The George Fox Line

by Dellie Jean Craig

The following members of the Society descend from George Fox, a son of Frederick Fox:
Elizabeth Jane Bucholz - Society #0008
Dellie Jean Craig - Society #0009
Patricia Jo Edwards - Society #0011
Richard Dale Fox Sr. - Society #0015
Reva Winfried Fox - Society #0003
William Ernest Fox - Society #0002
Wilma Marion Gose - Society #0010
Mildred F. Metcalf - Society #00016
Curtis Lynn Older - Society #0001
Don Smith - Society #0021

Jacob and Melissa Ricketts, parents of Elizabeth Jane Ricketts
Dellie Jean Craig submitted the following picture of the family of Jacob and Melissa Ricketts.
Photo will go here

Front row: Jake Ricketts, Melissa Barnard Ricketts, Jacob Ricketts, and Elizabeth Jane Ricketts
Back row: Daniel Ricketts, Frederick Ricketts, Hiram Ricketts, Joseph Ricketts, Dave Ricketts, and Abraham Lincoln Ricketts. Not in photograph: Nan Ricketts.

Jacob and Melissa Ricketts were the parents of Elizabeth Jane Ricketts. Elizabeth married Daniel Alexander Fox. Daniel and Elizabeth Fox were the parents of Kenneth, Ernest, William, Ethel, and Ruby Fox. (See Application for Letters of Administration, 23 January 1924, on the death of Melissa Ricketts. Also see the 1870 and 1880 United States Census records for Mound Township, Warren County, Indiana. Pension papers of Jacob Ricketts appear in the National Archives under Union Army, Company D, 57th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, 1864 to 1865, Certificate 703568; Pensioner: Melissa J.; Widow of Veteran: Jacob Ricketts; Can No: 561621; bundle No.: 3.)

The following list identifies records placed on a Kodak Photo CD-Rom disc by Curtis L. Older that relate to Jacob Ricketts and his wife, Melissa Jane Barnard:

1. Pension paper dated 29 February 1904, at Danville, Illinois, for Jacob Ricketts of Company D, 57th Indiana Volunteer Infantry.
2. Declaration of Pension, Jacob Ricketts, dated 25 February 1907.
3. Original Invalid Pension, Jacob Ricketts, dated 30 April 1890.
4. Application for Letters of Administration, 23 January 1924, on the death of Melissa Ricketts. Lists children as Abraham L. Ricketts, Joseph, Nancy Ricketts Dixon, Hiram, Fred, and Jacob. Lists grandchildren as Kenneth Fox, Ernest Fox, William Fox, Ethel Fox Gouty, and Ruby Fox Hines.
5. Department of Pensions, Jacob Ricketts, gives wife as Melissa Jane Ricketts, married March 20, 1860, at Danville, Illinois. Jacob Ricketts had a previous wife who died in 1850.
6. Map of Land Owners in 1872, Highland Township, Indiana, The township was between the Wabash River and the Illinois State Line.
7. Landowners of Highland Township, Indiana.
8. Marriage record that acknowledges existence of marriage license for Jacob Ricketts and Melissa J. Barnard on 21 March 1861.

The father of Jacob Ricketts was John Ricketts. (See the death certificate for Jacob Ricketts. Also see the 1840 United States Census records for Vermillion County, Highland Township, Indiana.) The father of John Ricketts was Robert Ricketts. (See January Term 1856, page 397, Ohio County, Indiana, that lists the heirs of Robert Ricketts. Robert died February 14, 1853. The first beneficiary listed for Robert Ricketts is “John Ricketts’s heirs.” John preceded his father, Robert, in death. John died February 23, 1843, in Highland Township, Vermillion County, Indiana. The above chain of descent, from Robert Ricketts to John Ricketts to Jacob Ricketts to Elizabeth Jane Ricketts appears to be correct. However, additional records to prove the line of descent will be sought in the coming months. A more in-depth discussion of the ancestors of Jacob Ricketts will appear in the December 1, 1998, Newsletter.

National Archive Microfilm Publications contain information about Robert Ricketts under No. S 17,047, Pennsylvania. The material appears to be from pages 0146 through 0156 of the microfilm. Also see Pennsylvania Archives, Series III, v. 23, p. 453. Page 0156 of the National Archive microfilm consists of the following letter:

Rev. & 1812 Wars Section

May 7, 1927

Mrs. W. H. Shonts
203 E. Marion St.
South Bend, Indiana

Madam: I have to advise you that it appears from the papers in the Revolutionary War pension claim, S. 17047, that Robert Ricketts was born January 15, 1765, near Hagerstown, Maryland. He enlisted in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, in 1780 as a private in Captain James Johnson’s Company in Colonel Piper’s Pennsylvania Regiment and served three months. While living in Kishacoquillas Valley, Pennsylvania, he enlisted in 1782 and served three months and seven days as a private in Captains Robert’s Samuel’s and Bowls’ Pennsylvania Companies. He was allowed pension on his application executed September 18, 1832, at which time he was a resident of Dearborn County, Indiana. He died February 14, 1853, leaving a widow and eleven children, their names not stated. His widow died February 20, 1853.
Respectfully,
Winfield Scott
Commissioner
Copyright 1998 Society of the Descendants of Frederick Fox

Article courtesy of Curtis Older at curtolder@earthlink.net