Herbert, Alice, Joseph, and James Tickle were all born in Lancashire and emigrated to Galveston with their parents, James and Ann Maria. All four married and had children, born in the United States. Herbert and his family perished in the Great Storm. The other five grand-children survived, and a sixth grandchild, John Bennett Tickle, was born shortly after the storm.
Alice married John Bailey so her children did not continue the Tickle family name, whereas Joseph and James’s children were Tickles.
Joseph Bennett Tickle became a well-respected member of society, earning many honours for his marble cutting. He had attended the Jesuit School in Galveston and became involved in organisations associated with them, and later the Texas Catholic Knights of the America. The Catholic Knights were a fraternal life-insurance and financial company, who also did charitable deeds and supported local bodies. They were one of the first bodies to admit women as equal members.
His three children enjoyed a far more privileged lifestyle than their ancestors. Their names appear frequently in the Social News column of the Galveston Daily News, as hosts or guests of children’ parties, and attendees at various events. The weddings of all three, which took place in St Patrick’s Church, were reported in the newspaper.
John Bennett Tickle, (known as ‘Johny’) married first. He was the youngest of James’s children, and the only male grandchild of the original immigrants. Johny worked as a book-keeper / accountant in a Galveston hardware store. In May 1923, he married Percy Virginia Brooks, nicknamed ‘Boots’. She was the daughter of Capt and Mrs J P Brooks, and a native of Florida, although she had lived in Galveston for several years. Their wedding is described in the column as “a quiet wedding but one of much charm and interest“. Although the couple were popular with a wide circle of friends, only their closest friends and family were invited. The bride was ‘charmingly gowned” in a travelling suit of beige with harmonising accessories and a matching hat. Her corsage was of Ophelia, roses, and lily of the valley. Bessie Tickle, the groom’s sister, was her bridesmaid, and wore a taffeta frock of deep brown with a small beige hat. The couple exchanged rings at the ceremony and left for a two week honeymoon. Johny and Boots had one son, John Brooks Tickle, born 21 April 1927. John and his sons are still alive and have inherited the Tickle name. Hopefully, they will participate in the Tickle DNA project and help to identify which of the Tickle lines in the UK are related to these Galveston Tickles.
Bessie Caroline, Joseph’s eldest daughter, appears to have been a modern, independent young woman. She worked for a number of years as a receptionist at the Maurer Studios. In 1914, when she would have been just 19 years old, a housewarming party is reported in the Social News column. This was for 60 guests, mostly young people, and was hosted by Misses J Hausinger and Bessie Tickle, implying that she had left her parents’ home at this point and was sharing a home with a friend. That would have been unheard of in earlier years.
In 1929 Bessie married Arthur B Pigeonne from Brooklyn, a Customs official in Galveston. It was an April wedding, and the church was decorated with palms, ferns, and Easter lilies. Soft music was played on the organ and a singer rendered ‘Ava Maria‘. Bessie wore a rose beige crepe dress with matching accessories and carried an arm cluster of roses in a shower effect. Her sister, Rose May, was her bridesmaid. She wore a dress of peach georgette with a hat to match, and carried an arm cluster of pink roses.
Rose May (also sometimes shown as Rose Mary) Tickle, married rather later in life. Her husband was widower, Frederick Joseph Kreft, a cotton dealer. At the wedding, in 1950, the bride wore a powder blue dressmaker suit with a white nylon blouse, navy accessories and an orchid shoulder corsage. Her sister-in-law, Virginia, was her only attendant, and wore a navy blue suit with navy and white accessories. ‘Ava Maria‘ was also sung at her wedding. Neither of the sisters appears to have had any children.
James Tickle’s marriage to Nellie Moore broke up. He never remarried, and died aged 44. Nellie married George C Darras in 1901, the year after the Great Storm, and had three more children. Jeannette Tickle, James’s daughter, was brought up by her mother and stepfather. Jeannette married three times during her life. Her first husband was Edward Charles Wolff, whom she married in 1893. She then married William Henry Beckway, who was considerably older than her. They had a son, Edward Starr Beckway, born in 1918. After William died in 1935 she married George Preston Gold in 1936 in Johnson County, Texas. Jeannette’s son, Edward, joined the Navy and had at least one son, born in 1947. Being female, Jeannette did not pass on the Tickle name to her son or grandson.
