Skeeter's Family: The Hicks Side of My Tree

My mother’s side of the family hails from rural South Carolina. She told me she was born in Fork, SC, and that it no longer existed. It appears to have been incorporated into what is now the city of Marion. I do still find records that list Fork as a modern location. My family that lives in SC say it’s not there any longer. I do know that there is a Fork Baptist Cemetery, and many of my family are buried there. Mom claimed it got its name because it was located at a fork in the road.

According to my genealogy software (Family Tree Maker), Fork is at the intersection of Highway 41 and Colon Drive, just a bit northeast of where Highways 57 and 41 meet.

Her dad, Talmadge Whitaker Hicks was a tobacco farmer. As far as I can tell, the entire Hicks line were farmers. They spent so much time outdoors in the fields that many census records list them as mulatto. But I’m open to the possibility that there may be some mixed marriages. That doesn’t bother me at all.

I don’t have as many stories for my mom’s family. I only saw them when we went to SC for summer vacations. I remember one visit; I was maybe 7 or 8. It’s my only memory of my maternal grandmother, Dora Hicks nee Calder. On that trip I had to sleep on a foldup cot, in the kitchen. And it was hot. So very, very hot.

But my fondest memory of that trip was playing with my cousins Mike and Dianne outside after it rained. There was no grass in what would have been the yard, just red clay. After splashing around in the puddles our lower bodies were covered in mud. My mom was furious! She made the three of us sit in separate chairs and not talk to each other. My skin on my bare legs was stiff with the coating and my cousins and I couldn’t stop laughing about it. Mom would come back into the room and tell us to hush, but Grandma Hicks just laughed and told her to leave us alone.

I guess if that’s my only memory of Grandma Hicks, it’s a good one to have. I do have a few more stories about my family in SC. But they will have to wait for another post.

Here’s their family tree.

SVG Family Tree TreeHicks-Calder