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Dictionary of Miramichi Biography

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HICKSON, EDWARD (1824-1898)

HICKSON, EDWARD, Baptist minister, Whitneyville, Little Southwest, and Newcastle, 1860-70; b. New Bandon, Gloucester Co., N.B., 13 Oct 1824, s/o Robert P. Hickson and Frances J. Parrott, natives of Ireland; m. 1st, 1847, Rachel T. Bowser, and 2nd, 1890, Amelia E. Hamm, of Grand Bay, N.B.; d. Saint John, 25 Mar 1898.

"In boyhood," Edward Hickson "attended a Methodist Sunday school, and when a young man he entered into business and was very successful." He was living in Gloucester County in the late 1840s, when he was serving as an ensign in the 2nd Battalion of Gloucester militia, based at Caraquet.

Hickson's first wife, Rachel T. Bowser, was from a Baptist family, and through attending church services with her he came under the influence of the Rev. Joseph Crandall. Wishing to learn to read the New Testament in Greek, he enrolled at Acadia College. His studies there led to his conversion and baptism, and at the same time, he proved himself to be an outstanding student of mathematics. He was awarded a BA in 1860 and an MA in 1863.

After taking his BA, Hickson became a candidate for the Baptist ministry and pastor of the churches at Whitneyville, Little South West, and Newcastle. His residence was at Whitneyville, and he was ordained there in 1862. During his ten-year term he encouraged the congregation to support the church materially as well as spiritually, and with "his own private means," he helped finish the church building which had been erected at Newcastle during the pastorate of the Rev. Benjamin Scott.

Hickson was among the leading intellectuals on the Miramichi in the 1860s, and the text of an address that he delivered to the Mechanics' Institute at Newcastle on "Geology" (1864) was published in The Gleaner. Through the respect which he enjoyed with the public and clergymen of other denominations he earned the Baptists a new credibility. In 1870 he was invited to St George. Two years later he moved to Saint John. In addition to his pastoral work there he served as an officer of the Masons, a member of the Maritime Baptist foreign mission board, and a governor of Acadia University.

Sources

[b] Acadia Record [m] Advocate 23 Apr 1890 [d] Advocate 29 Mar 1898 / Advance 29 Dec 1892; annual 1898; Bill; Daily News 31 Oct 1872; Facey-Crowther; Gleaner 5 Mar 1864; PANB (petition of Gloucester County residents, 1846); Visitor 13 Oct 1870; Wood


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