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Mrs. Charles H. Wykes Sr. and her
daughters Cynthia Annie Wykes, Leila, Eula, Julia, Nora, and Mildred
(middle row). At the front is Edgar (Babe), Leila's son. This photograph dates
from the early 1870s and is probably outside the Wykes home in Oakalla, Texas.
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Most of the Wykeses in Texas are descended from James William Wykes of Creaton, Northamptonshire, England, through his son Edward Samuel. The Texas 'clan' is large and
expanding, with quite a history of its own. Edward Samuel's son, Charles Haywood
Wykes was living in Chicago at the time of the Great Fire in 1871.
Although he and his family were able to escape, joining relatives in Ohio, they
lost everything in the conflagration.
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| Edward Orme Wykes at Camp
Trevis, Texas,
USA during World War I |
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Edward Orme Wykes was the son of Charles Haywood and the great grandson
of James William Wykes of Creaton. He was a crack shot and won the
turkey shoot for year after year at the Veterans of Foreign Wars
contest. He was asked to not compete for many years because they thought
he kept a lot of people from paying their money and competing as he
always won! He still competed. And he still kept winning!
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| Edward
Orme in
the 1950's |
Edward
and his wife Ruby in a
photo probably taken in the 1920's. |
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Edgar Babe Smith Jr., a great-great grandson of William James Wykes, at the White House on the night of President
Lyndon B. Johnson's swearing in ceremony. Edgar is sitting on the couch and President Johnson is seated to his left. |
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| The
Wykes House, Oakalla, Burnet County, Texas in 1916 |
And finally, a picture of the Wykes
homeplace, Oakalla, near Rocky Creek, Burnet County, Texas, taken in 1916. The
house was built
in the late 1890's and was torn down in the 1980s.
Cynthia Annie Wykes, wife of Charles Haywood Wykes, grandson of James William Wykes,
who died in 1942 and was the last person to live there.
A Wykes still lives on the site. He is a great-great grandson of James William of
Creaton.
For much more information and lots of
historic photographs of the Texan Wykeses, see the excellent website The
Wykes Family Pages by Ruth and Rachel Short, my 6th cousins and
great-great-great-great granddaughters of James William
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