From never knowing another Ickes outside the members of my immediate family (other than a couple of aunts) the Ickeses were everywhere in Bedford County.
Then we noticed this large farm truck.
As we were driving around I also spotted a street sign for Ickes Heritage Road (if I remember right), but we couldn't figure out how to get back there later to capture an image. There's also Ickes Road and Ickes Hill listed on a current map, but we didn't get to those places.
We looked in the Bedford County phone book and counted 69 current Ickes listings. We also found Ickes Drugs listed, so we had to go by and check it out.
Ickes Drugs is located on a historic street in downtown Bedford. We got there a little before it opened and waited in the car. A lady came and sat on the bench out front and another lady came from inside the store and sat next to her. I had one burning question on my mind.
I got out of the car and asked the ladies, "How do you pronounce the name of this drug store?" They looked at a little puzzled, probably wondering why I cared, and then one of them responded, "ick-əs." Woohoo!! They actually pronounce it "correctly"!
I found out the owner of the store, Gary Ickes, wouldn't be there until the afternoon so we left and came back later in the day. Gary is a 3rd generation pharmacist following his father and grandfather. The store had been passed down through the generations. It was fun to chat with him. I'm not sure how we're related as he believes he descends from Matthias Ickes who had settled in Pleasantville. I can't find any documented evidence that tells me how Matthias and John are related, if they are at all. Some of his features did remind me of my dad though. And everyone should check out his drug store - it got really good online reviews!
When we went to check out the burial place of Thomas and Mary Callihan (discussed in an upcoming post), the directions I was given indicated that we would need to park at Robby Ickes' house. Robby lives just outside Pleasantville and works as an auto mechanic in town. Finding his house was easy, but I didn't want to leave my car at his house and traipse around his property looking for headstones without his permission. So I sent Brent up the hill while I stayed behind with the car. Brent was gone for just a few minutes when Robby pulled up. Apparently his sister-in-law had driven by while the neighbor was trying to figure out what we were doing there. Between the two of them Robby got word that people were hanging out at his house and he came home to see what was going on. (Pleasantville is a very small town!) He was very nice and full of information. From the paternal ancestry he gave me and with what I was able to figure out, Robby and I are 6th cousins once removed. Robby's little blonde daughter was adorable. He even drove both of us back up the hill so I could see the Callihan burial ground for myself. Robby was absolutely the best!!
I told Robby I thought he looked like my son, Stephen, but I had no idea just how much until I actually compared photos. They would be 7th cousins. The beards and the body types are really the common denominators.
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| Robby Ickes, my 6th cousin once removed |
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| My son Stephen |
All original content, images, commentary, etc. copyright © by Joy Denison 2015-2016. All rights reserved. All writings, poems, speeches, essays, images, scans, likenesses, etc. by Adam Ickes (b 1845) as well as personal histories, images, and all other content by all persons referenced and discussed within the pages and posts in this blog may not be copied, shared, or reproduced in any way without expressed permission by the owner unless included here from other referenced sources or are historical records already considered to be in the public domain.
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