Herdman

* * *

Marla Lee Hicks married Nathan Henderson 28 December 1998

Marla is the daughter of Clint and Janice Hicks

PHOTO: Clint and Marla Hicks

Clint is the son of Olan Hicks (brother of my grandmother Cleffie Hicks Burford)

PHOTO L-R: Vernell Hicks Leatherwood, Ruby Hicks Barnett, Marla, Aimee, Jack Barnett, Cleffie Hicks Burford, Matthew, Janice. This picture was taken on the front porch of Cleffie and Lester's house in Bald Knob, Arkansas, around 1980.

* * *

Molly Hicks was born 28 December 1982

PHOTO L-R: Melinda, Chad, Chuck, Molly Hicks

Molly is the daughter of Melinda and Chuck Hicks

Chuck is the brother of Clint Hicks (above) 

Chuck and Clint are sons of Olan Hicks (brother of my grandmother Cleffie Hicks Burford

* * *

Thomas Albert Nicholson was born 28 December 1884

PHOTO: Tom and Kizzie Nicholson

Tom was the father-in-law of Dulcie Mae Jackson.

I don't have a picture of Dulcie.

Dulcie was a daughter of Ben and Etta Arnold Jackson

Etta was a sister of my great-grandmother Annie Arnold Hicks

PHOTO: Annie, Adaline ("Ma") Arnold, Etta

* * *

William Limuel Phalamil Hamby died 28 December 1934, age 77

I don't have a picture of William. He was the husband of Leona Canzada Bullard

Leona was the daughter of George Bullard and his first wife Josephine Tamsett

George Bullard and his sister Peggy raised their nephew, my great-great-grandfather John Henry Arnold

December 27

Minerva Evalee Hicks Jones died 27 December 1995, age 73

Evalee was a sister of my grandmother Cleffie Hicks Burford

PHOTOS: Evalee and Cleffie

Evalee and Cleffie were daughters of my great-grandparents Ulysses and Annie Arnold Hicks.

Ulys and Annie had nine children (not counting the first baby boy who died at birth) - Ruby, Irene, Cleffie, Elvin, Evalee, Vernell, Olan, Bernice, and Lowell

PHOTO: Ulys, Annie, Ruby (1912)

PHOTOS: Ruby and Irene

PHOTOS: Ruby, Irene, and Cleffie (1917, 1918)

PHOTO: Annie, Ruby, Irene, Cleffie (1918)

PHOTO: Annie, Ruby, Irene, Cleffie, Elvin (1920)

PHOTO: Ruby, Irene, Cleffie, Elvin, Evalee (1922)

PHOTO: Cleffie, Elvin, Evalee (1922)

PHOTO: Ruby, Irene, Cleffie, Elvin, Evalee (1923)

PHOTO: Ulys, Annie, Ruby, Irene, Cleffie, Elvin, Evalee (1923)

PHOTO: Annie, Ruby, Irene, Cleffie, Elvin, Evalee (1924)

Left: Irene, Cleffie, Evalee, Vernell. Right: Irene, Cleffie, Elvin, Evalee, Vernell (and chickens) (1925)

PHOTO: Ulys, Annie, Ruby, Jack (Ruby's husband), Irene, Cleffie, Elvin, Evalee, Vernell, Olan, Oma Dell (Ruby's daughter), Bernice, Lowell (1930)

PHOTO: Ruby, Irene, Cleffie, Evalee, Vernell, Bernice 

PHOTO: Annie with her six daughters - (L-R) Ruby, Irene, Cleffie, Evalee, Vernell, Bernice

PHOTO: Ulys and Annie with all their children, on their 50th wedding anniversary (1960)

L-R: Ruby, Cleffie, Irene, Lowell, Elvin, Olan, Vernell, Evalee, Bernice