HICXSON, John, b 1857 1905 Bio, Delta County, Colorado http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/delta/bios/hicxsonj.txt --------------------------------------- Donated September 11, 2001 Transcribed by Judy Crook from the book: Progressive Men of Western Colorado Published 1905, A.W. Bowen & Co., Chicago, Ill. --------------------------------------- John Hicxson John Hicxson, of Delta county, comfortably settled on a ranch of one hundred and twenty acres on the creek one mile and a half west of Eckert, one of the respected citizens of the Western slope, is a self-made man and has won his estate by his own efforts without other help than what he has had from his wife and children, and won it in Delta county. When he left the railroad train with his wife and two children on his arrival in the county in 1889 he had only one dollar and fifty cents in money and almost no other possessions. Mr. Hicxson was born in Lee county, Iowa, on February 18, 1857, and there grew to manhood and received a common-school education. His parents, Robert C. and Lorana (Millige) Hicxson, were natives of Indiana and Ohio, respectively, and settled in Iowa in 1838. There the father farmed until 1845, when he became a minister and since that time he has been engaged in that profession. His ministerial duties have called him to many different parts of the country, and he and his wife are now living at Easter, Oregon. Their son John left home in 1877 and began life for himself as a farmer in Missouri. He afterward learned the carpenter trade, and after working at it for a number of years in Oregon and Colorado left that state in 1885 and moved to Oregon where he farmed four years. In 1889 he came to Colorado and located in Delta county. Settling his family on a rented ranch, he continued to work at his trade until 1891. He then bought the ranch which he now owns and occupies, and from that time he has devoted himself wholly to its improvement and cultivation. The place originally comprised one hundred and sixty acres, but he has sold twenty. He has about sixty-five acres under cultivation in grain, hay and vegetables, the same extent as pasture land and the remainder of the tract in fruit. He also has set out seven or eight acres of fruit on another place. When he began to improve his ranch he built a log dwelling, but he has replaced this recently with a modern frame residence which is one of the attractive homes of the neighborhood. The house was built in 1902, and his fruit crop that year more than paid for its construction. Failing health induced him to rent his ranch in 1903, with the frequent result, abuse and neglect by the tenant, and its yield that year was not very abundant. He then took charge of it again and since has had good crops and restored the place to its former condition. His marriage occurred on November 27, 1877, and was to Miss Emma Boggs, who was born in Greene county, Illinois, on December 28, 1863, and is the daughter of James A. and Hannah (Harrison) Boggs, the former born in West Virginia and the latter in Illinois. The mother was a second cousin to the late President Harrison. The father was a soldier in the Civil war and fought from the beginning to the close of the contest. He enlisted in Company B, Tenth Illinois Infantry, on the same day with his brother-in-law, and side by side they went through the struggle, participating in many of the leading battles, including those in Sherman's march to the sea and the campaigns immediately preceding and following it, and neither was ever wounded, but Mr. Boggs was taken ill just prior to his discharge and died about two months after reaching his home. The children in the Hicxson family are James E., Mary E., George F. and Annie L. They are all living and at home or on homes of their own near the father's. The first and second are married, and between them have six children. Mr. Hicxson is an Odd Fellow, a Baptist and a Republican. =================================================== Contributed for use by the USGenWeb Archive Project (http://www.usgenweb.org) and by the COGenWeb Archive Project USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access.