John M. Hicks 

Among the citizens of Appanoose county who have attained an honored place in the community through their acknowledged ability and personal worth and whose business activities have been important enough to affect the general development of the city is John M. Hicks, one of the most extensive stock buyers and shippers in this part of Iowa. His birth occurred in Hancock county, Tennessee, on the 16th of March, 1851, his parents being Gabe and Sarah (Seals) Hicks, both natives of that state. The paternal grandfather was of German-English lineage, and the grandmother Scotch-Irish, and both came to this country at an early day. The marriage of the parents occurred in Tennessee and in the spring of 1857 they came west, locating in Appanoose county, Iowa, where the father purchased two hundred acres of well-improved farm land near Unionville. He carried on general agriculture for some time but finally concentrated his attention upon raising stock, which he shipped to the eastern markets. He remained upon the farm until his death, which occurred in 1870, after which his wife removed to Unionville, where she passed away. In their family were four children: Andy and Larkin, who have passed away; R. M., a resident of Centerville; and John M., of this review.

John M. Hicks was a small child when he was brought to Appanoose county by his parents. When he had attained the usual age he entered the district school and there acquired his education, aiding his father with the work of the farm when not engaged with his books. After the death of Gabe Hicks, the subject of this review came to Unionville with his mother and here worked with a section gang until 1876, when he formed a partnership with J. B. Morrison with whom he engaged in the hoop- manufacturing business for some time. In 1887 he left Iowa and removed to Perkins county, Nebraska, where he purchased land and engaged in farming. However, he returned in the fall of 1890 and bought three hundred and twenty acres of land in Udell township, upon which he engaged extensively in raising high-grade stock. In 1895 his house was torn to pieces by a severe cyclone and one year later he sold the farm to W. C. Miller and moved into Unionville, his present home. However, he still continues active in stock dealing, upon which he has concentrated his attention for a number of years, shipping to the Chicago market. All of his business affairs are judiciously carried forward, showing discriminating business judgment and a marked spirit of enterprise, and prosperity has come as a natural result of his ability which commanded it.

On the 22d of February, 1876, Mr. Hicks was united in marriage to Miss Laura J. Miller, a daughter of Claudius and Martha J. (Baldridge) Miller, the father born in Hickman county, Tennessee, December 1, 1824. The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Hicks were Nathaniel and Sarah (Martin) Miller, natives of North Carolina. On the maternal side the grandparents were Andrew and Margaret Baldridge, early settlers in Tennessee, where the father followed the trade of millwright until his death. Mrs. Hicks' father, Claudius Miller, attended a subscription school in Hickman county, Tennessee, and his education was extremely limited and has been largely acquired through reading and observation in later years. He married in Tennessee in April, 1845, and three years later came to Iowa, locating in Appanoose county as a pioneer and taking up government land in Union township. On August 22, 1862, he enlisted in Company C, Thirty-sixth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, going to the front as second sergeant. He won promotion to the position of first sergeant on the 7th of March, 1863, and on the 3d of February, 1865, was made first lieutenant, with which rank he was mustered out on the 24th of August, 1865, at Devall Bluff, Arkansas. He returned home and for a time engaged in the general merchandise business in Unionville, conducting a profitable enterprise for a number of years and finally selling it in order to go to Nebraska, where he took up farming. In 1893 he returned to Unionville and opened a general store which he conducted successfully until 1906, when he retired from active life. His first wife passed away in Appanoose county in 1875. To their union were born nine children: Benjamin G., whose birth occurred in 1848 and who died in Iowa about 1906; Joseph, who was born in Appanoose county, October 27, 1850, and who is engaged in farming in Kidder, Missouri; John, who was born in Appanoose county, September 3, 1853, and who died August 16, 1854; Laura J., the wife of the subject of this review, born May 27, 1855; Amanda, who has born April 9, 1857, and who is the wife of John E. Miller, a carpenter in Unionville; Sarah, who was born September 20, 1859, and who is the wife of George Stutevoss, a stock-raiser, of Elsie, Nebraska, who died October 14, 1895; Snow, who was born July 19, 1861, and died in infancy; W. C., who was born August 20, 1862, and who is engaged in farming in Udell township; and Rosa, who was born June 19, 1866, and who is the wife of Wyke Large, of Sapulpa, Oklahoma. After the death of his first wife Mr. Miller married Miss Dorcas E. Jennings, a daughter of Percy and Lydia (Casey) Jennings, the former a carpenter of Greene county, Pennsylvania, where both parents passed away. Mrs. Miller came to Iowa previous to her marriage and taught for some time in the schools of Unionville and Moulton. She died in 1899, leaving two children: Mabel, who was born January 2, 1882, and who is the wife of Frederick Koehler, a dairyman of Ratoon, Mexico; and Agnes, who was born September 18, 1883, and who is residing at home. Mr. Miller is one of the well-known and prominent citizens of Unionville. For many years he has taken an active part in local republican politics and has served as county supervisor and as state representative. He is a member of the blue lodge of Masons, and his religious views are in accord with the doctrines of the Methodist Episcopal church, which direct and influence the activities of his every-day life. To Mr. and Mrs. Hicks has been born a son, Claudius R., whose natal day was December 9, 1878, and who is at present acting as train dispatcher at Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He married Miss Annette Hawn, of Vinton, and they have two children, Mildred Maurice and Laura Jeannette.

Mr. Hicks is a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal church, to which his wife also belongs. He is connected with the blue lodge of Masons and stands high both in business and social circles, for he is a man who commands the confidence and high regard of all with whom he is brought into contact. His political support is given to the democratic party and as a public-spirited citizen he takes a commendable interest in the welfare and growth of the community, although this never takes the form of office seeking.