Uncle Bill Vickrey & the Chicks

Well the chicks were more his wife's business, he was a partner.

John William Vickrey was born May 18, 1899 in Wayne County, Kentucky the son of William (maybe John William) Vickrey and Allie (Spann) Vickrey. His father's estate was inventoried on January 24, 1899, He never knew his father. William's estate was valued at at least $1681, the last page or two of it was missing so that was not the final account.

In 1901 Allie remarried to Cicero Bell, who was a widower with two sons. The three boys were joined by four more boys who all grew up together in Kentucky and later Kansas. About 1926 the parents and nearly adult boys moved to Giltner, Nebraska.

Photo taken at Cicero's funeral, April 1944.
Back: Bill, Frank, Oren; Front: Virgil, Ben, Stan, Ed

In 1920 Bill opened a restaurant in Ionia, Kansas "to give the town a cold drink parlor". He sold it within a year. Throughout his young adult life he worked odd jobs helping farmers with harvest in Kansas, Iowa, Colorado and Nebraska, as well as working his own farm. Bill married Roberta Emery, a school-teacher, in 1931 at Washington, Kansas. He was 32 and she was 38. He was a big sports fan as he was occasionally noted in the papers for going to baseball and Nebraska football games. 

Giltner Gazette, August 27, 1931

Bill and Roberta lived in Washington County, Kansas until at least 1943. In January of 1939, Roberta became the operating manager of a hatchery in Fairbury. On today's roads it's a 30 minute drive from Washington, Kansas to Fairbury, Nebraska. In 1944, they bought property in Fairbury. 

Fairbury Gazette, December 8, 1938

In 1945, it was reported the hatchery's capacity was 46,000 eggs making it the second largest hatchery in Fairbury open at that time.  There are many advertisements in the Fairbury newspapers for the Jefferson County Hatchery. This one may show the type of incubator they had. 

Fairbury Journal, March 26, 1942

Bill farmed as well as helping to manage the hatchery. On October 16, 1947 there was an auction of his farm property. I don't believe he sold the land at this time.

Fairbury Daily News, October 13, 1947

Roberta and Bill Vickrey, undated photo

The chicks were a big part of their lives. Bill and Roberta didn't have any children. They remained in Fairbury until Bill's death on July 22, 1988 at the age of 89. He was buried in the Fairbury Cemetery. Roberta died in Wilbur, Nebraska at the age of 99 on July 29, 1992 and is buried in Formosa, Kansas with her family.