Edward Hicks
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the Brown 1st district
In office
January 3, 1870 – January 2, 1871
Preceded byJoseph S. Curtis
Succeeded byJoseph S. Curtis
Member of the Wisconsin Senate
from the 2nd district
In office
January 6, 1862 – January 4, 1864
Preceded byEdward Decker
Succeeded byFrederick S. Ellis
Personal details
Born(1818-10-24)October 24, 1818
Conneaut, Ohio, U.S.
DiedMay 15, 1873(1873-05-15) (aged 54)
Sioux City, Iowa, U.S.
Cause of deathStroke
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Charlotte Gertrude Satterlee
​
​
(m. 1847⁠–⁠1873)​
Children
  • George Douglas Hicks
  • (b. 1852; died 1925)
  • Edward Livingston Hicks
  • (b. 1859; died 1933)
  • William Hicks
  • (b. 1860)

Edward Hicks (October 24, 1818 – May 15, 1873) was an American merchant, Democratic politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was a member of the Wisconsin Senate (1862, 1863) and State Assembly (1870), representing Brown County. He was postmaster of Green Bay for about 12 years during the 1840s and 1850s.

Biography

Edward Hicks was born in Conneaut, Ohio, in October 1818.[1] He received a common school and academic education, and moved west to the Wisconsin Territory in the early 1840s. He settled in Green Bay, where he remained for nearly three decades.[2] Hicks was affiliated with the Democratic Party, and under President James K. Polk, he was appointed postmaster at Green Bay, serving until the end of the Polk administration.[3] He was subsequently re-appointed postmaster in 1853, under President Franklin Pierce,[4] and was retained as postmaster under President James Buchanan.[1]

In 1861, Hicks was the Democratic Party nominee for Wisconsin Senate in the 2nd Senate district, which then comprised Brown and Kewaunee counties. Hicks faced no opponent in the general election and went on to serve in the 1862 and 1863 sessions of the legislature. He was not a candidate for re-election in 1863.[5]

He was named postmaster of Green Bay again in 1866, under President Andrew Johnson,[6] but he was one of several Johnson nominees ultimately rejected by the Republican Senate.[7]

In 1869, Hicks ran for state office again, running as the Democratic nominee for Wisconsin State Assembly in Brown County's 1st Assembly district. The district then comprised Green Bay and roughly the eastern half of Brown County. He defeated Republican Louis Schiller in the general election and went on to serve in the 1870 legislative session.[1]

Hicks moved to Sioux City, Iowa, in 1871, after suffering from poor health.[8] He died of a stroke in Sioux City on May 15, 1873.[2]

Personal life and family

Edward Hicks was the only known son of Joseph Hicks and his wife Sally (née Chamberland). The Hicks family were descended from Dennis Hicks, who settled at the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the early 1700s.

Edward Hicks married Charlotte Gertrude Satterlee about 1847, in Stonington, Connecticut. They had at least three sons.[2]

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (1869)

Wisconsin Assembly, Brown 1st District Election, 1869
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 2, 1869[1]
Democratic Edward Hicks 731 56.27%
Republican Louis Schiller 568 43.73%
Plurality 163 12.55%
Total votes 1,299 100.0%
Democratic gain from Republican

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Official Directory". The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1870. p. 357. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 "Death of a Former Resident". Green Bay Press-Gazette. May 15, 1873. p. 4. Retrieved May 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "Appointments by the Post Master General". Wisconsin Express. May 1, 1849. p. 2. Retrieved May 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "Green Bay Post Office". The Weekly Wisconsin. May 11, 1853. p. 3. Retrieved May 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ Heg, J. E., ed. (1882). "Annals of the Legislature". The Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin 1882 (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 203, 205. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Edward Hicks". Wisconsin State Journal. October 19, 1866. p. 2. Retrieved May 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Political". Semi-Weekly Wisconsin. March 6, 1867. p. 5. Retrieved May 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Gone West". Green Bay Press-Gazette. November 10, 1871. p. 4. Retrieved May 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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