Ernest WICKHAM ²

  General Notes:

HISTORY OF RICHARDSON CO, NE, 1917, p. 186 & 187: Ernest Wickham was on the Board of Supervisors of Richardson Co, NE in 1899 and 1900.

1900 NE CENSUS, Richardson Co, Salem Twp:
Ernest Wickham, Dec 14, 1867, 32, married 9 yrs, b. MO, father b. OH, mother b. IA;
wife Bell, Jan 22, 1876, 24, married 9 yrs, 4 children, 4 living, b. SC, parents b. SC;
son "Rolland", Aug 28, 1891, 7, b. FL;
dau. Mary, Mar 29, 1895, b. FL;
dau. Fay, Mar 27, 1897, 3, b. NE; son John, Oct 18, 1899, 7/12, b. NE.
The father of all children was b. NE and the mother b. SC.
(Listed next to James & Eliza Wickham and George & Clara "Bohner" on census.)

1910 NE CENSUS, Richardson Co, Salem precinct:
"Earnest" Wickham, 40, 1st marriage, married 19 yrs, b. NE, parents b. IA, , farmer, fruit farm;
wife Belle B., 34, 1st marriage, married 19 yrs, 5 children, 5 living, b. SC, parents b. SC;
son "Rolland", 18;
dau. Mary, 15;
dau. Faye, 13;
son John, 10;
son Kenneth, 7/12.
All children were b. NE, father b. NE, mother b. SC.

1920 NE CENSUS, Richardson Co, Salem precinct:
E. Wickham, 52, b. NE, father b. US, mother b. OH, farmer, gen. farm;
wife Belle, 43, b. SC, parents b. US;
dau. Fay, 20(?), teacher, school; son John, 19 (?), no occupation;
son Kenneth,10, school;
son Vernon, 5;
dau. Anabel, 2.
All children were b. NE, father b. NE, mother b. SC.

HISTORY OF RICHARDSON CO, NE, 1917, p. 1367/8:
ERNEST WICKHAM - Fruit growing is both pleasant and profitable to the man who loves nature and is willing to devote his closest attention to the work. One of the successful fruit growers and gardeners in Richardson county is Ernest Wickham, of Salem precinct. He was born, December 14, 1867, on his present farm, being a son of James and Eliza (Barrows) Wickham, pioneers of the county. The father was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, December 18, 1833, and his death occurred in 1905. He spent his earlier years in the Buckeye state, coming to Richardson county, Nebraska, in 1867, settling in Salem, where he engaged in the fruit business until his death. He was a soldier in the Civil War and took part in many important engagements and was with the army that marched under General Sherman from Atlanta to the sea. He and Eliza J. Barrows were married in 1860. She was born in Linn county, Iowa, in February, 1831, and is now making her home in St. Petersburg, Florida, at the advanced age of eighty-six years. To these parents seven children were born, named as follows: Mrs. Clara A. Bohrer, who lives in Florida, and whose husband is deceased; Blanche, the wife of C. A. Hassenyager, who lives in Bern, Kansas; James E. and Olive both living in St. Petersburg, Florida; Bertha, wife of Drew McCulley, living in Chicago, Illinois; Una, the wife of F. Fitch, of St. Petersburg, Florida; and Ernest, of this sketch, who was fourth in order of birth.
Ernest Wickham was reared on the farm and he received a common school education, including one year in the Salem high school. After teaching one year, he went to Florida, where he worked as a telegraph operator for nine years, then returned to Salem, Nebraska, and took up the fruit business with his father. They shipped as many as one hundred and twenty-seven carloads of fruit in one year. He owns thirty acres of rich and well-improved fruit land, on which he has seven acres of strawberries and raspberries. In 1913 he began growing the "ever-bearing" brand of strawberries, which he has since made a specialty. He has made horticulture a special study for many years and is one of the best-informed and best-known men in his line in southeastern Nebraska. In 1904 he began in the printing business and he was editor of the Salem Index until the building burned in 1911, whereupon he discontinued that line of work, although he had been very successful in the same and made the Index one of the popular and influential newspapers in Richardson county.
Mr. Wickham was married in December, 1888, to Fannie B. Butler, a daughter of N. F. and Fannie Butler, natives of Fruitland Park, Florida, but Mrs. Wickham was born in South Carolina. The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Wickham: Roland, who was graduated from the Salem public schools after which he spent three years in the normal school at Peru, Nebraska, and is a civil engineer, living at Atlanta, Georgia; Mary, who was graduated from the normal school at Peru and is now engaged in teaching at McCook, Nebraska; Faye, who is attending the normal school at Peru at this time (May, 1917); John, a student in the Salem high school, and Kenneth and Vernon, both at home. These children have been given excellent educational advantages and are making a splendid start in life.
Politically; Mr. Wickham is a Democrat, and is now assessor of his township and formerly was a member of the county board.

INFO FROM FRANK LESLIE: James' son Ernest was quite a versatile person, as he had taught school, was a telegrapher for awhile, and was editor for the "Salem Index" a newspaper that was one of the leading ones in Richardson Co, NE. He was editor from 1904 until 1911, when it was destroyed by fire. After that he joined the Berry Farm full time. Ernest's wife's name was Fanny Belle, but everyone knew her as Belle Wickham. Ernest died in 1922 and Belle stayed on the farm until her death in 1961, Ernest and Belle had 8 children, the youngest, Anabel, was born in 1917. She still lives in Omaha, NE.
Here's something Anabel told me once. When her father passed away, she was quite sick and was not expected to live so was not listed among the surviving children. I don't remember what she said the sickness was, but at any rate she is the only living of that family today. Anabel was married to Ben Peacock and they ran a restaurant in Omaha for most of their working lives. Ben and Anabel had one child, a son, Duane Peacock, born 1936, and died in 1974.

Ernest married Fannie Belle BUTLER in Dec 1888.¹ (Fannie Belle BUTLER was born on 22 Jan 1874 in Newbury, SC ⁴ and died in 1961 ³.)