Edith Martha Burgess Hickman was my husband’s paternal Great Grandmother. She was born 28 January 1885 in Springfield, Oregon. Her parents were the farmer, Charles Burgess and his wife Rachel Lucinda Williams. In 1892 we find Edith in the Washington State and Territorial Census together with her parents and her siblings. They lived in Stevens County, Washington.
Her father, Charles, is 47 years old, he is a farmer and he was born in Kentucky. Her mother, Rachel, is 39 years old, a housekeeper and she was born in Missouri. Her brother S. H. was 20 years old, a farmer and he was born in Kansas. Her sister Rettie was 16 years old and she was born in Iowa. Her sister Annie was 14 years old and she was also born in Iowa. Her sister F. was 12 years old and she was also born in Iowa. Her brother Charles was 10 years old and he was the last child born in Iowa. Next came Edith at 7 years old and she was born in Oregon. The last child, a sister, M., was only 1 year old and she was born in Washington.
Eight years later in the 1900 Federal Census, Edith was the oldest of her sibling living at home and going to school.
Her father Charles was now 56, her mother Rachel was 46, Edith was 15, her sister Myrtle was 9, her brother Lee was 8, and her youngest sister, Pearl, was now 6 years old. The family lived in Lake Creek, Stevens County, Washington. Six years later, on 11 July 1906, Edith got married to my husband’s Great Grandfather Ed Hickman near Colfax, Whitman County, Washington.
Edith and her husband Ed received a generous gift from her father in law, Henry Hickman. Henry was a very successful farmer and business man in Whitman County. I will write about him in another post.
Ed and Edith are in the 1910 Federal Census. They lived in the city of Almota, which is nowadays a ghost town. Back in the day Almota was an important wheat shipping point during the days of river navigation.
Census records can be a great genealogical source, however one always has to be careful to double check facts and dates. According to this census, Edith’s parents were born in Oregon which we know is incorrect. Her father was born in Kentucky and her mother in Missouri. You never know who gave the information to the census taker.
Ed and Edith had two children together, a son, Lloyd born in 1912 and my husband’s Grandmother, Lucille born in 1916. A picture of the children below.
Edith Burgess Hickman died 7 May 1928 in the St. Ignatius Hospital in Colfax, Washington. She was only 43 years old. She is buried in the Onecho Cemetery.
Genealogy Is An Adventure 