George Hicks Family History for Genealogy Purposes

Learn more about the George Hicks family which lived in the New York and Saginaw, Michigan, areas from the late 1800s to early 1900s. This article assembles various on-line resources to assist his descendants and genealogy researchers. Although these individuals have passed away over 70 years ago, this article will share their story with the world.

Mr. George James Hicks was born on March 8, 1874, in Haversfordwest, South Wales. When he was a young man he emigrated to the United States. Eventually he settled in Saginaw, Michigan, working as a dairy farmer and a baking machinery executive.

In fact, George played a crucial role in Saginaw's history with regard to the baking industry. During the 1893 World's Fair, a man named Hermann Werner showed the Werner and Pfleiderer line of baking machines with great success. He established a factory in Saginaw, Michigan, soon thereafter. However, at the outbreak of WWI much of the company was confiscated due to its ties to German ownership. George Hicks saved the baking factory in January, 1919, by writing a letter to Mr. F.C. Ihlee about a pending sale of the factory. This triggered a series of arrangements for Mr. E.H. Gilpin and Mr. Ihlee to come to Saginaw and buy the baking factory.

In 1897, George Hicks married Belle S. Rice. She was born in Carmel, New York, on March 22, 1872. She taught school in New York and later lived in Saginaw, Michigan. She died on April 2, 1938, from peritonitis, and was buried on April 5. She attended Michigan Ave. Baptist Church. Only two days after her burial her husband also died, but of pneumonia. He was buried on April 9, 1938.

George and Belle Rice's head stone is located in the Oakwood Cemetery in Saginaw, Michigan, off of Gratiot Road. They are buried in section 86, lot 84B in the Southeast corner.

Another family member, James R. Hicks, was buried with George and Belle. His name was James R. Hicks. He was born in 1827 in Gloucester, England, where he served in the English army for 40 years. He moved to New York in 1888, presumably with George Hicks. George would have been 14 years old at the time. James lived a full life to the age of 86 when he died from La Grippe, or influenza, in Saginaw, Michigan. He was buried on January 12, 1913.

Do you ever wonder about the families that are commemorated in cemeteries? Have you used this information for a genealogy search?