302                    THE OLD MERCHAJVTS
 

CHAPTER XXX.

There have been many merchants in this city, dur¬
ing the past one hundred years, of the name of Hicks,
Some were very eminent, and became very rich. Prob¬
ably they all came from the same stock.

Oliver H. Hicks, who was of note here for some
years, was a son of Stephen, and came from Rockaway,
Long Island.    He had a brother Stephen.

Another family of the Hicks name was that of Isaac,
Samuel and Valentine, that afterwards became the great
house of Samuel Hicks & Son, of which the principal
was Samuel Hicks, Jr. All were sons of Samuel Hicks,
who was a clever tailor at Westbury, L. I. He went
about doing small jobs. Isaac started the house in 1796,
at 14 Crane wharf (South street.) He did a very exten
sive commission business ; and if he had done nothing but
bringing up Jacob Barker, that would have been suffi¬
cient to immortalize his name. The celebrated Jacob
was in the counting-house of Mr. Hicks until 1800, a
period of three years. In 1802, Samuel and Valentine
Hicks (brothers to Isaac) opened a store at 345 Pearl.
The next year, Sylvanus Jenkins was taken into part¬
nership, and the firm was changed to Hicks, Jenkins &
Co.    In 1805, the concern moved to 67 South street.

About this time, or in 1806, Isaac retired from busi-