After Henry Hicks Sr. and Mary Ann Rolph settled in Valcartier in the early 1840s they had six children adding to the family that already included Henry Jr. and Elizabeth who were born in England.  The six children were Joseph (my great grandfather), Mary Ann, Catherine, Alfred, Edward and Samuel.  After Mary Ann Rolph passed away, Henry Sr. married Marie Melvina Mecteau in 1875 and they had three  children, Mary Sarah, Anna Sophia and Louisa Lilliane. 

Henry Hicks Jr. married Mary Ann Richardson and remained in Valcartier as a farmer.  He died August 13, 1913 and among his many children was Charlie who was still alive after I was born and I remember vaguely.  Charley lived on the mill hill and was a farmer.  He passed away in 1956 and some of his descendants are still in the area.  His son Howard then lived on the homestead.

Elizabeth married James Hicks August 6, 1868 at Church of England in St. Catherine, Quebec.  James was a cousin from England.  I do not know how close a cousin he was.  In the 1871 census, they are living in Valcartier and James is listed as a farmer.  They eventually moved to Port Neuf and had at least two children, Robert and Rose.  They are buried in the Wood end Cemetery in Port Neuf. 

Joseph (my great grandfather) married Alice Hill on May 3, 1873 at Church of England in St. Catherine.  It is interesting to note that Joseph was baptized along with two other siblings (Mary Ann and Catherine) on March 29, 1854 at Congregational Church in Quebec.  He would have been seven years old.  The Congregational religion is probably the closest his parents could find to Quaker beliefs.  Joseph and Alice had four children including Joseph my grandfather. 

Mary Ann was born February 19, 1850 and was married to James Berry, August 3, 1868 at the Anglican Church in Valcartier.  James was a farmer and they lived in Riviere aux Pins.  Mary Ann died February 6, 1923 and both are buried in the Anglican Cemetery in Valcartier.  They had 3 children.

Catherine was born May 6, 1852 and died October 1, 1944 in Chapleau, Ontario.  In the 1891 census she is in Quebec City and is working as a domestic.  At the time of her death she was ninety-three and her Death Certificate states that she had been in Chapleau for fifty-two years.  She did not marry and died of bronchitis and pneumonia  and is buried in Chapleau.  In the 1921 census she is in Chapleau in the John Dexter household.  Also living with them are his children, Eva who is twenty-five and Stanley who is twenty-two.  John Dexter married Anna Sophia who would have been Catherine’s half-sister.  In the 1931 census Catherine refers to her relationship to John Dexter as a sister-in-law.  The census reports add evidence to the family story that Catherine was caretaker to her half-siblings after Melvina Mecteau, her step-mother passed away.  That would have been in Quebec in the 1880s and 1890s and it seems she moved and remained with some of the family in Chapleau. 

Alfred was born November 5, 1854 and married Mary Smith at the Church of England in St. Catherines on December 28, 1885.  He died December 22, 1935 and both he and his wife are buried in the Presbyterian Cemetery in Valcartier.  It seems they farmed in Valcartier and had only one child.  Effie eventually married and became Effie Ward.  She left some notes on the Hicks genealogy and I have referred to them frequently when writing this article. 

Edward was born December 7, 1856 and moved away at a young age.  He is found in the 1900 USA census in Pierce Barnes, North Dakota, a naturalized citizen of the USA and had been there for nineteen years.  He gives his birthplace as Quebec and his parents’ birthplace as England.  He remained single and lists his occupation as day labourer.  He died March 30, 1919 and is buried in Hillside Cemetery in Hennepin County, Minnesota.  He was buried about a month after he died and it seems his gravestone was placed by one of his brothers, probably Samuel, I am guessing. 

Samuel was born March 14, 1859.  He married Ann Elliot at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Quebec June 27, 1882.  He worked as a boiler maker in Quebec before settling down with his family in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba.  He had four children, Eliza, Alex, Albert and Henry.  He worked for the railway in different parts of Canada.  The 1891 census shows him in Chapleau with several other men and he is also listed in Quebec with his family.  In the 1931 census he is in Caribou South County in BC at the age of seventy-two.  It was an unorganized territory at the time.  After his wife died in 1918, he moved to Boston Bar, BC and lived with this daughter and son-in-law.  He worked as a locomotive foreman with the CPR before he retired and is buried with his wife in Portage la Prairie. 

Mary Sarah was born June 27, 1875 and was baptised at the Catholic Church at Valcartier.  She married Herbie Pope and lived on Anticosti Island where he worked as a lighthouse keeper.  He died there and Sarah moved to Montreal with two children, Eric and Cathleen. 

Anna Sophia was born July 20, 1877 and was baptised at the Catholic Church at Valcartier.  She married John Dexter and had two children, Eva and Stanley.  Eva married a doctor in the States and Stanley died at a young age. 

Louissa Lillianne was born in July1879.  She was baptised at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Quebec.  It seems she probably died as an infant or shortly after she was born.  I was unable to find any record of either Louissa Lillianne or Melvina Mecteau after the baptism.  The 1881 census shows Henry Sr. living in Quebec with his daughters, Sarah age six and Sophia age four. After 1881 the girls are not listed in any census files I could find and Henry Sr. seems to be living on his own. Where they were during this time period is a mystery to me. A lot of the information on Mary Sarah and Anna Sophia is taken from notes left by Effie Ward.  The notes say they both died at twenty-seven years of age. 

Attached are several articles and pictures of headstones.

Robert Hicks – July 2025