newspaperman, author, diplomat, b. Auburn, N.Y. He moved with his parents to Wisconsin in 1851, settling in Little Chute. He attended Lawrence College (1865-1867), and began his journalistic career in 1867 as city editor of the Oshkosh Northwestern. In 1870 he became co-owner of the Oshkosh Daily Northwestern, and in 1886 acquired full ownership. He incorporated the John Hicks Publishing Co. in 1889, which published the Daily Northwestern until Hicks' death. A Republican, he served as minister to Peru (1889-1893) and minister to Chile (1905-1909). He contributed numerous articles to his newspaper based on his travels, and was the author of two novels, The Man from Oshkosh (1894) and Something about Singlefoot (1909). He donated several works of art to the city of Oshkosh. W. A. Titus, Hist. of the Fox River Valley ... (3 vols., Chicago, 1930); Cornmeal. Biog. Record of the Fox River Valley . . . (Chicago, 1895); Oshkosh Daily Northwestern, Dec. 21, 1917, Dec. 21, 1937.

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]