Walking on to the Spirit World: Clarence Chicks

I met Clarence Chicks over ten years ago, I think he was 86 then. It was unrealistic, I suppose, but, for years, I secretly hoped that I would hear about Clarence's death in time to attend his funeral. His obituary is in the latest issue of Mohican News, which I received this morning.



In addition to the usual recitation of things like a person's jobs and loved ones, Clarence's
obituary said something about his character.

Clarence Alfred Chicks, age 96, of Gresham, passed away peacefully on Saturday, June 14th, 2014 at his home surrounded by his loving family. Clarence was the oldest living member of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians and one of only two surviving tribal members who served in WWII. He was a man of faith in God, a son, brother, husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, friend, neighbor, and patriot who touched the lives of countless people across multiple generations and never harbored a bad thought nor spoke an ill word about anyone he ever met.

There aren't many people like that.

Goodbye my friend!

 

 

See these prior posts about Clarence Chicks:

A Clarence Chicks Portrait

Clarence Chicks at 91

 

The Three Marriages of Walter Wilber

I recently acquired an index book of Shawano County marriages from 1848 to 1907.

Each marriage gets a line for all the information: names, birthplaces and parents of both the bride and the groom, and, of course, the date and the location of the wedding.

That is helpful information, but in some cases, I'd like more. For example, I'd like to know more about a Stockbridge Indian named Walter Wilber.



As this map indicates, Shawano County included the Menominee Reservation during most of the time that is covered in my marriage index.

 

Walter Wilber married Maud Mohawk in 1896. Then he married Sadie Brushel in 1899. And, according to the records, he married Sadie Brushel again in 1903.

I tried to reconstruct the life of Walter Wilber based on the limited information that I have. Although I could very well be wrong - here goes: Walter married Maud and they decided they weren't right for each other and got divorced. Then Walter married Sadie and this marriage went the same way: it was a quick one, ending in divorce. However, although Walter thought that he couldn't live with Sadie, he also learned that he couldn't live without her and they got married a second time.

I've learned that people with "Mohawk" as a last name are Munsees and probably don't have any Mohawk blood at all. Sadie Brushel's mother was from the Chicks family and Walter Wilber's parents were Lucinda Gardner and Jed Wilber. So it appears that they were all Citizen Party Stockbridges.

By the way, I've been told that an excellent genealogical source for the Citizen Party is the Jed Wilber family Bible. I don't know who has it, but i'd sure like to see it.

 
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