John S. Hicks, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of John S. Hicks
JOHN S. HICKS, one of the early settlers of Porter County, was born on Long Island, N. Y., February 16, 1813, and is the only child of Samuel and Ann (Searing) Hicks, both natives of Long Island, N. Y.; their ancestors were among the Plymouth Pilgrims of 1620. His father was a farmer, a soldier of 1812 and an honest man. His mother was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, but died when John was eighteen months old. Shortly after, when his father died, he was taken charge of by his grandparents. He received a practical education and learned the trade of a tailor; he was afterward employed by H. D. Brooks & Co., with whom he remained fourteen years. He then purchased land on Long Island and engaged in agriculture; this he relinquished, and engaged with F. Kurby & Co. of New York, for four years. In 1854, he arrived in Indiana and came to Porter County, purchased land, brought his family and commenced farming on Morgan Prairie; this he likewise sold, and came to his present location. He one had two hundred, and still owns ninety acres. Mr. Hicks has been twice married - once in 1834, to Sarah Van Nostrand, who died soon after our late war, by whom he had eight children - John A., William F., Mary C. and Eugene, living, and Alexander H., Elizabeth A., Sarah and Ida, deceased; of these, John and William served through the war. By his second marriage, to Mrs. Ellen (Birmingham) Gilbert, on June 10, 1873, there were two children - Ida, living, and Caleb N., deceased.
Source: Goodspeed, Weston A., and Charles Blanchard. 1882. Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana: Historical and Biographical, Illustrated. Chicago, Illinois: F. A. Battey & Company. 771 p.
Page(s) in Source: 283
This biography has been transcribed exactly as it was originally published in the source. Please note that we do not provide photocopies or digital scans of biographies appearing on this website.
Biography transcribed by Steven R. Shook