Viola Carey and the Seven Seals singers

There was a young lady named Adlee Viola who was born in Isle of Wight County, Virginia. People called her by her middle name Viola.  Viola and her sister Annie lost their mother Savannah when they were about three and five years old respectively.  Their father and mother attended a church service where someone made a cake for their mother.  After she ate a slice she was dead upon arrival at the hospital. Their father Ramson left them with one of their mother's sisters.  Apparently this aunt was not very kind to rearing children.  Early one morning a man who knew their father saw the two little girls with their luggage in the woods where bears and other wild animals existed.  The man took them back to their aunt's house.  He told their aunt not to touch them.  He notified their father.  Their father immediately took them to his parents' home.  His oldest sister Cora looked after them until they finished their education and were old enough to live alone.  Their father soon died as a result of an auto accident.

In the 1920s, the Lord blessed Viola and her sister to come to Newport News, Virginia where they met a lady who knew the Bible and was filled with the Holy Spirit.  Viola Carey and her sister gave their lives to God Almighty in a very big tent service.  One Sunday they were baptized in the river and received the Holy Spirit.  

Later years, Viola became very sick.  The doctors gave her up to die.  Viola prayed as never before.  She heard a glorious singing, "It was on one Tuesday when He made me whole.  If I could touch the hem of His garment, I know His blood can make me whole."  This same lady that Viola met who was filled with Holy Spirit visited her and told her that "My God is saying that all sickness is not unto death."  The next day Viola was well.

Viola married James I Hicks, Sr.  Her final marriage was to Sgt. William Carey, U. S. Army.  Viola  also became a professional nurse.  Her stage name was Viola Carey.  

Before and after her final marriage Viola sang alone in different churches with great demand.  In the 1940s, she founded the Sparkling Four who made a recording on the Liederman Label.  Her young son James I Hicks also later made a recording on the Liederman Label. 

Later years Saint Viola Carey founded and organized another group that her young son James I Hicks named the Seven Seals Singers. The original members were Carrie Mae Roberts, Clarine Vinson, Maggie Gay, and Emma Foster.  The Seven Seals Singers shared the stage with Madame Gertrude Ward, Clara Ward and the World Famous Ward Singers, Five Blind Boys of Mississippi and Alabama, Prof Alex Bradford and other greats.  Delphine Wells, Lillie Harrell, Barbara White, and Mary Richardson joined the group.  But Lillie Harrell, Emma Foster, Patricia Mason faithfully sang with her until her death in September 1962.   Many people remember how Saint Viola Carey, James I Hicks and Lillie Harrell performed great concerts together.

Dr. James I Hicks, former Nuclear Engineer Analyst prior to acquiring a Doctor of Divinity Degree.  Lillie Harrell, former professional nurse.  Edith Grimes, former General Retail Manager. Dr. Elsie Daniels, former university professor.   

The Seven Seals Singers of Newport News, Virginia featuring Lillie Harrell, Dr. Elsie Daniels, Ph.D, Edith Grimes with Dr. James I Hicks, D. D.  have re-entered the Gospel singing circuit.