Taylor Hicks
Hicks in 2014, photo by kathclick/Bigstock.com
Birth Name: Taylor Reuben Hicks
Place of Birth: Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Date of Birth: October 7, 1976
Ethnicity: English, Irish, Scottish, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, Cherokee Native American
Taylor Hicks is an American singer. He won the fifth season of the show American Idol (in 2006). See other American Idol winners here.
His family moved to Hoover, Alabama, when he was a child.
On his father’s side, Taylor is a descendant of William Abraham Hicks, who was born, c. 1769, in Georgia, and of his wife, Sarah Bathia Foreman, who was born, c. 1788, in Virginia. William was a leader and chosen interim Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation in 1827. Both William and Sarah were of partial Cherokee Native American descent.
Taylor’s paternal grandfather was Earl Hicks (the son of Reuben A. Hicks and Tressie Susan Higgins). Earl was born in Alabama. Taylor’s great-grandfather Reuben was born in Jefferson County, Alabama, the son of Jonathan Henry Hicks and Mary Carolyn Collier. Tressie was born in Jefferson County, the daughter of William David Higgins and Amanda Jane Vines. Mary’s great-great-grandparents, Joseph William Collier and Rebecca Rothchild, were an English couple, who moved to North Carolina. Rebecca was said to have been the daughter of Witt Rothchild and Jane Clark. She was also said to have been Jewish, though this is unlikely.
Taylor’s paternal grandmother was named Jonnie/Joni R. Simpson (the daughter of Gaylord T. Simpson and Loucille/Lucille S.). Jonnie was born in Alabama.
Taylor’s maternal grandfather was Keith Robert Dickinson (the son of Claude/Claud Lofton Dickinson and Josie Pearl McKinney). Keith was born in Vida, Autauga Co., Alabama. Claude was born in Chilton County, Alabama, the son of William Crawford Dickinson and Julia Mallory Faulkner. Josie was born in Alabama, the daughter of John Ballard Louis McKinney and Sue Woodlif.
Taylor’s maternal grandmother was Ruth W. Goolsby (the daughter of J. R. Goolsby and Pearl McClendon). Taylor’s grandmother Ruth was born in Alabama.
Sources: Genealogy of Taylor Hicks – http://gw.geneanet.org
Obituary of Taylor’s paternal grandmother, Jonnie/Joni R. (Simpson) Hicks – http://obits.al.com
You are quite wrong here. Most Americans can actually trace their ancestry back to 1600s (at least) if they have Colonial ancestry. Jews in Southern Italy? That’s niche stuff. But provide me additional info if you have it.
@genome
I found that he has distant Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry (Collier line on paternal grandfather’s side), through a woman ,Rebecca Rothchild, who was born in Devon, England, in 1716.
She is discussed here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/JewishGenealogyPortal/posts/2977264328988460/
That’s a pretty deep dive, Andrew. Most Americans can’t trace their ancestry much past great-grandparents. I know I can’t. You’re digging back to the early 1700s. Tens of millions of non-Jews around the world have some distant Jewish ancestor if you go back far enough. Spain, Southern Italy, and large parts of Eastern Europe like Poland, Hungary, and Russia are full of cases like that. It’s not some shocking discovery. It’s just how genealogy works when you go back ten generations.