Charles Haywood Wykes was born on March 15, 1858 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Edward S. Wykes and Julia E. (Jones) Wykes.
Charles's father, Edward, died during the Civil War, and Charles and his mother, Julia, moved to Ohio. Apparently, Charles stayed some of the time with his uncle and aunt. Uncle James and Aunt Mary were doubly his uncle and aunt because James (Wykes) was his father's brother, and Mary (Jones) was his mother's sister. Charles was living with them in Chicago at the time of the Great Fire. Charles tried to fight the fire when it reached their home, but eventually they had to flee, losing almost all of their possessions. From there they apparently moved to Ohio.
Charles owned the first car in Burnet County and therefore had the first license plate which was a large metal number one. The following picture is of a newspaper article from 1909 in which the new car is mentioned.*
Newspaper Scan
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Charles married Cynthia Annie Robey Wykes on Feb. 26, 1880. "Annie" was born on January 14, 1857. She was the daughter of Francis Asbury Robey and Annie Solemnia (Bratton) Robey. Charles & Annie moved to Oakalla, TX in Burnet County from near Austin shortly after their marriage. Charles and Cynthia farmed and ranched on their property. Charles died on Feb. 6, 1929. He had flu for about two weeks and was recovering from that when a heart attack took him away without warning at about 1:10 A. M. All of the children were present at the funeral. He was buried inthe Oak Hill Cemetery in Lampasas, TX. Cynthia Annie died on April 14, 1942.
Annie Lucile Smith Rowntree Remembers
Annie Rowntree was Charles and Annie's second grandchild, and here is what she remembers of her grandparents at 94 years of age:
The stories I have heard regarding the journey to Texas of Charles
Haywood Wykes Senior some time after the Chicago fire began with the story of the need for security and safety during such a long trip on horseback.
Grandfather answered an advertisement and joined about 15 other men as
they made their way toward Austin, Texas where his uncle and aunt were
living. When he reached Central Texas, he was introduced to Cynthia Annie Robey of Round Rock; they were married in 1880 and moved almost immediately to Burnet County.
My grandparents were introduced to each other by Virginia Ribble who
later married Mr. Hall. I always referred to her as Auntie Hall. I was
amazed as a child that she was brave enough to call my grandfather by his first name very casually, for he was a serious and formal person. One leg was shorter than the other making a cane necessary when he walked. We were told that he had had the "white swelling" early in life. I thought later that it must have been polio.
Grandfather was not an affectionate grandfather to little children, but
I pleased him later when I learned to play the piano well enough to
accompany him while he sang. He had a melodious voice and enjoyed singing so much. He would sing several songs, and I was proud to please him. Once he presented me with a box of candy to reward me.
In the morning he would tap into the kitchen, seat himself at the table and announce, "Annie, my tea!"
When he was 50, he retired from work on the place and never again
turned a hand toward physical chores. He would direct others. He had
a wonderful mechanical ability and knew how to repair any farm machinery.
This skill was greatly respected by my father, his son-in-law. By this
time his gin near to the blue hole was flourishing and making a good living, but my mother and father worried that Grandfather's "retirement" meant Grandmother would be strained keeping up with chores so they kept hired men going over to help out.
Grandmother had lost her mother when she was eight years old, and she was used to hard work and farm chores. She had been responsible in early life for caring for her little siblings and had very little schooling. She was a life-long reader, and I was always amazed at her wide knowledge. She had a big medical book that was important in keeping a family healthy. She was deeply Christian and daily studied her Bible. She was always active in
organizing church, school and community activities.
Grandmother had a true love of beauty. One of my early memories is being awakened while it was still dark. She wanted me to get dressed and walk up a lane to a small hill so I could experience the beauty of the dawn. It made a great impression on me.
Here is another history I have come across among our family history papers. I don't know who wrote this, but it is the second paragraph of a
document titled "History of the Charles Haywood Wykes Family" and was written sometime after 1975. It says:
"Later they (Charles Sr, and his Uncle James and Aunt Mary) went to Texas to find a place to locate. Charles' Grandfather came to Texas with them. They rented a place north of Austin to have a place to live while they looked around to see where they wanted to buy. Charles Haywood rode horseback with two or three other men to west Texas looking at the country. He came to Burnet County and found the place he bought north of the forks of Rocky Creek Mr. TC and Mary E. White sold him his place with a house and barn and 960 acres of land and later he bought some more land and had about 1200 acres. Wiles living near Austin he met Miss Cynthia Annie Robey. She lived with her father on a farm near where they lived and they fell in love and were married Feb. 26, 1889 (scratched out, and
unclear). Before they married he batched several months at the place he bought."
Pictures:
Cousin of Charles - is the name Edward Cowlishaw?
Claude, Tom, and Florence Wykes - Charles Sr.'s cousins (Charles's Uncle John Wykes's grandchildren by Thomas)
Documents from Charles's family:
Please be patient...some of these take a little while to load.
Poll Tax Receipt for 1903
Poll Tax Receipt for 1904
Poll Tax Receipt for 1905
Poll Tax Receipt for 1906
Poll Tax Receipt for 1907
About Charles Sr. during the Chicago Fire
Wykes Letter Post-Chicago Fire - document contributed by Mary Kuhn Rowntree Rogers
Letter from Mary to Julia about the Chicago Fire
Frank McMillen to Charles Sr. about the Chicago Fire
Another letter from Mary to Julia regarding the Chicago Fire
Receipt from J. M. Brown to Charles Sr. in 1905.
Notes on the Wykes family by Charles in 1927
Short history of Burnet County near Oakalla, Langford and Briggs written by Mrs. C. H. Wykes, Sr.
Charles and Annie's home
The Wykes Family in
1913
The Wykes Home before
1900
Charles H. Wykes Sr.
The Wykes men in 1916
C. H. Wykes
Annie Robey (Wykes)
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The Wykes ladies
Label on the back of the
above photo
Cynthia Annie and her
grandson, Don
Annie & Charles Jr.
Fancy writing
Young Charles Wykes
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Annie & daughters
Mrs. C. H. Wykes
(Cynthia Annie)
Mr. C. H. Wykes, Sr.
(Charles Haywood)
Family Gathering
Colorful Parrot
Writing with Parrot
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Wykes generations
Wykes Family at Mildred's
wedding
The ten Wykes' at
Mildred's wedding
Annie Robey Wykes
Wykes Family - 1913
Charles & Frank
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*We are very grateful to the Burnet County Genealogical Society for scanning this article and sending it to us.
Wykes Family Homepage
