My great-grandmother Anna Wortman was born on October 11, 1876, probably in Dryden, Lapeer County, Michigan. I say probably because that is where her parents, John T. Wortman and Eleanora D. Gibbs were living at the time, although I have not actually found her birth record yet.

Anna’s life was a hard one and filled with sadness. When she was not quite 2 years old, her father John T. Wortman died in March 1878. Her mother Ella would re-marry in August of 1879 a man by the name of John Henry Hand. Her step-father would die in January 1891. Her mother did not re-marry after that and would die a widow in August 1914.

Anna would marry George Conklin on March 25, 1899. The marriage was short lived however, as they divorced on January 16, 1900. George was quite a bit older than Anna as he was 55 years old when they married while Anna was just 22 years old. Coincidentally, George would end up dying on April 22, 1914 – just a couple of months after Anna.

Anna wasn’t alone long after her divorce from George. She married my great-grandfather, Bert Hickmott, on August 22, 1900. This must have been a better marriage for her despite financial and emotional hardships as she and Bert were together until her death on February 2, 1914.

Anna had been pregnant 8 times and 5 of the children survived. The first child, a boy, was stillborn on May 5, 1901. The second child, a girl, was born on February 15, 1902 and died the next day.

Then Anna had 5 successful births in a row – Charles in 1903, Raymond in 1904, Kenneth in 1908, Della in 1911 and John in 1913. Her last child, a baby girl died in-utero on January 26, 1914. Anna never recovered from that birth, passing away 5 days later at the age of 37 years.

After her death, the children were taken from Bert because of the financial situation. My grandfather searched most of his adult life for his siblings and found all but one.

Stephen Hickmott was born July 27, 1823 in Horsmonden, County Kent, England. He immigrated to the United States in May of 1851, landing first in New York City and then migrated to Avon Township, Oakland County, Michigan. He was a passenger on the ship Wisconsin that set sail from London on May 20, 1851. He was reportedly a carpenter at this time. Stephen immigrated with his brother James. Another brother, William also immigrated, but he came on a different ship landing in a different area with his family. Stephen and James were single at the time of their immigration.

In April of 1856, he petitioned to become a naturalized citizen of the United States. The immigration process at the time required a 5 year wait after the initial application, but so far no other naturalization records have been found for Stephen. It could be that he had applied initially in New York when he arrived, and the document found in 1856 in Oakland County, Michigan was in reality the “final” paperwork, but I haven’t been able to determine that. Regardless, in 1900 he reported himself as a naturalized citizen.

In August of 1859, Stephen married Eliza J. Powell in Avon Township. The entry is found at the bottom of the page and continued on the top of the next page of the Michigan County Marriage Records 1822-1940 book for Oakland County.

Sometime between 1860 and 1870, Stephen moved his new family to New Haven in Shiawassee County. The community is just north of Owosso. Eliza died there on September 15, 1894. Stephen died on March 15, 1910 in Chesaning in Saginaw County Michigan. He is buried in West Haven Cemetery in New Haven, Shiawassee County, Michigan next to his wife.