Today’s story will feature the Vick family of Covington County, which is a branch connected to the Lambert family covered in last week’s column. While the name Vick is not that prevalent in the area, one line settled here and descendants became influential in the Andalusia area.

The earliest Vick ancestor found on Ancestry.com was William Henry Vick, who was born in 1797 in South Carolina. He was married there in 1819 to a young Native American maiden whose name is not known. She was born in 1803 also in South Carolina. After some years they moved to Shelby County, Ala., where they had a large number of children before she died there in 1838. A couple of years later in 1840, William Henry married Abbigail Hughes with whom he had additional children.

Newton Vick, son of William Henry and his first wife, was born in Alabama in 1833. He was married in Alabama in 1860 to Eliza Blackerby, daughter of Elijah Blackerby (1822-1905) and Sarah Elizabeth (Wright). Within the next year, Newton enlisted to render service in the War Between the States. He was assigned as a private to Company A, 25th Alabama Infantry Regiment of the Confederate States of America. He survived the war and returned home to begin their family.

Some genealogy of Newton’s wife, Eliza Blackerby, includes a couple of generations of her mother’s ancestry. Sarah Elizabeth (Wright) Blackerby was born in 1828 in South Carolina and died in 1916 in Parker, Tex. She was the daughter of John Wright and Peggy Wolfscale. John was born in 1785 in Rowan County, N.C., and died in 1851 in Chariton, Mo. Peggy was born in 1790 in South Carolina and died in 1820 in Washington, Ind. John Wright was the son of Amos Wright and Elizabeth Lowe. Amos was born in 1764 in Rowan County, N.C. and died in 1846 in Washington, Ind. Elizabeth was born in 1765 in Rowan, N.C. and died in 1808 in Wayne, Ky.

Newton and Eliza Vick were residing in the Hillsboro community of Shelby County, Ala., in 1870. They later moved to the Yellow Leaf community of the same county where they were living in 1880 and 1900. Newton Vick passed away in 1900 and left Eliza a widow. During their years together, they reared the following seven children: Andrew Jackson, b. 1866; John Bunyan, b. 1869, d. 1930; Elijah Martin, b. 1872, d. 1942; Rufus E., b. 1874, m. (1) 1913 Lottie Lambert (2) Unknown; Francis Marion , b. 1878; Joseph Benjamin, b. 1880, d. 1961; and Virginia A. “Jenny,” b. 1883, m. ? Scott.

The fourth son, Rufus E. Vick Sr., is the one who brought the family and Vick name to Covington County. He came to this area from Shelby County, Ala. In 1913 he was married to Lottie Lambert. Lottie was born in 1887 as the daughter of Green Asberry Lambert (1853-1923) and Fannie Pate (Feagin) (1860-1945). Both of Lottie’s parents were members of large families who were pioneer settlers in the area. Lottie was married in 1911 to L.E. Tumlin, but they only lived together for a short time and were soon divorced. She then married Rufus E. Vick in 1913 with whom she had one son, Frank Vick, before they were divorced in 1915. Following the divorce, Rufus E. returned to Shelby County where he was married to a Mrs. Wood who had three children: Roy, Adrian and J.C. Wood. Rufus and his second wife had the following children: Rufus E. Jr., Robert, Mary Sue, m. ? Culner; and Bernice, m. ? Murray.

The following is a quote of Rufus E. Vick’s obituary. “Rufus E. Vick, age 68, died at his home near Oneonta on October 21 at 6 p.m. He was a good Christian man and a member of the Baptist Church. The funeral was held at Ross on October 22 at 2:30 p.m. with Reverends Herrin and Thomas in charge. Surviving are: his wife, three sons, Frank Vick, Andalusia, Ala., R.E. Vick Jr., U.S. Army and Robert Vick, Oneonta; two daughters, Mrs. Mary Sue Culner of Montgomery, Mrs. Bernice Murray, Oneonta; three stepsons, Roy Wood, Alexander City, Adrian Wood, Blountsville and J.C. Wood, Chickasaw; four brothers, Andrew Vick, Altoona, Route 2, John Vick, Birmingham, Marion Vick, Oneonta, and Benjamin Vick, Oneonta, and one sister, Jennie Scott of Fort Payne.”

To review Lottie (Lambert) Vick’s lineage, her father, Green Asberry Lambert, was the son of Alexander Wesley Lambert, who was married in 1835 in Monroe County, Ala., to Sina “Lillie” Loften, daughter of Eli Loften. Alexander and Lillie had all their 11 children while residing in Monroe County. They were: Abigail, b. 1837, d. 1929, m. William Charles Loften; Irena, b. 1840; Mary Missouri, b. 1841, d. 1904, m. William Rogers; James Madison “Matt,” b. 1842, d. 1929, m. (1) Mary Caroline Rhodes (2) Laura Rhodes; Sarah, b. 1845; Eli, b. 1846, d. 1883, m. (1) Mary Rogers (2) Elsie Jane Day; Alexander, b. 1850; Amanda, b. ca 1852; Green Asberry, b. 1853, d. 1925, m. Fannie Pate Feagin (1860-1945); Charles Daffin, b. 1855, d. 1917, m. Ella Neal; and Dora Ann, b. 1859, m. Aaron T. Feagin.

Lottie (Lambert) and Rufus E. Vick’s son, Frank Vick, was married to Carrie Lee Palmer. Frank and Carrie Lee reared the following three children: John Edward, b. 1939, m. (1) Marjorie Agnes Dixon (2) Aurilla Faye Aman; Mary Sue, b. 1941, m. (1) Terry Preston Chesser Sr. (2) James Otha Starley; Jimmy Frank, b. 1946, m. (1) Janice Marie Green (2) Linda Jo Johnson. John and Marjorie had two daughters before her untimely death: Patricia Lynn, b. 1963, m. Scott Corcoran Moody; and Janet Claire, b. 1966, m. Glenn Robert Leuenberger. John and Faye have one daughter, Amanda Lee, b. 1971. Sue and Terry P. Chesser have three children: Terry Preston, Jr., b. 1960, m. Pamela Herring; Victoria Marie, b. 1963, m. (1) William James lowery (2) Terry Edward Randolph; and Robin Lorita, b. 1969, m. Denis’ Stapleton Couturie. Jimmy and his first wife have one son, Dustin Devon, b. 1971, m. Tracy Lynn Pouncey. Jimmy and second wife adopted a daughter, Tammy Lee, b. 1979.

John Edward Vick is well known as an outstanding citizen of Andalusia. He has been successful in business such as general manager of Dixon Plywood, a division of Dixon Lumber Company, which began operation in 1970. The operation was very successful under John’s leadership with the able assistance of Bill Benson, plant manager; Ed Carter, plant superintendent; and Dick Stom, finish foreman. These men were all well trained and experienced in related work and supervised as many as 250 employees when the business was sold in 1978. John is very active in the community as a member of the Andalusia Lion’s Club, tennis camp director and organizer of the Andalusia Tennis Association.

He is a frequent volunteer in many community service activities such as taking Covington County’s WWII Veterans to Eglin AFB in August 2015 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII. . He and his family have positively impacted Andalusia and the surrounding area.

The sources for this writing were Ancestry.com for the two earliest generations and the family records of John Vick for the other generations.

Anyone who might find an error in the above history is requested to contact this writer, Curtis Thomasson, at 20357 Blake Pruitt Road, Andalusia, AL 36420; 334-804-1442; or Email: cthomasson@centurytel.net.