Edward Hicks (1780 - 1849)

Born 2 Apr 1780 in Langhorne, Bucks, Pennsylvania, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (Worstal) Hicks — married 17 Nov 1803 in Bucks, Pennsylvania, United States

Descendants

Died 23 Aug 1849 at age 69 in Newtown, Bucks, Pennsylvania, United States

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Biography

Edward was a Friend (Quaker)

Edward Hicks is Notable.

Quaker minister and noted American primitive artist Edward Hicks was born 2 Apr 1780 at Four-Lanes-End (later Attleboro and today Langhorne), Pennsylvania the son of Isaac Hicks and Catherine Hicks who were cousins.^[1][2][3]

His mother passed away in his second year of life and his father's business affairs were in distress and his property was confiscated. Edward states in his Memoirs that his mother's servant, Jane, simply took charge of him until his adoption by David and Elizabeth Twining.^[4] It is important to here quote Edward Hicks himself as this story has been differently told by secondary sources, "This colored woman, Jane, worked about among the farmers...for a living taking me with her. Being at the house of a friend by the name of Janney where Elizabeth, the wife of David Twining, was in the habit of visiting, she noticed a poor sickly-looking white child, who appeared to be under the care of a colored woman that seemed cross to it, and was led to inquire whose child it was. When informed that it was the youngest child of her dear deceased friend Kitty Hicks,...her sympathy for the child and love for the mother, caused her to express herself...'Oh! that my husband was willing, I would take this child and bring it up as my own.' My father was soon informed of the circumstance and begged her to take this poor little son as a boarder which she agreed to do with her husband's consent." Edward shortly after states that this was an adoption and speaks of his adoptive mother in the most affectionate terms.

In April 1793, he was apprenticed to the coach-making trade with the brothers William and Henry Tomlinson at Four-Lanes-End. He became particularly close with Henry. Within six months the coachworks burned to the ground and the Tomlinson's took over the adjacent vacant tavern where Edward describes his position as "lackey."^[4] By age 15, the coach-making business was running again and Edward returned to his apprenticeship, living in Middletown.^[5] It was in the coachworks that Edward learned to paint, painting ornaments and scenes on coaches. In the autumn of 1801 he entered the employ of Joshua C. Canby, then a coach-maker at Milford (now Hulmeville) and in late 1803 Edward and Sarah Worstal gave intention to marry at the Middletown Monthly Meeting^[6] with their formal marriage date recorded as 18 Nov 1803.^[7][8] The couples first three children, Mary, Susannah and Isaac, would be born at their home in Hulmeville, a part of Middletown. Edward opened his own business decorating furniture and other objects.^[9] By April 1811, the family had moved to Newtown where daughters Elizabeth and Sarah would be born in 1811 and 1816, respectively, and Edward would remain.^[10][11][12]

Not too many years after joining the Society of Friends, Edward undertook considerable travels visiting and ministering to Friends meetings in the United States and Canada. It should be noted he is cousin to Elias Hicks from whom the term Hicksite Quakers stems and Elias is referenced in his Memoirs. It may be read that Hicks' Quaker faith sometimes conflicted with his career as an artist and he was criticized for engaging in "worldly activity." There was a time he gave up painting but then found a way of combining his faith and his work thru paintings that depicted various aspects of Quaker belief. He painted at least 62 known versions of his "Peacable Kingdom," the differences among them reflect the dramatic events that transpired within the Society of Friends in the late 1820s and their consequences. The Peaceable Kingdom paintings depict verses from Book of Isaiah, chapter 11, that begin "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them." Many of these paintings also depict, in the background, the legendary treaty between William Penn and the Lenape at the foundation of Pennsylvania. Hicks's other subjects were historical events that occurred in Pennsylvania, farm life, and Bible stories.

