Hicks

HICKS MCDOWELL NAPIER BALDWIN

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 9/21/2010 at 23:00:25

History of Woodbury County, Iowa 1984

Hicks
By Marilyn Dahl Whitney

Anna Marilla ‘Mae’ McDowell Hicks Napier – quite a name – and she was quite a remarkable woman. Mae was born February 22, 1886, at Glenwood, Iowa, the only daughter of John Samuel and Emily Ann Baldwin McDowell. She moved to Salix a few years later with her parents, brother, Charles Edward, and three half-brothers: Samuel David, Milbra Alton and Wilson Beauregard. John and Emily lived a mile south of Salix where Cecile Eveleth now resides, and son Willie and family lived a mile east in the big house near where Mike Malloy now lives.

Mae completed her education and taught school several years and on October 4, 1904, married John Benton Hicks, who had recently arrived from Texas. Five children were born to this union: John Lee, James William, Earl Edward, Viola Mae and J Benton. John B died March 7, 1912, several months before Bennie was born, and on April 11, 1914, Mae was married to William Alexander Napier. They had one son, Willard Armand. Mae and Alex and family resided at Salix; Milford, Iowa; and finally settled in Sloan. Alex was a mason and bricklayer for many years and Mae worked in son, Jim’s grocery store and later his café.

They retired to North Las Vegas, Nevada, in 1907 to make their home with son, Earl, who was an educator many years in Idaho and Nevada and at that time was Principal and head of the Math Department at Rancho High School. Earl died of a heart attack in October 1967, and Jim and his wife, Ruth, moved from Whittier, California, to live with Mae and Alex. Both enjoyed good health and their retirement and their yearly returns to Iowa to visit grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They were honored during Sloan’s Centennial Celebration in 1970.

Mae passed away in September 1971, at age 85 and Alex died in January 1973, having lived 100 years and five months. Lee died in August 1973, after a long and colorful career in sports in Sioux City. Lee and Bennie both had successful football and baseball careers in high school and although neither completed college or joined the ‘majors’, sports remained an important part of their lives. Both worked at Soos Ball Park many years and rubbed elbows with and were friends of many famous baseball players during the 40’s and 50’s. Lee was employed by Sioux City Community School District for many years and was known affectionately as ‘Mr Timekeeper’ at both Roberts Stadium and the Central Annex. His widow, Helen, and daughter, Donna Lee Obermeyer, and three grandchildren reside in Sioux City. Bennie passed away in June 1978; he played 27 holes of golf the day before he died. His widow, Mildred, and son, Gary Benton, reside at Sloan and he has three grandsons. Mae and her family are all buried together in the Sloan Cemetery – in the family plot Mae and her father, John S purchased in 912 at the death of John B.

Jim and Ruth continue to reside in the family home in North Las Vegas. Jim enjoys reading writing and all things historical. Their daughter, Donna Dell, lives in Anaheim, California, with two children and two grandchildren. Willard ‘Spud’ Napier married Phyllis Van Cleave of Sloan; they had a ‘large’ family: Dennis, JoNell and Kandice. They lived in Sloan; Fullerton, California; and Grants Pass, Oregon. Phyllis died in April 1983, and Spud and both daughters and three grandson call Grants Pass home. Dennis Armand followed Uncle Earl’s example and has been for many years an educator in the L A school system and California State College at Long Beach.

Viola Mae Hicks graduated from Sloan High School in 1929 and one week later began her career at Iowa Public Service in Sloan. He and Carl Otis Dahl were married October 28, 1934, and had one daughter, Marilyn Ruth Dahl Whitney. Viola died December 29, 1942, of complications in her second pregnancy. Her untimely and sudden passing was a great tragedy to her many friends and especially her mother and her five brothers – who adored and worshipped her.

‘The rest of the story’ is continued in the Dahl and Whitney sections.