~ IN MEMORY OF ~
~ IN MEMORY OF ~
Roy was a brother of John Lafayette and George Britton Hickey, members of Capt Goldman Bryson's CO of Union Volunteers, captured on 24 Oct 1863 and hung by their feet from a bridge near Murphy, NC. CSA Capt George Gailor Bristol of 39th NC INF, CSA, was responsible.
b ? d 10 Mar 1882 Polk CO, TN of consumption (TB) per pension claim, govt tombstone inscribed for "H. L. Hickey" at Liberty Bapt Church Cem, Liberty, Cherokee CO, NC with no dates
m 17 Sep 1868 Polk CO, TN to
Mrs. Sarah Emeline Ray
(formerly Mrs. Patrick W. W. Ray, who d 28 Apr 1863 at Chattanooga, TN)
b 1843 d 6 Jul 1935 Blue Ridge, GA buried Copperhill, Polk CO, TN
dau of Morgan Dehart & Jane Morrow per death certificate
issue:
1 John L. Hickey b 8 Jul 1869
2 Victoria C. Hickey b 10 Apr 1872
3 Eliza Hickey b 18 Feb 1876 m Mr. Standridge, lived Chatsworth, Murray CO, GA
4 Ulysses Hickey b 22 Aug 1878
5 Harley P. Hickey b 8 Jan 1881
On 20 Oct 1886, a widow's pension was finally granted after a long, involved investigation into the case by A. B. Casselman, Special Pension Examiner of Asheville, NC. Mrs. Hickey received his back payments of $4 per mo from 1 Dec 1864 to his death as well as $8 per mo from 10 Mar 1882 in widow's pension. Pension was increased to $12 per mo on 19 Mar 1886, to $20 per mo on 8 Sep 1915, and to $40 per mo on 4 Jun 1920. Rep. Sam D. McReynolds of Chattanooga, TN secured approval of a Special Act to raise her pension to $50 per mo on 17 Feb 1931.
Casselman was first informed by James Gwinn Hickey, Roy's brother from England's Point, Cherokee CO, NC, that Roy Hickey had always been a "diseased man." This was volunteered by Gwinn Hickey who referred Casselman to John Underwood of Murphy, NC for further information. Underwood testified 18 Oct 1888, and his testimony was confirmed by another brother Robert C. Hickey, age 60.
On 8 Nov 1882, James Voyles made an affidavit before Samuel W. Davidson, JP of Murphy, NC, claiming that he knew Henry LeRoy or Roy L. Hickey before the war and that his sister Ruth Voyles had married Hickey's brother. He claimed Hickey was a sound and healthy man before entering the Union Army in 1864. About a month before discharge, Hickey began to complain of pains in his breast and bowels. He saw Hickey after discharge in late 1864, and Hickey looked unhealthy and took medicine. James Voyles and Hickey were in the same Union Army company and lived nearby in Sweetwater, TN. Later they were neighbors in Cherokee CO, NC after the war. He said if Hickey had been ill before the war he would have known it. Voyles made another deposition in March 1890 repeating prior claims.
The Captain of CO G 3rd TN MTD INF, USA Enoch Voyles, younger brother of James, made a deposition saying that he knew Roy Hickey before and after the war. Roy's brother James Gwinn Hickey had married his sister Ruth Voyles. Enoch said Roy Hickey was sick and in bad health before entering the army and was sick the whole time he served. His counter testimony was adverse to the widow's claims.
James G. Hickey's testimony supported Enoch Voyles, but he added that he heard rumors of the widow living in adultery with Monroe Taylor. Upon cross-examination by Squire Ledford, the widow's designated attorney, James Hickey admitted making threats to stop a widow's pension unless she paid him $25 for assistance in acquiring her pension. Squire Jackson Ledford had served as Fifer in CO A, Walker's Battalion, 29th NC INF, CSA.
Mrs. Roy Hickey signed a statement that she had given "a present" of $50 to Squire Andrew Jackson Kilpatrick for assistance in getting a pension. She claimed that Kilpatrick did not charge her anything for his services. Also, she had paid Dr. Columbus F. Walker $105 for his services at the rate of $2 per day for "getting up evidence" in her case, plus $60 for her husband's doctor bill, totaling $165. She testified that she knew her husband only six months prior to marriage and knew nothing of his health or military service except what she heard from others. She said both she and Monroe Taylor had withdrawn membership in Shoal Creek Church (now Liberty Bapt) when members began to gossip about their living in adultery.
Mrs. Hickey denounced John Underwood as a corn thief who had fled the county to avoid prosecution as she had been told by Squire Jackson Ledford. N. J. (Jud) Pinkerton of England's Point said that he heard Underwood admit stealing corn; and after leaving the county, Underwood was caught in a steel trap set for him in a corn crib.
John Davis of Persimmon Creek, Cherokee CO, NC testified that he knew LeRoy Hickey long before the war, that "we were playmates" and that LeRoy was a sound, stout and healthy man before the war.
Henry C. Culberson, aged 38, a merchant and postmaster at Culberson, NC, testified that he had known the widow about 12 to 15 yrs. He had formerly sold goods on Shoal Creek and had moved Mrs. Hickey and her household goods to Culberson with his team and wagon. He said he had heard that she and Monroe Taylor "had been turned out of Shoal Creek for living in adultery" but he had no knowledge of this. He did not believe these rumors and gossip and considered her a respectable woman.
Sheriff J. M. Collins of Cherokee CO, NC, aged 45 and a resident of Culberson, swore in a deposition on 7 Mar 1890 that during the last year he had lived within 100 yds of Sarah Hickey's house and had never observed any misconduct between the widow and Monroe Taylor who boarded there. Furthermore, in the spring term of 1890, the grand jury of Superior Court in Murphy had summoned Peyton Jones and Elijah Montgomery and inquired into charges against Sarah Hickey and Monroe Taylor but returned no indictment. Sheriff Collins' testimony closed the case.
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