She is a brave woman who helped a lot of people find answers. I agree totally with you.This all sounds awful. Shame on him and all those who covered for him and his horrific lies. Genealogy for Dr Thomas Jugarthy Hicks, Sr (1888 - 1972) family tree on Geni, with over 230 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. In these cases, Hicks would forge a birth certificate and give the baby to adoptive parents in secret from his Georgia clinic. How can you condone that? She said the whole time she was having the babies that there was a very nice dressed lady sitting in the room across the hall from her. Dr. Thomas Hicks McCAYSVILLE, Ga. - Services for Dr. Thomas J. Hicks, Sr., 83, of McCaysville will be at 2 p.m. Monday in Finch's Chapel here, burial in Crestlawn Cemetery in Copperhill, Tenn. Dr. Hicks, who operated Hicks' Clinic from around 1945 until he retired in 1965, died of leukemia Sunday. Both of Dr. Hicks parents were born in Tennessee. Thank goodness your grandmother was there and knew what to do. Jane Blasio, who broke the story of the Hicks Babies and leads investigative efforts, wrote her thoughts about Hicks on her website. He states that he chased the car down the road from where hicks office was to try and get me before they took off in 1954. He reportedly performed abortions, which were illegal at the time, for $100. It turned into a business. It sits in a plaza in McCaysville, Georgia with a pizza shop on one end and a barbecue restaurant on the other, according to Narratively. Dr. Hicks had a granddaughter, Sally Sompayrac, who empathizes with the plight of the Hicks babies. His wife was a Baptist Sunday school teacher, according to PEOPLE. The poverty here in the Copper Basin of southeast Tennessee and far north Georgia, which includes the town of McCaysville, often meant that pregnant women couldnt ask a relative or friend to help raise their children. Hi, the category is just Category:McCaysville, Georgia. TLC's "Taken at Birth" will explore Thomas J. Hicks. Theres a documentary on the Hicks Babies that Im assuming you havent seen. And then the consistent low birth weights are concerning. What if, you are a scared young woman, 16 or 17 or even 19, pregnant in rural GA or TN, shame ridden as some would have felt, just wanting this to be taken care of. Personally I hope that Dr Hicks is burning in hell! i was told i was born in raymond wa. He induced labor and delivered low birth weight babies that were in danger of dying. Not to mention the fact that some of these birth mothers thought their babies DIED! What Does It Mean If You Have 1% Native American DNA? He told some of the biological mothers that they had undergone an abortion. Are there any unresolved feelings or unanswered questions you're still working to unravel? Curiously, Dr. Thomas J. Hicks is not buried in a mausoleum that bears his name, but beside it. Have you heard the story of Dr. Hicks? You arent responsible for their sins. I am currently fixing to do my own dna test. His work remained buried as well. The man that is Dr.Hicks first stolen, one of the twins. It was discovered that Dr. Thomas J. Hicks had been selling newborns from the small-town facility's backdoor for $1000. If you fully watched the documentary you would know that almost all the babies were 4lbs at birth weight or even SMALLER and he was doing this to hurry along the money. At least one Hicks baby submitted his DNA to Ancestry.com and found a half-sister. His clinic, the Hicks Clinic, was in operation between about 1945-1965. Dr Thomas Hicks was a small-town Georgia doctor who was posthumously accused of selling hundreds of babies in illegal adoptions. Son of David Fleming Hicks and Mary Louise Hicks I so agree with you. This man not only took away peoples family history, but ruined their future as well. It is possible that deaths like these convinced Dr. Hicks that something needed to be done.. There are stories that even suggest that some mothers were told that their babies did not survive at birth. We just were not there and will never know his thoughts. Somehow I missed this Documentary the first time it aired. But advocates hope it will someday happen. Women came to give birth, and were told their babies were stillborn! Did the births take place at the Hicks Clinic? I personally think he is a sociopath and I wonder if he could have been a Serial Killer as well. Prior to that, he was practicing just across the state line in Copperhill, Tennessee, and could well have been selling babies then. Many are still trying to find their biological