Seven births in thirteen years

When I first wrote about my great-grandmother Anna Wortman in 2018, I knew the basic facts of her life. What I did not yet understand was the order of her children, the circumstances of her death, or what happened to the family afterward.

Those details turn a timeline into a story.

Anna E. Wortman was born 10 October 1876 in Dryden, Lapeer County, Michigan, the daughter of John T. Wortman and Eleanora D. Gibbs.¹ Her father died when she was very young, and she grew up in a widowed household.²

On 25 March 1899 she married George Conklin in New Haven Township, Shiawassee County.³ The marriage ended in divorce less than a year later, on 16 January 1900.⁴

She married again on 22 August 1900, this time to Bert Hickmott.⁵ That second marriage would define the rest of her life.

---

The children, in the order they came

Anna’s first experience with motherhood ended in loss.

A baby born 5 May 1901 lived only briefly.⁶
Another, born 15 February 1902, survived just one day.⁷

Then came five children who lived:

• Charles Frank Hickmott, born 15 January 1903 in Owosso⁸
• Raymond L. Hickmott, born 15 October 1904 in Gratiot County⁹
• Kenneth Hickmott, born 2 August 1909¹⁰
• Della Hickmott, born 25 May 1911¹¹
• John Hickmott, born 4 January 1913 in Owosso¹²

In thirteen years of marriage, Anna carried seven pregnancies to term.

The eighth ended in tragedy.

On 26 January 1914 she delivered a stillborn child.¹³ The hemorrhage that followed never stopped, and she died in Owosso on 2 February 1914 at the age of thirty-seven.¹⁴ She was buried there two days later.¹⁵

---

Five children without a mother

At the time of Anna’s death, her surviving children ranged in age from eleven years old to one year old.

Their father was unable to keep them.

The family’s circumstances had fallen into such poverty that the children were taken from Bert and placed in other homes. The five brothers and sister who had been born into the same household were separated.

Raymond, as an adult, searched for them.

He found Charles.
He found Kenneth.
He found Della.

But he never found his youngest brother.

---

John becomes Donald

That youngest child had been born John Hickmott on 4 January 1913.¹²

After Anna’s death he was raised by Anna’s half-sister. In that home his name was changed, and he grew up as Donald Riopelle — a different surname, a different identity, and a different story from the one his brothers and sister knew.

The separation was so complete that Raymond’s search never reached him.

---

What those thirteen years hold

From her marriage in August 1900 to her death in February 1914, Anna’s life was measured in pregnancies, births, and children to care for.

Two babies lost at the beginning.
Five children who lived.
One stillbirth that took her life with it.

Seven living children were never gathered around her at the same time.
Five children grew up without her.
And the family she created was scattered almost immediately after she was gone.

---

Looking at her again

The earlier blog post told me who Anna was.

The records — and the stories that survived in the next generation — tell me what her life cost.

She was thirty-seven years old.
She had been married not quite fourteen years.
Everything that came after her — every Hickmott, every Rivers descendant in this line — exists because of those years.

And because she did not survive the last one.

---

Sources

1. Michigan birth record, Anna E. Wortman, 10 Oct 1876, Dryden, Lapeer County.
2. Michigan death record, John T. Wortman, 11 Mar 1878, Dryden, Lapeer County.
3. Shiawassee County, Michigan, marriage record, Anna Wortman and George Conklin, 25 Mar 1899.
4. Shiawassee County, Michigan, divorce record, Anna Wortman and George Conklin, 16 Jan 1900.
5. Shiawassee County, Michigan, marriage record, Anna Wortman and Bert Hickmott, 22 Aug 1900.
6. Michigan birth and death record, unnamed Hickmott child, 5 May 1901, New Haven Township.
7. Michigan birth and death record, unnamed Hickmott child, 15–16 Feb 1902, New Haven Township.
8. Michigan birth record, Charles Frank Hickmott, 15 Jan 1903, Owosso.
9. Michigan birth record, Raymond L. Hickmott, 15 Oct 1904, Elba Township, Gratiot County.
10. Michigan birth record, Kenneth Hickmott, 2 Aug 1909, Genesee County.
11. Michigan birth record, Della Hickmott, 25 May 1911, New Haven Township.
12. Michigan birth record, John Hickmott (later Donald Riopelle), 4 Jan 1913, Owosso.
13. Michigan stillbirth record, Hickmott child, 26 Jan 1914, Owosso.
14. Michigan death record, Anna E. Hickmott, 2 Feb 1914, Owosso; cause: postpartum hemorrhage.
15. Owosso burial record, Anna E. Hickmott, 4 Feb 1914.

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.