A local youngster decided to research his own family members for a church project commemorating Black History Month.

Tristan Hicks, a 7-year-old second-grader at Mack Benn Jr. Elementary School, researched his great-great-uncle, Benjamin F. Hicks.

His church, New Mt. Joy Food for Living Ministries, encourages children to research historic African-American figures during Black History Month and give a presentation during a Sunday service, said Tristan’s father, Fred Hicks.

Most of the children choose nationally known figures such as Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks or Frederick Douglass, Fred Hicks said.

But he thought it might be neat if his son did something a bit different.

“It’s such a little-known fact, I thought it would be neat if he did it,” Fred Hicks said. “He wanted to do something different.”

Tristan researched Benjamin Hicks and created a poster with a photo of the man and a photo of himself standing beside a historical marker honoring Benjamin Hicks. He gave his presentation in church on Feb. 12.

Benjamin Hicks, who was born in 1847 and died in 1925, was born near Courtland and made his living by farming. By 1902, Hicks had received a patent for his invention of a gasoline-powered machine for stemming and cleaning peanuts and is noted for his contributions to the development of the peanut harvester, according to the historical marker.

Fred Hicks said Benjamin Hicks was of Nottoway Indian descent, as well as African-American.

“His picker is believed to have helped revolutionize farming in Southampton and the peanut-growing area,” the marker states.

Tristan said he enjoyed visiting the Southampton Heritage Village and Agriculture/Forestry Museum as part of his research. He got to see several historic farm implements there, including ones like Benjamin Hicks might have used.