I want to thank the creator(s) of this website. After three generations of searching for information on James Hickman, this website provided the first new information we have seen in some time.
There is a James Hickman listed in the 1904 Jurrors list working as a Gauger for Punchard Lowther and Co. I believe this is my James Hickman. Does anyone know what a Gauger is? From his employment records as shown below, he claims to have worked as an electrical engineer for Punchard Lowther and Co in Hong Kong. I'm having a hard time relating Electrical Engineer to Gauger.
I know nothing of his parents or siblings. All information I have as listed below regards his life in later years. We have searched and searched and still know nothing more about his parent's except what he told his wife which is very minimal...His father was supposedly also named James Hickman from Canada and his mother was named Mary Lowe from England.
Any help learning more about James or his pre-marriage family is not only requested, but begged for. ;-) and greatly appreciated.
Aside from the information below about all I can tell you about his time in Hong Kong is that he belonged to the masonic lodge there.
The timeline below was put together by my mother.
Thank you in advance for any help you can give.
Joe Mitchell
Born: Lavina, MT, USA -- Employment Records, daughter's (Ida) birth cirtificate, death certificate
When Born:
1865 according to age listed on daughter's (Ida) birth cirtificate.
June 4, 1866 according to information given by his wife on his death certificate.
June 4, 1868 according to information on employment papers of October 17, 1907.
Father: James Hickman - Born: Canada (information he told his wife)
Mother: Mary Lowe - Born: England (information he told his wife)
Siblings in order of birth:
Arthur, Olive, Amelia, James*, Ernest
Ernest lived in Butte, Silver Bow, Montana, USA according to employment records of James Hickman.
Timeline of Life/Employment:
Cow puncher on ranches in Montana Bar 04, 79, 6L, Winged Crescent, Flying Half Moon according to information on employment records of 1909.
Electrical Engineer: for approximately 10 years (records lost on trip from Batangas to Calapan Mindoro in a banca) information on employment records of 1909.
1902-1904: Electrical Engineer - Punchard, Lowther and Co., in Hong Kong (employment records of 1905 and 1909)
October 1904 - June 17, 1905: Electrical Engineer - Telephone Division, Philippine Constabulary (employment records 1905 and 1909)
June 22, 1905 - December 15, 1905: Assistant General Foreman, Tabaco Ligao Road (Employment records)
January 1, 1906 - July 1907: Inspector, Bureau of Public Works, Calapan Mindoro and Dagupan Pangasinan (Employment Records)
July 1, 1907 - October 17, 1907: Inspector, 3rd District, Bureau of Public Works (employment records)
October 18, 1907: Overseer, Bureau of Public Works (Employment Records)
October 17, 1908: Foreman, various projects (IX District) Bureau of Public Works (Employment Records)
September 18, 1909: Married Lena Martha Hoffman (Domestic Science Teacher at Tacloban High School) in Tacloban, Leyte, Philippine Islands. Marriage performed by Rev. Roy H. Brown of Albay, in the home of William A. Crossland, District Engineer. They went to Dagami-Barawan Road where James was stationed at that time. (Information from wedding announcement in newspaper).
October 11, 1909: Foreman, 9th Engineering District, Bureau of Public Works (employment records).
July 5, 1910: Daughter, Ida Mary Hickman, born at the civil hospital in Manila, Luzon, Phillipine Islands. (Ida's birth certificate)
June 22, 1912: Daughter, Elizabeth Ann Hickman, born, Manila, Luzon, Philippine Islands (Family records of Ida Hickman Brangham)
August 7, 1912: Wife and Daughters aboard the S.S. Nile at Yokohama, Japan enroute to USA (Letter from Lena Hickman to James Hickman)
March 13, 1913: James Hickman made overseer of Snagboat, "J.M. Dickenson", Bureau of Navigation, Manila, Philippine Islands (employment records)
April 24, 1914: James Hickman in Hong Kong enroute to USA (Letter from James to Lena)
August 5, 1914: James in Leadore, Idaho, USA. Filed on 320 acres of land and suggests that wife and daughters join him in about a month. (Letter from James to Lena)
March 31, 1915: Daughter, Grace Hickman, born in Leadore, Lemhi, Idaho (family records of Ida Hickman Brangham)
August 3, 1915: Died in Leadore, Lemhi, Idaho, USA (death certificate)
August 5, 1915: Burried in Junction Cemetery, Leadore, Lemhi, Idaho (death certificate.
Shortly after, Lena and daughters move back to Logan, Utah, USA to be with her family.
Comments
James Hickman
Joe, thanks very much for posting the information about James Hickman.
I'm not sure if you've seen the page 'How to research people who lived in Hong Kong' already? If you're lucky, one of those resources may give you some more information.
This google search suggests a gauger's job was a record keeper, measuring quantities. I can imagine a large construction project would have needed plenty of record-keeping, so maybe that was one of his roles. As you say, it doesn't seem directly connected to an electrician's work!
Regards, David
PS If you'd like to help other people searching for family history, I'd welcome your help to type up a page of the next Juror's List.