Researching the CHURCH and BICKETT families living in Otero County, Colorado, from the 1850's to the present. Both families had their roots in Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee; moving to the west just prior to the Civil War.
My Bickett family descends from William Bickett who came to America from Ireland as an indentured servant. After working long enough to earn his freedom from his debt, he served as a Judge in Frederick County, Maryland. Frederick County would have covered everything from just west of Baltimore to the western most end of the State. He seemed to have earned a relatively respectable life. If that were the case, I wonder why a 56-year-old man, with a pregnant wife, would pickup and leave what appeared to be a comfortable life style, to trek to central Kentucky in 1797. Of their nine children, only Nathanial and Arnold were not born in Frederick County, so they had seven children with them for a journey of about five hundred miles. “Are we there yet?”
William homesteaded a large tract of land in what is now the Raywick section of Marion County, Kentucky. Among his neighbors were John Perry, Sheckle Ray, Col. Billy Ray, Jose Beard, and Thomas P. Knott, some of whom had come the year before. Only three cabins and a small primitive trading post had been built when the Bicketts arrived.
Someone had named the area "Sheeps Defeat" because of the fate of the flocks of sheep, slain by dogs and other marauding animals. The name stuck for quite awhile. The marriage of a Ray and a Wickliffe, in the community, suggested the name Ray-wick. It stuck permanently.
Williams descendants are:, Anthony J. b1783; Hiram b1814; Thadeous b1840 and Daniel b1867.
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John Henry Clay Boddington CHURCH, my Grandfather, was the third child of Samson and Eveline Church. Born in Armstrong Kansas in 1876, he lived for over 50 years in Rocky Ford Colorado. He and Stella raised their family of six children in a house on North 3rd St.
His father, Sampson, born in Virginia, in 1845, escaped serving in the Civil War by moving to Tennessee, Indiana and finally to Kansas by 1871. He is descended from "Yankee John" through Joel b1760, Joseph b1828, and Sampson b1848. Although there is considerable information available on "Yankee John" and his children, there is also considerable controversy. I am interested in all of "Yankee Johns" descendants and most especially Joseph and Sampson.
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- Kenneth and Louise Alexander Bickett (44 KB)
Kenneth and Louise, on their wedding day, in the identical pose of a picture of Myrtle and Daniel Bicket, his parents, on their wedding day, almost 50 years before.
- Myrtle and Dan Bickett 1938 (43 KB)
This picture was taken in La Junta, Colorado just two weeks before Daniels death from double pneumonia. Myrtle followed him less than a year later.
- Myrtle Mae Cook Bickett's brothers (164 KB)
Sons of Benjamin Franklin Cook. Back Row L. to R.;George Delano Cook; Asa Bogard Cook. Front Row L. to R.; James Edward Cook; Thomas Edward Cook; Charles Dean Cook
- Stella Lucy and John HCB Church (107 KB)
Stella Lucy Mary Edwards and John Henry Clay Boddington Church on the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary. Picture taken in Rocky Ford, Colorado, 1946
- Bickett children in 1905 (103 KB)
Photo taken in 1905 by a professional photographer. These are the first seven of what would become a total of thirteen children.
- William Bickett's house (26 KB)
Built on the old homestead in Raywick, Kentucky, about 1800, William's house is still standing. Recent photo supplied by Larry Gyger.
- Janet and Richard Church 1997 (43 KB)
Photo taken shortly before Richard's retirement in 1997.
- Chief Warrant Officer Richard L. Church (155 KB)
Publicity photo taken in 1980.
- Helen and Myrtle Bickett 1913 (195 KB)
Photograph taken in LaJunta, Colorado 1913. Helen married Frederick L. Church in 1930 and had four children. Richard, Larry, Janet and David.
- Janet and Dick in 1987 (245 KB)
Picture taken in May, 1987 at a wedding performed in their backyard.
- Bickett family circa 1917 (42 KB)
From Left to right. Back row, Alva, Leona, Mary, Blanche and Harry. Middle row, Raymond, Hazel, Myrtle Mae, Daniel and Thad. Front row, Helen, Myrtle and Olive
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