Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920
Biography of Harriet (Mrs. F. M.) McDavid Hicklin, 1868-1945
By Joyce Weaver, Director of Library & Archives
The Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina
Founding member and Treasurer of the South Carolina State Suffrage Association, Spartanburg, South Carolina
Harriet (Hattie) Regina McDavid was born May 1, 1868 in Dunklin Township, Greenville County, South Carolina to Peter A. McDavid, a farmer, and Fannie M. McDavid. She married Francis (Frank) McCully Hicklin on November 24, 1886. They had 7 children, 6 of whom survived into adulthood: Frank, Malvin, Louise, Allen, Frances and Hattie. The family settled in Chester, SC. Mr. Hicklin, a commercial traveler, died in 1917. Mrs. Hicklin died January 22, 1945 in Bronxville, Westchester County, New York at the home of her daughter Hattie (Mrs. Spotswood Hall). She is buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Chester, South Carolina.
In Ida Harper's History of Woman Suffrage chapter on South Carolina, Mrs. Hicklin is incorrectly identified as Mrs. F.T. Kicklin. Newspaper accounts of the day provided her correct identification as a founding member and treasurer of the South Carolina State Suffrage Association, founded on May 16, 1914 in Spartanburg, South Carolina. In 1915, she was re-elected to the treasurer position. Records of the League of Women Voters held at the University of South Carolina name Mrs. Hicklin among the members whose activities are documented in unbound scrapbooks consisting of newspaper clippings and other archival material covering the Equal Suffrage League and the activities of its members. Mrs. Hicklin was also active in the Daughters of the American Revolution and was elected treasurer of the South Carolina Chapter in November 1915. She also served as chair of the Home Economics Committee of the South Carolina State Federation of Women's Clubs.
Sources
Asheville Gazette (Asheville, NC), November 23 1915, “South Carolina D.A.R.” Newspapers.com
The Bamberg Herald (Bamberg, SC) May 21 1914 “Form Suffrage League: Mrs. M.T. Coleman Heads New State Organization” South Carolina Historic Newspapers (accessed Jan 16, 2018)
The Charlotte News (Charlotte, NC) May 17 1914 “Equal Suffrage League for South Carolina” Newspapers.com (accessed May 21, 2018)
The Charlotte News (Charlotte, NC) October 30, 1915 “Important News Items of the Carolinas In Form” Newspapers.com (accessed May 21, 2018)
Harper, Ida Husted, ed. “South Carolina,” The History of Woman Suffrage. New York: National American Woman Suffrage Association, 1922. [LINK]
“Harriet McDavid Hicklin (1868-1945)” Find a Grave Memorial, Find a Grave database (https://www.findagrave.com accessed January 17, 2018)
Official Register and Directory of Women's Clubs in America, ed. and pub. by Helen Winslow, Shire, Massachusetts, Vol. 18, 1916, p. 191.
Records, 1909-1952, League of Women Voters, 5 v. (3 bound, 2 unbound). Records of the League of Women Voters of South Carolina, South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina.