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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Lonoke County, Arkansas published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1889.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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Hon. William Frields Hicks, editor of the Lonoke Democrat, and representative to the General Assembly from Lonoke County, is the son of Hinson R. and Jane (Frields) Hicks, and was born in Anderson County, Tenn., May 17, 1824. His parents were natives of North Carolina and Virginia, respectively, the progenitors of the Hicks family in America, having emigrated from England at an early period and settled in South Carolina. The Frields are of Irish birth, and it is known that early representatives left the Emerald Isle during the O’Neil Rebellion, locating in France, from which country they came to America with the Huguenots. About the year 1808, Hinson R. Hicks emigrated to Tennessee, where he afterward married Jane Frields, who preceded him to the new country with her parents, and moved to Indiana in 1829. In 1835 the family came from Indiana to near Little Rock, Ark., in which place the parents died some years afterward. Of a family of five sons and two daughters, the subject of this sketch is the eldest. He accompanied his parents to Arkansas in 1835, suffering the privations incident to a pioneer’s life, and receiving only the meager advantages of the day for education. When but a lad of twelve years, he was bereft of his mother’s love and care, and after following her remains to their last resting-place, he went at once to Little Rock, never returning to his home, and upon arriving in that city he began life for himself. Although very young, he accepted the position of ferryman, and afterward served as cabin boy for a short time. He had early set his mind upon learning the printing business, the height of his boyhood ambition being to own a printing establishment, and so, in 1837, he entered the Times and Advocate office at Little Rock, where he began his professional career. Later he went into the office of the Arkansas Gazette, and applied himself so assiduously to the business that before he had reached the age of nineteen years, he was occupying the responsible position of foreman of that periodical. He now enjoys the distinction of being the oldest printer in Arkansas, who learned the “art preservative” trade in that State. In 1846 he enlisted in the Arkansas Mounted Regiment, and served under Capt. Albert Pike in the war with Mexico. He participated in the battle of Buena Vista, and his recitals of that and other engagements, are both interesting and exciting. After his term of enlistment had expired, he returned to Little Rock and engaged at his trade, and also began the study of law under the instruction of Pike & Cummings. In 1852 he went to the Indian Territory, and for some time worked at the printer’s business, going in 1854, to California, where he remained until 1866. Returning again to Arkansas, he engaged in the mercantile business at Hicks Station, but soon afterward moved the store to Lonoke, and continued in trade there until 1876. At the expiration of that time he began the practice of law at Lonoke, and in 1887 became the editor of the Lonoke Democrat, which he now manages. Mr. Hicks was originally a member of the old Whig party until its demise, but since that time he has been an ardent adherent to the principles of Democracy. In 1868 he was chosen a delegate to the Constitutional Convention held at Little Rock, for the reconstruction of the Constitution of Arkansas, and in 1874 was elected to the State senate, and re-elected in 1882. He was the choice of the people to represent Lonoke County in the General Assembly in 1886, and was reelected in 1888. Mr. Hicks has held many municipal positions, always to the satisfaction of those whose interests have been represented. He has taken an active interest in educational matters, and was the first president of the Lonoke board of public education. He has served as mayor and postmaster and supervisor of census in 1880, and in his political career has displayed commendable judgment and earnestness, having won a reputation that will survive him many years. His popularity is unquestioned, and he is in every respect worthy of the deference and esteem shown him. Mr. Hicks was married in 1867, to Miss Hula H. Burns, a native of Camden, S. C., an attractive and fascinating lady. She is of Scotch extraction, and a lineal descendant of Scotland’s famous and honored poet, Robert Burns, being also a cousin of Mrs. Stonewall Jackson. Four children have blessed their union, only one of whom is now living. In societies, Mr. Hicks is identified with Lonoke Lodge No. 51, F. & A. M.

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This family biography is one of 143 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Lonoke County, Arkansas published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Lonoke County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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