Hicks Family Archive, TN

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Historic Southern Summer Auction

By Case Auctions

Jul 30, 2016 - Jul 31, 2016

Set Reminder 2016-07-30 09:00:00 2016-07-31 09:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Historic Southern Summer Auction https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/case-antiques/historic-southern-summer-auction-1593
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• Lot Description
  An extensive archive of material related to the family of Edward Dickson Hicks II, Edward Dickson Hicks III and Edward Dickson Hicks IV of Devon Farm, Nashville, Tennessee. The archive covers the men and their families over a time period from roughly 1850-1960, with the majority of ephemera dating from 1865, when Edward Dickson Hicks II (1831-1894) inherited the property from his aunt Fanny Harding and began raising Devon Farm cattle. The archive includes several hundred letters, many in original envelopes with postage stamps; dozens of postcards; several hundred receipts for furnishings, farm purposes, and services such as tuition of children from tutors and the Shelby Female Insititute (many on decorative letterhead of late 19th-early 20th century Nashville establishments); approximately 1 dozen land documents including deeds/indentures; broadside for the sale of Ed Hicks property Grassland, 12 miles southwest of Nashville; 50 to 100 photographs of family members, many identified verso, including an 8" x 10" print of Hunter Giers Hicks greeting First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt outside a train (the two ladies were said to have been friends), a photograph of Hunter Giers Hicks as a baby with her nurse Minnie, taken by her father, noted Nashville photographer Otto Giers, and scenes of cattle and farm life. 7 small notebooks/journals are present, including Ed Hicks account of his visit to the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exhibition in New Orleans in 1885 and his expenditures; 1858 savings deposit book; 1866 diary with mostly farm related entries; a circa 1868 account book; an 1849 school notebook; "Mrs. Hicks'" (probably Mary Ann White Hicks or Harriet Cockrill Hicks) 1903-1905 journal with entries, mostly personal, but including an eclipse in Africa "visible in America at daylight,", seeing a ferris wheel, yellow fever epidemic in New Orleans, creating "anxiety throughout the South"; peace between Russia and Japan - "Roosevelt is a peace maker;" and a 1907-1909 diary likely also from Mrs. Hicks, opens with "Today President Roosevelt arrived at nine o'clock and one grand __ was given him. He spoke at the Auditorium and then went to the Hermitage to visit the tomb of Andrew Jackson." Includes some newspaper clippings, poems and other notes in the back. Other notable items in the archive include: Holy Bible, printed London 1853 by Eyre & Spottiswoode (no family info); ephemera related to Ed Hicks II's role as administrator for the estate of John Davis c. 1853-1854; a 1856 "Phrenological Character" report on E.D. Hicks given at Fowler and Wells Phrenological Cabinet in New York ("You have a comparatively tough and enduring constitution, but have the appearance of having lived in a bad climate or having engaged in some occupation that was too confining for health, and have thus apparently run down..." ); 1857 letter commissioning Edward Hicks as delegate to the Southern Commercial Convention in Knoxville on orders of Gov. Andrew Anderson; Appointment signed by Governor Alvin Hawkins appointing Ed Hicks Fish Commissioner for Middle Tennessee, 1862; survey map of land along the Harpeth, possibly Devon Farm; plot of a field belonging to Jas. Greer, "Surveyed by Ed Hicks May 20, 1872 His first survey for which he received $1.30"; Broadside/advertisement for the Hurricane Mills Woolen Mills in Waverly, TN dated 1868; ephemera related to Hicks' role in the Nashville Commercial Insurance Co including an 1868 telegram: "Our store was burned last night send an agent immediately," signed J.M. White & Co. of Dresden, TN; an 1875 booklet titled Nashville Fire Alarm Telegraph Signal Stations; Emma Hicks' autograph book with tipped in Victorian lithographed illustrations, circa 1892, containing approximately 50 autographs of young ladies; an 1891 secretarial signed letter from Gov. John P. Buchanan to Ed Hicks expressing regret at not being able to attend a meeting of the University of Nashville board of trustees; letter from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture commissioning Ed Hicks to collect samples of grain for the World's Columbian Exhibition in 1893; a softcover book, "Information for Immigrants concerning Middle Tennessee and counties in that Division traversed by The Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis Railway, published 1896 in Nashville and picturing "Hicks Cattle Farm, Davidson County"; wallet stamped E.D. Hicks Jr. (III) with hunting/fishing license and other various cards etc inside; newspaper obituary clippings and some family genealogy information; ephemera related to the Dobson-Hicks Seed Company, late 19th to early 20th century; 4 letters dated 1957 related to Ed Hicks service on the Nashville Metropolitan Charter Commission; and 2 personal letters from Gov. Buford Ellington including one expressing sadness at Ed Hicks' death in 1962. (Higher-resolution photos are available at www.caseantiques.com)

  Condition

  Most items in good condition with expected toning, light handling grime, some tears to fold lines on earlier paper items and corner chips on photographs. A few documents exhibit chew losses. Several 19th century envelopes are worn with holes. Due to the large number of items in this archive, a personal examination is advised if you are planning to bid.
• Shipping Info

  • Buyer Pays Shipping Cost – Buyers are responsible for making shipping arrangements through our recommended shippers or a shipper of their choice. For shipping estimates, contact these shippers with the lot number(s) or a shipper of your choice. Our recommended shippers follow:
    • Package Manager of Knoxville, 865-584-3000, info@packagemanager.net (The Manager is Gwynn)
    • The UPS Store of Northshore Knoxville, 865-951-2499, store6461@theupsstore.com (The Manager is Jonathan)
    • The UPS Store of Lenoir City, 865-988-5526, auction4526@theupsstore.com (The Manager is John)
    • The UPS Store of Downtown Knoxville, 865-584-0081, store2630@theupsstore.com (The Manager is Nathan).

     

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