~ IN MEMORY OF ~

James Guinn Hickey, Pvt.

Many thanks to Mark Bennett of Maryville, TN for this photo of his great-great-great-great-grandfather!

Public Domain, but please include this site in your sources.

VITAL STATS
b 13 May 1836 Macon CO, NC d 6 Jan 1916 Turtletown, Polk CO, TN per pension file & tombstone in Turtletown Cem inscribed for J. G. Hickey, member Shoal Creek Lodge 518 AF & AM
m 20 Jan 1859 Fannin CO, GA by Solomon Stansbury, JP to
Ruth Jane Voyles b ca 1841 TN d 7 Mar 1917 buried Friendship Bapt Church Cem, Suit, Cherokee CO, NC
dau of Amariah "Old Rock" & Martha Voyles of Persimmon Creek, Cherokee CO, NC

Pension claim was filed 10 Oct 1882 claiming service in Capt Goldman Bryson's Union Volunteers in 1863 and in 3rd TN MTD INF REGT in 1864. Residences listed were Turtletown, Polk CO, TN and England's Point, as well as Suit and Letitia in Cherokee CO, NC. James G. Hickey was once a postmaster at Letitia, NC. His attorney was John Rolen, Murphy, NC. Pension was granted at $8 per month from 10 Oct 1882, increased to $12 on 8 Apr 1891, to $17 on 7 Aug 1905, to $20 on 24 May 1911, and finally to $21 on 3 Jun 1912. His widow was granted a pension at $12 per month from 20 Jan 1915 and increased to $20 on 8 Sept 1916. The original pension certificates of this couple are in the pension file in the National Archives.

Their children listed were as follows:
William Harrison Hickey b 17 Jun 1860
Martha D. Hickey b 27 Mar 1862
Enoch L. Hickey b 8 Jan 1864
Isabella C. Hickey b 15 Oct 1866
James B. Hickey b 23 Nov 1868
Thomas Decatur Hickey b 22 Aug 1870
Samuel M. Hickey b 22 Mar 1874
George Leander Hickey b 9 Jul 1879
John R. Hickey b 18 Nov 1881

Nora Hickey McNabb, wife of Burton McNabb (who was a son of David T. McNabb and grandson of Edmund McNabb of Cherokee County, NC), wrote that James Guinn Hickey married Martha Voiles. They had the following children: Harrison, Enoch, Martha Stewart, Billie Martin, James Florence, Decatur, and Sam Hickey. She went on to say that James Guinn Hickey was the most religious man that she had ever known and that he was a strong believer in a good education. He wrote in a good hand and had a brother that lived in Blue Ridge, GA. Nora was the daughter of Thomas Decatur Hickey and Sarah Jane Taylor.

Gladys Hickey Cook, daughter of Samuel Newton Hickey and Phoebe McNabb Hickey, wrote of her grandfather James Guinn Hickey as follows:

He was a soldier and so were his twin brothers. All three were taken prisoner in or near Murphy, NC. About four o'clock one morning, the brothers were hanged by the feet with their heads in the water. There was turmoil going on in the jail and grandfather was able to escape. He was eventually taken in by a family named Voyles (also Viles). They were of Spanish descent. He married the oldest daughter, Martha. My mother said that she was a "strong-willed" person and that grandfather was a kind, soft-spoken person. I've been told that grandfather Hickey and his two brothers came from Ireland and that in Ireland their name was O'Hickey, but in America they did as many others of that name -- they omitted the "O". I know there was error about my grandfather Hickey in the Cherokee County Heritage. It was stated that he was born and reared in another county near Cherokee County but gives no account at all of his family. Some didn't want anyone to know that he was from Ohio -- Yankee territory.

by
Mark McNabb
Marietta, GA
Public Domain, but please include this site in your sources