Edward passed away 23 Aug 1849 at Newtown, Bucks, Pennsylvania^[13] and is interred at the Newtown Friends Meeting Cemetery.^[14] Wife Sarah survived him by six years. The Hicks home adjacent the Newtown Friends Meeting House is on the US National Reigster of Historic Places.^[15]

For a discussion of his work, style, and extended gallery of his output, please see Wikipedia linked under See Also below.

Children^[16]

• Mary - b 12 Dec 1804 at Hulmeville, Middletown, d 7 Feb 1880
• Susanna - b 9 Nov 1806 at Hulmeville, Middletown
• Isaac - b 20 Jan 1809 at Hulmeville, Middletown
• Elizabeth - b 24 Aug 1811 at Newtown
• Sarah - b 24 Dec 1816 at Newtown

Selected Works

• The Residence of David Twining 1785, 1846, American Folk Art Museum, New York City
• The Peaceable Kingdom, c. 1833, Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts
• The Falls of Niagara, c. 1825, and The Peaceable Kingdom, c. 1830–32, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
• Penn's Treaty With the Indians, c. 1830–40, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
• Noah's Ark, 1846 and The Peaceable Kingdom, c. 1844–46, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia
• Grave of William Penn, 1847, Newark Museum, Newark, New Jersey
• The Cornell Farm, 1848; The Grave of William Penn, c. 1847–48; The Landing of Columbus, c. 1837; The Peaceable Kingdom, c. 1834; Penn's Treaty With the Indians, c. 1840–1l44; and Portrait of a Child, c. 1840, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
• The Peaceable Kingdom, 1830–32, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, Alabama
• Peaceable Kingdom of the Branch, c. 1826–30, Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Sources

1. ↑ Swarthmore, Quaker Meeting Records. Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, Western District. Births 1793-1926 Deaths, 1802-1928
2. ↑ Davis, et al., History of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time, Lewis Pub, New York, 1905, p 113. A secondary source absent primary citations.
3. ↑ Jones, Charles Henry, The Genealogy of the Rodman Family, Allen, Lane & Scott, Philadelphia, 1886, p 23. A secondary source absent primary citation/
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Hicks, Edward, Memoirs of the Life and Religious Labors of Edward Hicks, Merrihew and Thompson, Philadelphia, 1851. Accessed 17 Dec 2022.
5. ↑ Septennial Census Returns, 1779–1863/i. Box 1026, microfilm, 14 rolls. Records of the House of Representatives. Records of the General Assembly, Record Group 7. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, PA.
6. ↑ Swarthmore, Quaker Meeting Records. Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Middletown Monthly Meeting Minutes, 1683-1892
7. ↑ Pennsylvania Marriage Records. Harrisburg, PA: Pennsylvania Archives Printed Series, 1876. Series 2, Series 6.
8. ↑ US Census, Year: 1810; Census Place: Middletown, Bucks, Pennsylvania; Roll: 46; Page: 931; Image: Pam252_46-0098; FHL Roll: 0193672
9. ↑ Delaware, Craftperson Files, 1600-1995. Card File of American Craftspeople, 1600-1995. The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Inc. Winterthur, Delaware.
10. ↑ 1820 U S Census; Census Place: Newtown, Bucks, Pennsylvania; Page: 278; NARA Roll: M33_99; Image: 294
11. ↑ US Census, Year: 1830; Census Place: Newtown, Bucks, Pennsylvania; Series: M19; Roll: 146; Page: 162; Family History Library Film: 0020620
12. ↑ US Census, Year: 1840; Census Place: Newtown, Bucks, Pennsylvania; Roll: 446; Page: 70; Family History Library Film: 0020539
13. ↑ Swarthmore, Quaker Meeting Records. Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, Western District Births 1793-1926 Deaths, 1802-1928
14. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #8782239
15. ↑ "National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania" (Searchable database). CRGIS: Cultural Resources Geographic Information System.
16. ↑ Swarthmore, Quaker Meeting Records. Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Middletown Monthly Meeting minutes, Births and Deaths, 1797-1928

See Also:

• Edward Hicks at Wikipedia