relatives. Eventually, in 1964, he was caught performing an abortion and was summarily stripped of his medical license. Hicks' wife and son had already passed away. The judge discovered records showing an unusual number of women visiting Hicks clinic. A legacy linked to illegal adoptions in rural North Georgia, Woman illegally sold to couple by doctor as newborn speaks out with new book: 'story isn't just about me'. These folks deserve to know where they came from! Dr. Hicks did lose his medical license in 1964 due to an infraction unrelated to the illegal adoptions. Unfortunately, Hicks kept no records of the birth mothers. His wife and son have both passed away. She noted to the TV station many of them went to good homes and led successful lives. You are right, Dr Hicks was an evil man. https://t.co/900llb4znH, Angel Patriot?? Surnames in his family tree include Thomas, Fitch, Green, Waddell, and Johnson. So telling the one mother her twin boys were stillborn is acceptable to you. Hicks beliefs did not fully mesh with abortions, and he would sometimes convince women that he would handle adoptions if they carried the babies to term, according to WKYC in Cleveland, Ohio. Because the adoptions were illegal and their birth certificate were forged, there are no records of their biological parents which would allow them to find their origins. Many of the Hicks babies were able to do DNA testing as part of the TV show. survivors include his mother, diann loftice barker of mckinney; stepfather, don barker of mckinney; three brothers: billy loftice of princeton, ron and jasen loftice both of mckinney; two sisters: lisa murphy of culleoka, artie stone of princeton . People, accessed 17 September 2019. My mother/father picked me up from a nurse in a hotel in 1967. Dr. Thomas Hicks family tree Even though Dr. Hicks is not suspected to be biologically related to any of the Hicks Babies, some people might find his ancestry and family tree to be of interest. What Happened To Dr. Hicks And His Associates? And the $1k sounds about like what my Dad was sold for. The world is full of possibilities, and you are amazing! He was born October 18, 1888. The primary purpose of this post is to explain how those children who were adopted through the Hicks Clinic have been able to use their DNA to discover close relatives, and sometimes, the identities of their biological parents. I would love to be able to find him or maybe some of his family. Father of Dr Thomas Jugarthy Hicks, Jr; Dr Walter Lynn Hicks and Private Her only health problem was asthma. Dr. Hicks was a town doctor who performed illegal abortions. You made your decision. During the years that he ran his clinic, the town was at its population peak of between 1,800-2,000 residents. She grieved her the rest of her life for her first born son. Hicks initially lost his clinic for doing illicit abortions. These babies were born between weighing only 3.5 and 4.75 lbs.. ALL very unfavorable conditions!!!! I realize Dr. Hicks is not here to defend himself or answer questions, but I cannot imagine how you can defend him after what you heard. Who was Thomas J. Hicks? Table, Dave. Dr. Hicks created fake birth certificates and listed the adoptive parents as biological parents. Despite the illegality of the abortions, Hicks would advertise the service at phone booths, bus stations and bridges, according to Appalachian History. Youre as crazy as he was if you think he should even get a pat on the back for his time and services. Many are hoping DNA will link them to their birth families, and some of them have found biological parents, siblings and parents through DNA, according to WKYC. Sompayrac believes her grandfathers actions helped the birth mothers in need and gave the babies life. The birth certificates Ive seen were in the 6-7 lb range. How would you feel if you found out a child your told was dead is actually alive I wish Hicks was alive to stand trial for what he did, he had no right. Dr Thomas Jugarthy Hicks Sr Born 18 Oct 1888 in Bloomington, Pickett, Tennessee, United States Ancestors Son of David Fleming Hicks and [mother unknown] [sibling (s) unknown] Husband of Chass (Copeland) Hicks married 7 Jun 1917 in Polk, Tennessee, USA Father of Thomas Jugarthy Hicks Jr Died 5 Mar 1972 at age 83 in Tennessee, United States Dr. Thomas J. Hicks performed abortions in the 1950s, long before abortions were legalized in Roe v. Wade. This is a different story than what I expected! To push the boundaries of DNA science. THIS POOR WOMAN THOUGHT HER TWIN BOYS HAD DIED. Instructions