Wood County, West Virginia Biography of Rev. E. M. HICKEY ************************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: Material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor. Submitted by Valerie Crook, , March 1999 ************************************************************************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 100 REV. E. M. HICKEY gave thirty years of earnest and con- secrated service in the Catholic parish of St. Xavier's Church at Parkersburg, and brought to bear in his sacred office a most glowing and buoyant personality, the finest of intellectuality, the deepest human sympathy and tolerance, and the full measure of consecrated devotion to the aiding and uplifting of his fellow men. Father Hickey and his work meant much in Parkersburg, and in offering in this publication a tribute to his memory it is deemed but con- sistent to quote liberally, but with slight paraphrase, from the appreciative estimate that appeared in the Parkersburg Sentinel of October 12, 1909, the day of the death of the loved priest and citizen. "No death in Parkersburg in recent years has caused such universal sorrow and regret in this community as that of Rev. Father E. M. Hickey. Father Hickey's life and services in Parkersburg are known to all. For thirty years he has labored in the vineyard of the parish of Parkers- burg, and there have been fruitful results. He was highly educated, the master of many languages, a deep thinker, eloquent and flowery, and broad-minded and liberal. He was beloved by the members of his church and was es- teemed and respected by everyone, of whatever creed and of whatever condition of life, as there were no class dis- tinctions in his friendships, but a kindly salutation and a pleasant word were on his lips for everyone. "Father Hickey was in the seventy-second year of his age. He was a native of Catskill, New York, where he was born August 12, 1837, and it was there he spent his earlier years and received his preliminary education, which was acquired in the parochial school. Later, after he had de- cided to enter the priesthood, he took a full course at St. Mary's Seminary in the City of Baltimore, Maryland, among his classmates having been the late Cardinal Gibbons, long one of the most distinguished dignitaries of the church on the Western Continent, the two having always remained close friends. After concluding his course at St. Mary's Father Hickey went to Rome, where he spent several years in study. "Father Hickey was ordained to the priesthood on Oct tober 5, 1860, in the cathedral at Newark, New Jersey, and had he lived one more year he would have celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his ordination. During the Civil war he served as chaplain of a New Jersey regiment, and at the close of the war he returned to New Jersey, where he was stationed for some time thereafter. He was a mem- ber of the faculty of the Catholic college at Orange, that state, and his lectures in this institution attracted wide attention. They were deep and logical and were master- pieces of beautiful phrasing and diction. "In 1878 Father Hickey was transferred to Newberry, West Virginia, and this small parish was enriched by his presence. In November, 1880, he was transferred to the Parkersburg Parish, where he succeeded Rev. Father H. F. Park, who had presided over the destinies of this parish for a period of nearly thirty years and who was known all over the state. For nearly thirty years Father Hickey has labored earnestly and zealously for the spiritual wel- fare of his large flock; and has spent much of his time and efforts in advancing the work of the church. Broad-minded, charitable and with a loving nature, Father Hickey had a good word for everyone. In his makeup there was utter absence of bigotry and prejudice, and thus he won friends and admirers wherever he moved, regardless of denomina- tional religious lines. He frequently took part in civic gatherings, and was always heard with pleasure and profit. Father Hickey was survived by a brother and two sisters: Charles Hickey, of Newark, New Jersey; Mrs. Mary Crof- ton, of New York City; and Mrs. Sophia Norton, who had been his constant home companion for years." In all that represents the higher ethics of human life and all that represents the finest conceptions of spirituality and Christian faith as expressed in service, Father Hickey stood forth as a noble and commanding figure, and his name and memory shall long be revered in the city and parish in which he long lived and labored to goodly ends.