Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Photograph of Lizzie (Rowe) Wicker, Maine native; West Oakland, California studio


Note of February 7, 2016:  A reader has provided a link to a website with information on the family of concrete contractor Louis Wicker, husband of Lizzie (Rowe) Wicker, and a photograph of the L. R. Wicker Company's stamp set in concrete.  See more in the comments section.

Photograph of a 28 year old Lizzie Wicker; photo taken by the J. Smith Photograph and Tintype Gallery at 1716 Seventh Street, West Oakland, California.



From online research, hopefully correct: [with gratitude for the help of online friends]

I found several possibilities for a Lizzie Rowe from Maine, born about 1859 and hope that a reader will come forth with the correct identification.

According to the 1900 Census, Lizzie Wicker was born Lizzie Rowe in Maine about August 1859.

An online family tree, which may or may not be entirely sourced, has Lizzie born at Georgetown, Maine, on October 26, 1857, the daughter of John and Mary Ann (Harford) Rowe.  If this Lizzie is the Lizzie in the photograph, perhaps the discrepancy in the month of her birth resulted from the tree owner's using Lizzie's baptism date as her birth date.    

One of the Georgetown Lizzie's brothers, Edward Rowe, had moved to California by 1880; perhaps Lizzie had gone with him or had visited him after he was settled.  This tree has Lizzie marrying Louis Rogers Wicker in California on April 2, 1878. 

Louis Rogers Wicker was born at Buffalo, New York, about January 1858.  The online tree noted above names Louis' parents as Daniel Wright Wicker and Harriet (Compton) Wicker.

Children of Louis Rogers Wicker and Lizzie (Rowe) Wicker:

  1. Frank C. Wicker; born September 1879; m. Florence Ellen Adella Johnson; died 12 June 1931
  2. Hattie May Wicker, born 6 November 1880 in California; m. Alfred Wallace; died 19 January 1954
  3. Maud E. Wicker, born 16 September 1882 in California; m. William Sheldon; died 25 November 1946
  4. Kate E. Wicker, born August 1891 in California; died sometime between 1920-1925
  5. Murle Rowe Wicker, born 11 January 1899; died 7 October 1943 in Alameda County, California.  He was unmarried in the 1920 and 1930 Censuses and at the time of his 1942 World War II enlistment record, so perhaps he never married
Lizzie's obituary: 


Oakland (California), Oakland Tribune, 21 Oct 1925, page 33
Wicker -- In Oakland Oct. 21, 1925, Elizabeth R. Wicker, wife of the late Louis R. Wicker and mother of Frank C. and Murle Wicker, Mrs. A. F. Wallace and Mrs. W. E. Sheldon and the late Kate Wicker, a native of Maine, aged 68 years.

Obituary of Lizzie's daughter Kate E. Wicker:

Oakland Tribune, Sunday, April 6, 1924, page 95
Wicker -- In Oakland, April 4, 1924, Kate Elizabeth Wicker, beloved daughter of Elizabeth R. and the late Lewis R. Wicker and sister of Mrs. A. F. Wallace, Mrs. E. W. Sheldon and Murle R. Wicker of Oakland, a native of California.

If you have any corrections to the information above or any welcome additions or insights, please leave a comment or contact me directly.  

Alameda County, California


Thanks for stopping by!



8 comments:

  1. Louis Rogers Wicker was a concrete contractor in Oakland. A few of his stamps in sidewalks are still around. https://oaklandwiki.org/Louis_R._Wicker

    Elizabeth ("Lizzie") Rowe (Wicker) died October 25, 1925
    Kate Elizabeth Wicker died April 4, 1924
    Maud Etta Wicker (Sheldon) died November 25, 1946

    Haven't found anything about Louis or Lizzie's parents yet.

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    1. Thank you for adding this extra information. Love the stamps and will add a note in the blog for people to see them. Can't wait to see what you unearth next!

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  2. Even with others building the same tree on ancestry.com, I'm less sure of things as they get further back in time, and further from Oakland. That said...

    For Frank Collins Wicker, his middle name may go back to Louis' grandmother (fathers' mother), Priscilla Collins (1780-1835), wife of John Wicker (1776-11856).

    Louis' parents were Daniel Wright Wicker (1806-1868) and Harriet Compton (Wicker) (1813-after 1880). Still no info on Lizzie's parents.

    May I use the photo of Lizzie on the Oakland Wiki page? I can put whatever credit you'd like (e.g., courtesy Pam Beveridge with a link the Heirlooms Reunited).

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    1. Made a few changes reflecting some new information online, though I'm always reluctant to cite online family trees. Hopefully this is a solid one. You certainly may use the photograph; courtesy Heirlooms Reunited would be nice. Love you how folks are collaborating on Oakland history!

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    2. Experience has taught me to look at other family trees *last* :-) In the case of the updated death dates for Lizzie, Kate and Maud, those are based on obituaries from the Oakland Tribune. I can send those to you (or just text) if you want.

      The Oakland Wiki has been great, both for history and curreent day Oakland. It's a Local Wiki (https://localwiki.org/about/) which many people have set up around the world to document where they live. There's room for stories that Wikipedia thinks are too small or not important enough.

      Anyways, here's the updated entry with your photo of Lizzie added: https://oaklandwiki.org/Louis_R._Wicker

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    3. Yes, I always worry - online trees can be great for clues but not for etching in granite.
      Minor quibble: it's Heirlooms Reunited.

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    4. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    5. Sorry about the name. Good thing it wasn't in granite (or marble) -- I've seen a few errors on grave markers, too :-)

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