for how to transfer the raw data file to MyHeritage and FTDNA are here: https://thednageek.com/how-to-transfer-your-ancestrydna-test-to-other-databases/. As a result, he could not provide information that would help the babies find their parents or the other way around.4. Nor did he put women in touch with legal adoption providers. However, only four of his siblings survived to adulthood. He also told the mothers that their babies died, gave them death certificates but then sold the baby out the back door for $1000. If you have any questions about something that you read in this post, please join in the discussion below. Powered by. thank you so much for the information danny has 5 sisters and 1 brother looking for him, Should anyone believe or just want to be a part of the DNA registry for The Nicks Babies..please visit us on our webpage (Hicks Adoptees), Thank You That evil man lied to my mother and stole my oldest brother and by the way, $1000 was alot of money in the 1930s, 40s and 50$ in the Appalachian Mountains. Hicks Baby Adoptee Sold by Georgia Doctor 50 Years Ago Reunites With Birth Mother, Brother. It includes a handout, plenty of time for questions and discussion, and access to the recording for 2 weeks. i never thought it was real when i was little either. My brother was born in the middle 1930s. One twin has not been found yet but the one that was found was adopted into a horrible family and had a really sad childhood. Learn how three Hicks babies were able to find biological family using DNA. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. Facebook The adopted child or biological mother can call and provide information about their gender and birthdate. He was married and had three children. Apparently these women were seeking abortions, not babies. When she woke she only had one baby. Are you on drugs. There were cases where Hicks talked women out of abortion. is anything else your are looking? Theres probably a lot of dead babies because of his practices. Interesting. He let loose some real chaos into this world.. She was present when authorities opened the mausoleum. I Just dont understand how anyone could possibly think what he did was right or just or in any way good at all!! Our filters are much different than the ones from that period of time. He told women their babies had died when they hadnt. Babies For Sale: The Secret Adoptions That Haunt One Georgia Town. Learn how your comment data is processed. what he did was very wrong and im very sorry for all those kids and parents. This type of adoption is just one way that many babies are adopted through illegal, black market adoptions. I grew up with this story from my grandfather when i was little. PS Ancestry DNA is a crook. This is how this group of babies, who are now all grown up, came to be called Hicks Babies. When mothers came in to the clinic and expressed hesitancy about carrying their pregnancies to term, the doctor would persuade them to have their babies. Have The Hicks Babies Been Reunited With Their Birth Parents Or Birth Families? More than 200 babies, known as the Hicks Babies, were sold by Hicks through a back window of the Hicks Community Clinic in McCaysville, Georgia during the 1950s and 1960s. Dr. Hicks died of leukemia in 1972 at the age of 83. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. If he does, youll want to be in whichever database he decides to use. He was inducing them around 30 weeks handing out 4lb babies to people. The pain these mothers felt I could never imagine and not to mention how many of these babies died from being delivered wayyyy too prematurely. What's additionally staggering is it's believed that more than 200 infants, known as the "Hicks Babies," were victims of the doctor's scheme during the '50s and '60s. HE WAS A HORRIBLE MAN, JUST HORRIBLE!!! Dr. Thomas Jugarthy Hicks, the man behind the Hicks Babies, ran a small clinic in the tiny town of McCaysville, Georgia. That $1000. Then you missed the entirety of the story. "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MGFJ-W52: accessed 10 April 2021), Thomas J Hicks in household of D Fleming Hicks, Civil District 10, Sullivan, Tennessee, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 162, sheet 7B, family 136, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9119259/thomas-jugarthy-hicks, See: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:McCaysville%2C_Georgia Jane Blasio, The Hicks Baby Who Broke the Black Market Baby Adoption Case: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know.