THE  HICKS  FAMILYBy Jewell Dukes Huddleston  Comanche Chief, Comanche TX July 6, 1978. "The Hicks clan of Comanche country has an interesting story that reaches back within some thirty-eight years of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence.It begins with the birth of Alfred Hicks on June 13, 1814; and his wife-to-be, Harriet Dover, on November 24, 1815.Immigrants from Europe and the British Isles were arriving daily in young America. The entire population of the nation was listed as some 8,000,000 souls around that date.Georgia, the setting for our story, was one of the original thirteen colonies and Alabama had not yet been admitted for statehood.Texas?   An unknown frontier.The thread of our story picks up again with the marriage of Alfred Hicks and Harriet Dover on September 2, 1832. The principal figure in our story, James Jarratt Hicks, was born to this union when the family was living in Cherokee County, Georgia.When young J.J. was around five years of age the family moved farther “west” to Whitfield County, near Dalton, Georgia.One of the near neighbors was the Redwine Family. A daughter, Sarah Ann, was born on July 22, 1836, and was destined to become the wife of James Jarratt.The young couple were married in the afternoon on October 15, 1857. The place of their marriage was recorded as “near Dalton.”As the young couple set about building their first home, the rumbling of strife between the North and the South grew louder.The War Between the States broke out and J.J. left his young wife and two-year-old son in 1862 to enlist in the Confederate Army. He was placed in the 60^th Georgia Infantry under General Stiles, who was succeeded by General J.B. Gordon.In a short time his regiment was sent North to serve under Stonewall Jackson. Hicks was in action at Chancellorsville on May 2-4, 1863, when Jackson was killed. The young Georgia farmer was spared none of the rigors of war. He was at Gettysburg, Fredricksburg, and Winchester. He was in the middle of the famous Shenandoah Valley campaign.He was wounded at Malvern Hill, losing a finger on his left hand. A two months furlough was granted him to recover from his wounds. Again the parting from his loved ones and the uncertainty of the outcome of the war was a traumatic experience.He fought his last battle at Lynchburg under Hunter. Captured by the Union Army in this conflict, he was taken North of the Ohio River and turned loose under promise to not return until the end of the war.His duties in the four years of service also included that of Lieutenant of a sharp-shooter brigade and as a scout behind enemy lines.In the meantime young Sarah struggled with the problems at home.All the able-bodied men had gone to war and it was up to the women to keep up the morale and the home front. She was waiting the return of her soldier-husband to take up their life again.The South was reeling from the devastation of the war. But the young couple continued to engage in farming there for some twelve more years. Finally, in 1877, stories of the West and opportunities for a new start tempted J.J. and Sarah to join a wagon train headed for Texas.The only people they knew in the area were the Cokers and Louis Redwines. Redwine was Sarah’s brother.On reaching Comanche County J.J. traded a mule for a 320-acre claim West of Round Mountain in what is now known as the Sidney community.But Hicks later understood the saying by Benjamin Franklin, “We are too soon old and too late smart.” Someone else had filed on the claim before he could refile and he wound up empty handed.But the family had not been idle in the meantime. They had built a log cabin and made a crop that first year. However, when autumn leaves fell, they were in such reduced circumstances they decided to take their seven children and return to Georgia.Money was so scarce and Sarah was expecting another child. The Georgia-bound wagon camped on the banks of the Brazos River one evening and saw the fields of snowy cotton all about them, ready for harvest. The family saw the opportunity and began to pick cotton. They not only survived, and baby Newt was born in Bosque County, but they managed to save $320 in cash. Again the plucky couple decided to give Comanche County another try, this time renting land from Chas. Campbell.Fortune smiled and the next year was a good year. After renting from Tom Holmsley, they bought 200 acres from the Holmsley estate for their first land in the new frontier.From then on the story grew better. 170 acres were added to the original 200 and Hicks Corner can into existence.When the older Hicks’ grandparents, Alfred and Harriet, joined the family in Texas is not recorded. However, the tax rolls show Alfred Hicks listed in 1882.Many of the early Texas settlers waited to see if they were “going to make a go of it” before sending back for elderly parents.Shiloh Cemetery, 6 miles to the southeast of Comanche, is the final resting place of Alfred and Harriet Dover Hicks. Well kept grounds and attractive fencing surrounds the final resting place of these pioneers.The large busy family followed the line-at-home pattern of the era. There were six sons to man the plows and keep the farm chores underway. At one time there were five rent houses on the Hicks estate. The daughters were busy with the household chores and the canning and preserving of food. There was never a dull moment around the place.As J.J. prospered he planned ahead for the good things of life for his family. In the absence of a railway to haul heavy freight, J.J. and his sons made a caravan of wagons to Waco for lumber for their first read home in the adopted state. Built in the Hicks Corner community, the original homestead still stands with dignity, its guardian chimneys at either end of the big house.This sturdy couple lived to share more