Bert Hickmott is my great-grandfather. Relatively little is known about his life, but what is known paints a sad picture. He was born on February 6, 1877 in New Haven Township, Shiawassee County, Michigan, the son of Stephen Hickmott and Eliza Powell.

Bert would marry my great-grandmother Anna Wortman on August 22, 1900. Bert and Anna would go on to have 8 known children – although 3 died as infants (stillborn or just a few days). The family wasn’t doing so well financially when Anna died on February 2, 1914 just 5 days after giving birth to a daughter who was a stillborn. Anna couldn’t stop bleeding, which is what caused her death. Because of the financial situation, after Anna’s death, the children were removed from the household, and as far as I can tell, never saw their father again. One of those children, my grandfather, Raymond, searched most of his adult life for his siblings and found all but one.

Bert would marry again. On April 15, 1917 he married Mary E. Love in Corunna. Mary would die on May 5, 1920. They did not have any children as far as I have found. Bert quickly found another wife, Helen Brass, as they were married on August 8, 1920. I have not found evidence that Bert and Helen had children either.

Bert would die on November 12, 1932 in St. Johns, Michigan of pneumonia. He is buried in Riverside Cemetery in Elsie – an unmarked grave. Helen died a few years later on January 24, 1938 and is also buried in Riverside Cemetery – again an unmarked grave.  Presumably they are buried next to each other.