The collection is open for research.
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Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Hicks Family Papers, Ms1987-050, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The Hicks Family Papers were donated to the Special Collections in 1987.
The processing, arrangement and description of the Hicks Family Papers commenced and was completed in November 2004.
Robert William Hicks was born on January 10, 1827. He enlisted in the Confederate Army on March 20, 1862 and served as a Sergeant in Company I, 34th Virginia Infantry. He died November 27, 1917 and was buried in Bedford County. Little biographical information could be found on Hicks. Within the collection's materials, evidence suggests he and his wife, Fanny A. Hicks, had at least four children: Edward J., John R., James M. and Lula. It appears that Fanny Hicks survived her husband, but was in poor health for a long time.
Various bonds and receipts within the collection indicate that Hicks was engaged in the tobacco business. He cultivated tobacco on large tracts of his land and sold it on a fairly large scale to individuals and cooperatives. He also owned livestock. Hicks served as a Justice of the Peace with the Campbell County Court, where he appraised property, inspected cattle and bore witness on cases, among other things. He also operated a business in Bedford County during the latter part of his life.
James Morris Hicks, son of R. W. Hicks, studied mechanical engineering at Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute (VPI; now Virginia Tech), graduating in 1901. While at VPI, he held various positions of leadership, serving as class secretary, treasurer, vice-president and president; and belonged to the Maury Literary Society and the Engineering Club. After graduating, Hicks worked as a colliery superintendent at the Hudson Coal Company in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and also managed his father's tobacco farm.
Of R. W. Hicks' other children, only the briefest of information could be found: Lula Hicks married J. Edward Wilkinson of Evington, Virginia. John R. Hicks lived in various places, including Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Saint Louis, Missouri; and Clinton, Louisiana. John seems to have been a religious man, working for a school. The papers suggest that Edward J. Hicks lived in Evington and helped his father with his tobacco business.
Stephen Hicks lived in Bedford County, where he owned a large estate. The relationship of Stephen and J. H. Hicks to R. W. Hicks and his family is unclear.
This collection contains the papers of Campbell County, Virginia tobacco farmer and businessman Robert W. Hicks and his family. The collection has been divided among the following broad categories: Personal correspondence, Farm and household transactions, Tax records, Memorandum books, Legal records, Other family members, Printed material and Envelopes.
Personal family correspondence contains letters between John W. Sledd, R. W. Hicks' nephew, J. R. Hicks, J. M. Hicks, Edward Hicks, M. Irvine, S. J. Adams, L. J. Quinn, Fanie Hicks, Lula Wilkinson, R. W. Hicks, and Bessie Rawlings (Lula's tutor) among others.
Transactions of the Hicks farm and household are recorded in a set of folders containing various documents. Monetary transactions are also tracked through a large number of receipts for personal and household goods, such as groceries and hardware. Nearly all of the receipts are in the name of R. W. Hicks, though in later years, some bear the names of his children. The bills and receipts are complemented by a set of yearly accounts, summarizing the family's monetary transactions with individual businesses, as well as a group of shopping lists for personal goods. Also included are documents and receipts relating to bonds made primarily for business purposes.
Also relating to the Hicks family home and farm are tax records containing receipts for property taxes paid by the family in Campbell and Bedford counties.
The legal records folder contains materials relating to Hicks' service as Campbell County justice of the peace. The papers include summons issued by Hicks as well as summons for him to appear as a witness in other cases. There are also papers relating to his inspection of cattle for local farmers.
The collection also contains a small number of materials relating to other family members, including official letters and payment receipts in the name of John Morris Hicks who worked with the Hudson Coal Company. Lula and Edward Wilkinson's payment receipts and related correspondence are part of this folder. Tax records on the property of Stephen Hicks of Bedford County are available, and there is evidence of the subsequent sale of that land for non-payment of taxes.
The printed material folder contains various publications, most relating to Hicks family interests and affiliations. Included is the 10th Annual Report of the Woman's Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (1888) as well as printed advertisements for various medicines, beauty products, gardening material and insurance.
A set of empty envelopes completes the collection. The envelopes bear the names and addresses of various family members as well as miscellaneous notations.
The collection is arranged by type, then chronologically.
The guide to the Hicks Family Papers by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/).