Blair County PA Archives Biographies.....Hicks, Josiah D. August 1, 1844 - ????
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Source: Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Blair Co, PA: Philadelphia, 1892.
Author: Samuel T. Wiley

JOSIAH D. HICKS, 
one of the self-made men of Blair county, a prominent attorney of Altoona, a
leader in local politics, and a popular secret society man, is a son of John
and Barbara (Eynon) Hicks, and was born near Phoenixville, Chester county,
Pennsylvania, August 1, 1844.  His father and mother were both natives of
Wales, but emigrated to America in 1842, and located in the city of
Philadelphia.  The family remained there for a brief period of time, and then
removed to Chester county where John Hicks (father) secured employment in the
iron works at Phoenixville, being a forgeman by trade.  In 1846 he came to
what is now Blair county, and resided in this and Huntingdon counties until
1861, when he removed to Cleveland, Ohio.  He died in 1874, at the age of
fifty-eight, while visiting his son, Rev. W. W. Hicks, at Milledgeville,
Georgia, for his health.  He was a prominent member of the Methodist
Episcopal church, and was for many years a class leader and exhorter in that
church.  He was an abolitionist and republican in politics, and cast his
first vote for John C. Fremont.  He was a great admirer and strong supporter
of Abraham Lincoln.  By his marriage with Barbara Eynon he had a family of
eight children.  She was also a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and
died in 1869, at the age of forty-seven years.
   Josiah D. Hicks was reared partly in Blair and partly in Huntingdon
counties.  During his boyhood he attended the common schools of his
neighborhood, and finished his education after coming to Altoona, at a night
school taught by Prof. John Miller, which he attended for nearly three
years.  When he first came to this city he was employed as clerk in the
mercantile establishment of Clement Jaggard, one of our most successful
merchants at that time.  Later he accepted a position in the freight and
ticket department of the Pennsylvania railroad at Altoona, and in 1864 was
promoted to a clerkship in the office of the superintendent of
transportation, Robert Pitcairn, by whose influence he afterwards became
chief clerk of the Tyrone division, with his office at Tyrone.  Mr. Pitcairn
is now general agent and superintendent of the Pennsylvania railroad, with
headquarters at Pittsburg.  Mr. Hicks held the position of chief clerk of
that division for three years, and then removed to Altoona and embarked in
the general merchandise business in partnership with his brother, W. W.
Hicks.  This enterprise was conducted for a short time, when they sold out,
and Josiah D. removed to his farm near Williamsburg, this county, where he
engaged in farming for four years.  During this time he commenced reading
law, under the tutorship of Alexander & Herr, of Altoona.  In 1873 he left
his farm and engaged in the insurance business at Tyrone until he had
finished reading law and was ready for examination.  May 4, 1875, he was
admitted to the bar, and at once opened a law office in Tyrone, where he was
regularly engaged in general practice until March, 1884, when he removed to
Altoona and formed a law partnership with D. J. Neff, under the firm style of
Neff & Hicks.  This firm has existed to the present time (1892), and has
become well known throughout central Pennsylvania, enjoying a large and
lucrative, practice.  In the fall of 1880, Mr. Hicks was elected district
attorney on the republican ticket, running far ahead of his ticket.  He
entered upon the discharge of his official duties in January, 1881, and his
work was so satisfactory that when his first term had expired he was
unanimously re-nominated by his own party and was re-elected to the same
position.  In 1890 he became solicitor for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company,
a position he still holds, and in the same year was a candidate for election
to congress, but, while carrying his own county, was defeated for nomination
in the district, and in this year (1892) he received again the unanimous
nomination in Blair county.
   In April, 1861, Mr. Hicks enlisted in Company H, 14 Pennsylvania infantry,
but was rejected on account of his small stature.  In the spring of the
following year he enlisted again, but while on his way to join the company
was intercepted by his mother, who had come from Cleveland, Ohio, for that
purpose, and was once more prevented from joining the army.  In August, 1862,
he made another and more successful attempt to become a soldier, and was sworn
in as a private in Co. K., 125th Pennsylvania infantry, under an assumed name
(which was afterwards corrected).  He took part in the battle of Antietam and
at Chancellorsville; at the latter battle he was wounded and was discharged
from the army in June, 1863.  After this he re-enlisted twice for short
terms--first as third sergeant in the 46th Pennsylvania militia, and again as
first lieutenant, being commissioned by Governor Curtin to assist in raising a
battalion of one-hundred day men.  The battalion was promptly enlisted, sworn
into the United States service at Harrisburg, and assisted in driving the
confederates from the State after the burning of Chambersburg.
In December, 1868, Mr. Hicks was united in marriage to Anna M. Sparr, a
daughter of Isaac Sparr, of Williamsburg, who was one of the very early
settlers of this county.  She died at Tyrone in the summer of 1875, leaving
three children, two sons and a daughter:  Hattie W., William B., and Herbert
S., the latter dying in infancy.  In 1877 Mr. Hicks was again married, this
time wedding Josephine Barrick, daughter of Dr. Samuel Barrick, of Frederick
county, Maryland.  To this union have been born one son and one daughter: 
Cora Eynon and Charles B.
   Politically Mr. Hicks is an ardent republican, and cast his first vote for
Abraham Lincoln, while serving in the army and before he was twenty-one.  He
takes an active part in local politics, is a fluent extemporaneous speaker,
and served as chairman of the Republican county committee when Senator Quay
was chairman of the State committee.  He is very popular in his party, and no
doubt the future will bring him additional political honors.  He is a member
and trustee of the Methodist Episcopal church, and a member of Tyrone Lodge,
No. 152, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.  He has been a prominent member of
the Grand Army of the Republic ever since it was organized in Pennsylvania,
and is now past post commander of Col. D. M. Jones Post, No. 172, of Tyrone,
and also of Fred C. Ward Post, No. 468, of Altoona.  He was a member of the
National Encampment at Indianapolis, and elected a delegate by the recent
State encampment at Pittsburg as National Delegate to the National Encampment
at Washington, District of Columbia.
   In the line of his profession Mr. Hicks is solicitor for two of the largest
building associations in Altoona.  He owns a fine farm near Williamsburg,
which is well improved and stocked, and the operations of which he personally
superintends, deriving much pleasure therefrom.  He has been connected with
the Blair County Agricultural society for fifteen years, and during the last
six has been its vice-president.  He has also been a member of the State
board of agriculture for six years, and takes an active and intelligent
interest in all questions affecting agricultural pursuits.

Additional Comments:
Originally submitted 2001. Transcribed by Eileen

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