W. H. H. Hickman, of Turon, one of the most prominent citizens of Reno county, and one of its earliest settlers, is a native of Ohio, having been born in Coshocton county, Oct. 26, 1852. His parents, T. W. and Harriet (Wilson) Hickman, were both born and reared in Ohio, the former's birth having occurred in Licking county. Kimball Hickman, the grandfather of W. H. H., was a Virginian by birth and was of German descent. He settled in Ohio in a very early day when that section of the country was still infested with bears, panthers and Indians. In 1860 he removed from Ohio to Decatur county, Iowa, where he spent the remainder of his life and passed away at the advanced age of eighty-nine. He married a Miss Smith, who also was a native of Virginia, and who passed away in Iowa at the age of sixty-eight. Kimball Hickman was a farmer and stock raiser.

Harriet Wilson was a daughter of William Wilson, who was a native of Pennsylvania and who served as a colonel in the war of 1812. After the conflict, or about 1818, he removed to Ohio, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was a typical pioneer and a great hunter, the country at that time affording ample opportunity for such pursuits. T. W. Hickman and Harriet Wilson were the parents of seven children, of whom four are living. In order of birth they are: W. H. H., the eldest; Levisa, the wife of M. H. Potter, a well known banker and business man of Turon, Kan.; Elizabeth, deceased; Kimball, a resident of Battle Creek, Mich.; Andrew J., who resides in Dewey county, Oklahoma; Joseph, deceased; and Van Elwood, who died in infancy. T. W. Hickman, the father, remained in Ohio until 1856, when he and a party of his neighbors, determining to seek their fortunes in the West, drove across the country and settled in northern Iowa, about forty miles northwest of Dubuque. After two years' residence there, he removed to Decatur county in the southern part of the state. In the fall of 1875 he removed to Reno county, Kansas, where he and his son, W. H. H., each preempted a half section of government land under the homestead and timber claim act. The father's claim adjoined Turon, on the east and what is now the main business street of the town was then the west line of his property. The claim of W. H. H., was located a half mile west of that of his father. The father was a practical and successful farmer and had followed agricultural pursuits almost the whole of his life. He died at Turon in 1904, at the age of seventy-four, having been preceded in death by his wife, two years. Politically he was a Democrat, and while he always took a keen interest in his party's affairs he himself never sought official preferment. In church faith and membership he was a Universalist. While firm in his personal views, both in politics and religion, he yet recognized and respected the right of others to think and act according to their own convictions.

W. H. H. Hickman was but three years of age at the time of his parents' removal to Iowa, and grew to manhood at the parental home. As previously stated, he accompanied his father to Kansas, and located a claim in Reno county. At that time the nearest railroad and market were at Hutchinson, forty-five miles distant, by wagon route. Langdon, fifteen miles away, was the nearest postoffice. There were very few settlers there then and for two years after locating there his father's residence was the farthest west, in that section of the state. Farming and stock raising have been his principal occupations, but before the railroad extended to Turon he did considerable freighting between Hutchinson, Turon and the Medicine River settlements. He still owns the farm on which he first settled. He is now extensively engaged in the breeding and raising of fine Norman horses in connection with his large general farming and stock raising interests, and has met with marked success along that line, On Dec. 25, 1881, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Hickman and Miss Anna M. Potter, a native of Ohio and a daughter of J. B. Potter, now deceased, who was a pioneer of Reno county, and was the father of M. H. Potter, of Turon. To Mr. and Mrs. Hickman have been born four children, two of whom are living—Bessie and L. G. (See sketch of L. G. Hickman.) After completing her high school education at Turon, Bessie attended and was one of the assistant teachers in the normal school at Alva, Okla. She was also a student in the Nickerson College, graduating in music in that school. At the early age of fifteen she began teaching music and has been very successful in her professional career. In political views Mr. Hickman is a Democrat. He has served as a township trustee, constable and justice of the peace and is the present town clerk ol Turon. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, Fraternally, Mr. Hickman sustains membership in the Masonic order, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Improved Order of Red Men, and the Fraternal Aid Association. A successful business career has made Mr. Hickman one of the substantial men of Reno county, and while accomplishing commendable results for himself he has also been a contributor to the state's remarkable progress and development during the last quarter of a century or more. He is esteemed not only as a pioneer, and as a business man, but by an honorable and upright life has won and maintained the unreserved confidence and respect of his fellow men. Mr. and Mrs. Hickman reside at their pleasant home, one and a half miles west of Litton, and where the daughter and son, also make their home.