John Hicks was an American editor and diplomat. He was the owner of the Oshkosh Daily Northwestern, and also served as minister to Peru and Chile.
Background
John Hicks was born on April 12, 1847 in Auburn, New York, United States. Hee was the son of John and Maria Hicks.
When he was four years old his parents moved to Detroit, Michigan, and later to Wisconsin where they finally settled in Waupaca County. The father, a stone mason and weaver, enlisted in the 32nd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry in the third year of the Civil War and was killed, February 1865, during a skirmish in South Carolina.
Education
Hicks had picked up such schooling as could be had in the rural neighborhoods where the family lived and was himself employed as a district school teacher.
A short time spent in the preparatory department of Lawrence College, Appleton, Wisconsin, supplemented by reading of a rather wide range, constituted the only formal education of which he could avail himself. After his twentieth year the newspaper office was his university.
Career
Beginning in 1867 as a reporter for the Oshkosh Northwestern, then a weekly paper, owned by Major Charles G. Finney Jr. , a son of the evangelist, Hicks fitted himself for the more arduous service required when, in the following year, a daily was established. While temporarily engaged in editorial work on the Milwaukee Sentinel he was absent from Oshkosh, but returned in 1869 as editor of the Northwestern, and within a year he was able to form a partnership with General T. S. Allen for the purchase of the paper. Oshkosh at that time had a population of over 12, 000. It had emerged from the pioneer stage; wood-working industries had been started; the surrounding country was settled and prosperous. The partners gradually added improvements to their plant to keep pace with the growth of the town, and by 1886 it had become a valuable newspaper property. Hicks bought out his partner's interest in 1884 and continued as editor for the rest of his life, and was sole proprietor till 1889 when a stock company was formed.
The Northwestern was always Republican in politics but gained and kept a reputation for fairness in news reporting. Citizens were invited to communicate their views on matters of public interest and the editor freely gave space for the expression of sentiments contrary to his own policy. His chief concern was to make his paper a community organ. He was absent from the office for long periods.
From 1889 to 1893 he served as United States minister to Peru by President Harrison's appointment. In that interval he wrote The Man from Oshkosh (1894), an amusing portrayal of a Middle Westerner's contacts with Latin-American life.
In 1905 President Roosevelt appointed him minister to Chile, where he served four years. At both posts he was keenly interested in South American history and archeology. Travel in Europe, Egypt, and Turkey opened to him still other vistas. The Oshkosh public library, to which Hicks was whole-heartedly devoted for many years, was the beneficiary of his enthusiasm for art awakened by these excursions abroad. Through his efforts also, several worthy examples of sculpture were brought to Oshkosh--notably the Civil War memorial, with figures by the Florentine sculptor Trentanove; the heroic figure of the Menominee Chief, Oshkosh, by the same artist; the statue of Carl Schurz; and the bronze replica of Houdon's Washington.
In 1910 he published Something about Singlefoot: Chapters in the Life of an Oshkosh Man. For some time previous to his death, which occurred in San Antonio, Texas, he suffered from ill health.
Achievements
Politics
Hicks was a Republican.
Connections
Hicks was married in July 1872 to Alice J. Hume, and in 1914 to Mary Powers.