C.P. Hicks, of the firm of W.H. Ball & Co., was born in Philadelphia, Pa., in Oct., 1848. He graduated at the Bryant & Straton College and was for several years in the employ of a commission house in Philadelphia, as bookkeeper and entry clerk. He moved to Cedar County, Ia., in 1874; thence to Sac County in Mar.; 1881, purchased land near Fletcher and engaged in present business. From Aug., 1881, to Feb., 1882, they shipped sixty cars of grain.