JAMES B. HICKOK, known to history as “Wild Bill,” was born near Troy
Grove, La Salle county, Illinois, May 27th, 1837. His father and mother
were both natives of Vermont, in which state they were married. Shortly
after marriage, they went to New York, and remained in that state until
1834, when they removed to Illinois, and settled in Putnam county. Two
years afterwards, however, they again removed to settle upon a more
desirable homestead in La Salle county, where they resided until their
death, the father dying in 1852 and the mother in 1878, at the advanced
age of seventy-four years.
The family consisted of six children, four boys and two girls, as
follows: O. C. Hickok, born in New York in 1830, and now living in
California; Lorenzo B., also born in New York in 1832; Horace D., born
in Putnam county, Illinois, in 1834; James B., the subject of this
sketch; and Celinda D. and Lydia M., both born in La Salle county, the
former in 1839 and the latter in 1841. Lorenzo and Horace are still
living upon the old homestead. Celinda married a gentleman by the name
of Dewey, and is now living in Mendota, La Salle county. Lydia married
a Mr. Barnes, and is living in Decatur county, Kansas. Thus it will be
seen that all the children are still living, with the single exception
of James (Wild Bill,) whose marvelous exploits it is the purpose of the
writer to faithfully, but briefly, record in this pamphlet.
The names and dates of birth of the several children are given in order
to correct the prevalent idea that James was much older. His most
intimate acquaintances informed the writer that he was born in 1830;
and the inscription on the stump which served as a head-board to his
original grave, gave his age at the time of death at forty-eight years,
as will be seen in a subsequent chapter descriptive of his murder.
The advantages possessed by James for acquiring an education were very
limited, in consequence of which he grew up with little knowledge. He
learned to read, and this single acquirement he used almost exclusively
in exploring fiction literature. Nothing afforded him so much pleasure
as the perusal of such novels as “Claude Duval,” “The Bold Ranger,”
“Dick Turpin,” and that class of stories descriptive of adventures in
an _outre_ civilization. A result of this reading is found in his life.
In 1856, when James was nineteen years of age, he left home for the
west, Kansas being his proposed destination. The border troubles of
that time, no doubt, influenced him to go to that (then) territory;
for, from the time that he was twelve years of age, he manifested an
ardent love for adventure. He made the rifle and pistol his earliest
companions, and when he left La Salle county he had the reputation of
being the best shot in that portion of the state.
The first record we have of him after leaving Illinois was during his
short stay at Independence, Missouri, at which place he gained some
notoriety by boldly entering the midst of a dozen infuriated men and
bidding them to disperse. This event, we believe, has never before been
mentioned in any of the many sketches written of him, and as it was his
first act of daring, it is worthy of production here. Its truthfulness,
however, we cannot vouch for, not having received the details from an
eye-witness.