Milledgeville to Lockbourne
Fred Hicks had moved up in the ranks from a private in training at Tuskegee and was now a Staff Sergeant in the US Air Force. Born in Milledgeville, Georgia, Fred Hicks grew up in Akron, Ohio.
On January 1, 1912, Fred Hicks, the son of Willow and Hampton Hicks, was born in Milledgeville, Georgia. His older brother was Richard, and his baby sister was Cherry. At a young age, the Hicks family left Milledgeville to seek more opportunities in Akron, Ohio. Every place has its good and bad aspects. I am sure there were good and decent people, places and times in Milledgeville. I’m still looking to see what the Black life in Milledgeville was like at that time. Here are a couple of excerpts from the Milledgeville newspapers:
“An Old Negro Fell Dead Last Sunday Afternoon”
Major Harris, an antebellum negro dropped dead on the farm of Mr. HN Hurst last Sunday afternoon about 6 miles from the city. He was a hard- working old negro and had many friends among the white people.
“Negro Was Acquitted”
In the commitment trial here Monday morning, Lee Hill was charged with the killing of Arthur Roberson near County Line negro church last April. The defendant was acquitted on the grounds of self-defence. He was represented by Hines & Vinson, and the state was represented by Solicitor J. D. Howard.
Most news articles about ‘negroes” in Milledgeville around the early 1900’s only mentioned crime and killings committed. No other types of articles were printed.
In Akron, the promise of opportunity and a place to rejoin other members of the Hicks family that had already settled there was the motivation for Willow and Hampton to move their young family to Akron.
