A USGenWeb Project Site

AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION
contact State Coordinator - Mel Owings

RECORDS: provides links to Birth, Cemetery, Census, Land, Marriage, Military, Obituary/Death, Wills & Probate records plus links to Histories & Biographies and Personal Web pages about Hickory County families   

GEOGRAPHY: links to Hickory County Maps, Historical data, and information about Communities in Hickory County.

QUERIES: links to Query Boards, Mailing Lists, Surname Lists [people researching specific surnames], and Lookup Volunteers.

RESOURCES: published county histories [including online indexes to several], other books related to Hickory County, local and state resources for researching Hickory County families.

PHOTO ALBUM: thumbnail photos of people and places [including schools and churches] in Hickory County that link to more information and photos. Many of the "people" photos link to several generations of family history information and photos.

THIS 'n' THAT: stories about Hickory County, unidentified photos, anything else contributed that doesn't fit somewhere else.

WHAT'S NEW: chronology of changes to this website. A quick check of this page will tell you what's been added since your last visit.

Hickory County is  now part of the U.S. GenWeb Family Group Sheet Project. You can check out the families submitted so far AND submit your own through this page.

Your county coordinator is Ginny Sharp. I live in Seattle, WA, and am always looking for more materials to post to this site. I'm happy to post any information and resources related to researching families who have lived in Hickory County. The success of this site depends on submissions from you and other researchers. Please email me if you have information to share or suggestions for improving these pages. 

Good luck with your research! Please share what you learn with others.

Hickory County was formed on February 14, 1845 from parts of Polk and Benton Counties. It was named for Andrew "Old Hickory" Jackson and the county seat, Hermitage, for his home in Tennessee. Original inhabitants were primarily Osage Indians on the North and the Sacs in the Southwest. Earliest discoverers were probably French, based on the names of the rivers in the area - Pomme de Terre (Potato), Gravois, Weaubleau, and the Auglaise. Most early settlers came from Kentucky and Tennessee.

The earliest white settlers were probably a German named Hogle (for whom Hogle's Creek was named) and his partner Pensoneau, a Frenchman from Cahokia, Illinois. Hogle and Pensoneau were Indian traders who settled in the Osage Valley. The earliest families appear to be the Zumwalts and the Ingleses who appear on Lindley Creek (near Pittsburg) by 1832. Other early settlers were the Vandevers, Judys, and the Grahams.

Currently, the county has a population of approximately 9,000 [2003 estimate] and covers about 411 square miles. It is bordered on the west by St. Clair County, on the South by Polk and Dallas  counties, on the East by Camden County, and on the North by Benton County.

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State Coordinator (SC) : Mel Owings
Asst. State Coordinator (ASC):  Martha A C Graham
Updated: 25 February 2025
 

© Copyright 2005-2014 by Ginny Sharp. All Rights Reserved. All materials contained on these pages are furnished for the free use of those individuals researching their family origins. ANY COMMERCIAL USE, PUBLICATION, OR POSTING OF THIS MATERIAL ON ANY OTHER WEBSITE, WITHOUT THE WRITTEN CONSENT OF THE COORDINATORS/AUTHOR/SUBMITTER OF THE MATERIAL/PAGE, IS PROHIBITED. All images used on these pages were obtained from sources permitting free distribution, or generated by the author, and are subject to the same restrictions/permissions. All persons contributing material for posting on these pages do so in recognition of their free, non-commercial distribution, and are responsible to assure that no copyright is violated by their submission.