Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 05.djvu/265

 HICKS

HICKS

stated supply at Utica, N.Y., 1844-45 ; pastor at Rochester, N.Y., 184.5-54; stated supply at Mont- real, Canada, 1854-55 ; and pastor at Scranton, Pa., 1855-68. He was a trustee of Lafayette college, Easton, Pa., 1863-73; and an invalid at Marietta, Oliio, from 1868 until his death. He was a delegate to the synod of Presby- terian churches in Ireland and Scotland, 1867. He received the degree of D.D. from the College of New Jersey, Princeton, in 1861. He died in Marietta. Ohio, July 19, 1873.

HICKS, Elias, preacher, was born in Hemp- stead, N.Y., March 19, 1748 ; son of John and Martha Hicks. His father was a member of the Society of Friends and Elias became a frequent attendant at the meetings of tliat sect. He was apprenticed to a carpenter at the age of seventeen, and on the expiration of his term he returned to his father, with whom he lived until his marriage, Jan. 2, 1771, to Jemima, daugliter of Jonathan and Elizabeth Seaman, of Jericho, N. Y. Thereafter he took charge of his father-in-lasv's farm, of which he ultimately became the owner. In 1768 he joined the Friends, and in 1775 be- gan his ministry. For fifty years he was an acknowledged leader, his meetings being at- tended by large audiences composed of persons of various denominations. He travelled and preaclied thi-ougliout the United States and in Canada, receiving no pay as a preacher, and bearing liis own travelling expenses, while at home he worked on his farm, thus earning the support of himself and his family. He was a powerful advocate of emancipation of the slaves in his native state, and to him is largely due the act of the legislature of New York, passed July 4, 1827, freeing all the slaves within its borders. About 1820 certain persons claimed to discover that he was a heretic, and was teaching to the communitj' " pernicious and soul-ruining errors.*' He was accused of denying the divinity of Christ and the authority of the Scriptures. In a letter written to Charles Stokes, of New Jersey, in 1829, the year before his death, however, he states very clearly that he believed the Bible to have been written "by holy men, inspired by the Holy Ghost " ; and that he believed in the "miraculous conception of Jesus "and that He was "truly the Son of God" fully partaking " of the very nature, spirit, likeness, and divinity of His Heavenly Father." He did not, however, believe in the doctrine of original sin, or the vicarious atonement of Jesus, pronouncing them inconsistent with the nature of "a perfectly just, all-wise, and merciful Jehovah." His fol- lowers became known as " Hicksites," but they themselves only recognized the name of Friends, and the opposite side also retained that title. He published : Observations on Slavery (1811) ;

Elias Hicks's Journal and his Life and Labors (1828) ; Sermons (1828); Letters of Elias Hicks (1834). He died at Jericlio, N.Y., Feb. 27, 1830. HICKS, Frederick Charles, educator, was born in St. Clair county, Mich., Jan. 1, 1863 ; son of Henry Warren and Ellen Asenath (Gilbert) Hicks. He attended the public scliools of Co- runna, Midi., and was graduated from the Uni- versity of Michigan, A.B., 1886. He was princi- pal of the high school at La Porte, Ind., 1886-88 ; instructor in political economy at the University of Michigan, 1891-92 ; in 1892 became professor of history and political economy and afterward professor of economics at the University of the State of Missouri, and was dean of the faculty in

1898. He was in Leipzig, Paris and Rome, 1896- 97. He became a member of the American Econo- mic association in 1886, of the Internationale Vereinigung fur vergleichende Rechtswissen- schaft und Volkswirtschaftslehre zu Berlin in 1895, and of the National Geographic society in

1899. He was married, Sept. 18, 1890, to Verna Evangeline Sheldon. He istlie author of : Terri- torial Revenue System of Misso2(ri (1896) ; Tlie GoveTmvient of the People of Missouri (1897) ; Economics, A Study of Fundamental Principles (1900), and contributions to periodicals.

HICKS, Josiah Duane, representative, was born in Chester county. Pa., ^Aug. 1, 1844 ; son of John and Barbara (Eynon) Hicks ; grandson of James Hicks and of James Eynon ; and a de- scendant of George Hicks, who with his brother Lemuel fled from north of Germany (Holland) to England in 16tli century, a refugee from popish persecution. The Eynons are of Welsh origin and trace their ancestry back into the history of that ancient people, having for centuries lived in and about Cardiff. In or about 1840 John and Barbara Hicks immigrated from Wales to Amer- ica, and in 1847 settled in Blair county. Pa., wliere the son received an education in the public schools. He removed to Altoona, Pa., in 1861, served as a private soldier in the Union army 1862-63, and in 1864 as first lieutenant. He studied law with Daniel J. Neff, was admitted to practice in 1875, and held several minor political positions. In 1880 he was elected district attor- ney of Blair county, and was re-elected in 1883. He was a Republicau representative from the twentieth district in the 53d, 54th and 55th con- gresses, 1893-99, and served as chairman of the committee on patents, trade marks and copy- rights, and as vice-chairman of the committee on public buildings and grounds ; and was active in the proceedings of congress at the time of the blowing up of the Maine and preparatory to the war with Spain. On retiring from public lite he continued his law practice as a member ot the firm of Neff, Hicks & Geesey.