Wallace Whitfield Wicks, who for over forty years was one of the substantial farmers of Sumner county, Kansas, passed to his reward November 27, 1913. He came to this State to better his condition in life, and lived to realize his ambition. His faith in Kansas proved to be well founded. Wallace Whitfield Wicks was a native of Long Island, New York, born November 27, 1837. He was a son of John and Caroline (Schofield) Wicks, the former a native of the Empire State, and the latter of Connecticut. He spent his early life in his native State, and in 1868 went to Illinois, where he was engaged in farming until 1870, when he came to Kansas and settled in Sumner county, where he bought Government land. Here he engaged in farming on an extensive scale, at one time his farm consisting of 640 acres. He was very successful in his agricultural pursuits and prospered. He was a self-educated man and a close student of men and affairs, taking a keen interest in current events. His political views were Republican, but he persistently refused to accept office, which was frequently offered him by his party, being of a modest and retiring disposition he did not aspire to political honors. Mr. Wicks was united in marriage March 7, 1868, to Miss Mary Jane Ralston, a daughter of Andrew and Eleanor (Hanna) Ralston. Mrs. Wicks was born in Belmont county, Ohio, May 7, 1842. To Mr. and Mrs. Wicks were born four children, as follows: Mary Kate, born December 10, 1868, married Hanson Crow, February 22, 1892, and to this union have been born seven children: Alice, Raymond, Robert, Harold, Gerald Edgar, Joseph Wallace and Lois Katherine. Wallace Whitfield, Jr., born August 8, 1870, and died June 10, 1871, was the second child of the Wicks family. The only surviving son born to Mr. and Mrs. Wicks is Francis Ralph, born June 13, 1876, married Lena Dinsmore, who died in 1902, leaving two children: Mary C. and Lena. The youngest of the Wicks family is Carrie May, born April 12, 1882. She married Alexander Easter, January 10, 1902, and they have five children: Cora Luceile, Wallace, Whitfield, Margaret Marie, Harry Blaine and Mildred. The Wicks family occupy a prominent position in Sumner county, where they are well and favorably known and have many friends.