“Father of Twice 13 – Sudden Death Deprives a Large Family of Its Head – Dead Man Born A Slave” - - Henry Hicks, an old colored resident of this neighborhood, dropped dead Sunday forenoon at his home 6 miles southeast of town east of the Pleasant Valley school. He was a large man weighing about 250 pounds and he died from heart disease. Born a slave 63 years ago (born ~1846) in Platte County, Missouri, he was married in early life and 13 children were born to the union, 3 of whom are still living. When his wife died, he married a second time and again he became the father of 13 children and not a death has decimated this progeny. The youngest child is 4 months old and the oldest is not yet of age. They are all living at home. The family had accumulated some personal property so they are not destitute, and the older boys have been trained to work. Funeral services were deferred until yesterday forenoon to enable some of the older children to get here from distant points. Interment was in the cemetery at Summit.
Date(s) of Creation
12/23/1909
Other Names and Numbers
Other Names
Name Type
Enslaved
Other Name
Henry
Name Type
Free Blacks
Other Name
Hicks, Henry
Other Numbers
Number Type
Source Citation
Other Number
The Tonganoxie Mirror (Tonganoxie, KS, 1882-1945): 12/23/1909, p. 5