than sixty-one years of wedded life together. There were twelve children born to this union, only one, Newt, was a native Texas.The children were: John W. Hicks, born in 1860; Mary, born in 1862; Lee, born in 1863; Henry, born in 1866; Matt, born in 1867; Dock, born in 1868; Hattie, born in 1871; and Newt, born in 1877.Two boys and two girls died in infancy, and an adopted son, Joe, was raised with the eight living children. (to be continued) THE HICKS FAMILYBy Jewell Dukes Huddleston  Comanche Chief, Comanche Texas  July 13, 1978 Memories of yesterday and twice-told tales are a cherished heritage that is passed on from generation to generation and the Hicks family is no exception to the rule. A story, well remembered yet, has been handed down in the family for more than a hundred years. It took place in Georgia. It was “the night the stars fell!” The story, as retold, frightened young James Jarratt and Sarah until they caught hands and ran to the nearest neighbors as the meteors flashed across the Southern sky until it seemed as thought the whole world was aflame. Some took the spectacular display as foretelling the end of the world and later disposed of all their worldly goods.Our own grandparents related to us the fantastic sight of “falling stars” as witnessed from their home near Oxford, Mississippi. A number of their neighbors wrapped themselves in white bed sheets and ran to a rise in the elevation of the bottom land to await the coming of Christ. Later, it was said, they came on back home, “when they got hungry.”Usually the meteor display may be seen, on a far lesser scale, on hot summer nights between midnight and dawn in July and August.Grandfather James J. could hold his audience spellbound as he related stories of the War Between the States in which his four years of service have him a first hand view.Today, in Oaklawn Cemetery here in Comanche, stands a memorial to the Confederate veterans of the county. True of all such memorials in the Deep South, the gray granite monument faces South and shows the Confederate flag draped on its standard with the olive branch of Peace engraved above.Erected in 1903, there were many of the Confederate veterans living in the county at that time.As each member of the family grew of age, one by one, the years added their toll to the elders. After the six sons were grown Grandfather James J. called them together to announce a decision he had made.As the seven Hicks men sat on the hillside overlooking the family place at Hicks Corner he divided the land between them.His final plans included the building of another home, this one in Comanche, one mile east of the court house on East Grand.The original lines of the house, which still stands, was finished with the gingerbread trim and gabled roof. The pillared porches afforded a pleasant shade for visiting grandchildren.The spacious yard extended the width of the block. Fruit trees, bearing peaches, apples and plums, vied for space with the grape and berry vines.Flowers of yesteryear that bloomed on the grounds were roses, phlox, petunia, daises, morning glories and many other old favorites.The interior of the big house gave ample space for family gatherings. The floor to ceiling windows were draped and a handsome peacock tail feather fan hung the length of a window, more for eye appeal than for practical use.The floors were carpeted throughout for warmth and comfort. In later years an electric range was added to the kitchen, but the faithful wood-burning stove was still pressed into service on big occasions.Christmas was the highlight of the year. This topped anniversaries, birthdays, and weddings, and “everyone” was present.The fat layered cakes had been cooked ahead of time and stored in the deep ice box for keeping until Christmas Day. The turkeys were baked and the wing and tail feathers carefully saved for making a fan. This was laid by the hearth to fan the fire when kindling the morning blaze. Then the highlight of the day finally came to pass.Grandfather James J. would bring in a wooden crate of fruit, open the end of the container with his claw hammer, then sit astride the crate as each and everyone marched by.The price of the Christmas fruit was a kiss on his cheek! He would say, “Who wants fruit?” “Give me a kiss!” “No kiss, no fruit!”In the meantime Grandmother Sarah had opened a large wooden bucket of candy, filled her tying-on apron from the bucket, and took her stand near Grandfather. After each and everyone had taken part in the sentimental rite, the then the elderly couple would exchange a kiss and goodies.One amusing memory from boyhood days was told by a grandson. Grandfather had brought in a wooden box of dried prunes. Two of the grandsons took the box, slipped to a bedroom and hid under a bed to eat their fill. Neither cared for prunes, dried or cooked, after that.Surely the most unusual story in the family history in the 67 years that elapsed in the lives to Newt Hicks and his wife, Annie Pendland Hicks, without a death in their family or a death in the family of any of their in-laws. Grandmother Hicks passed away first on July 5, 1919, some few days before her 83^rd birthday.Grandfather Hicks lived on some seven years more after her death. He made his last home with the youngest son, Newt, in the Newburg community, passing away on November 28, 1926 at the age of 87 years.James Jarratt Hicks and Sarah Redwine Hicks are buried in Oaklawn Cemetery. Their final resting place is marked with a double monument of gray Georgia marble. Engraved on the monument over his name is the emblem of the Royal Arch Mason of which he was a member. Over Sarah’s name is the emblem of the Order of Amarantha, the corresponding unit for women. The amaranthus flower is described as “unfading”. Surely a goodly description of the memories of this union."