Whitehead Hicks (August 24, 1728 – October 4, 1780) was the 42nd Mayor of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

from 1766 to 1776.

Family and early life

Hicks came from a Quaker family which settled and lent its name to

Hicksville, New York Hicksville is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York. The population of the CDP was 41,547 at the 2010 census. History Valentine Hicks, son-in-law of abolitionist an ...

. Hicks studied law under William Smith and was admitted to practice in 1750. The son of Judge Thomas Hicks, he was a lawyer and served on the New York Supreme Court of Judicature. He married Charlotte Brevoort, the daughter of John and Louisa (Kockerman) Brevoort.

Loyalism

Hicks was a Loyalist and was the first to appear in front of a committee of nine colonials formed by the

New York Provincial Congress The New York Provincial Congress (1775–1777) was a revolutionary provisional government formed by colonists in 1775, during the American Revolution, as a pro-American alternative to the more conservative New York General Assembly, and as a repla ...

in 1776 to investigate "domestic enemies" "disaffected to the American cause". He met with this committee on June 15, 1776, indicating his loyalty to

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

. He was subsequently put on

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

.Studies in History, Economics and Public Law. New York: Columbia University Press, 1902, pages 78-79 After resigning from the mayoralty, he served as a judge before eventually retiring to his farm on Long Island. He died there at the age of 52 years in 1780.

Mayor from Queens

He was the first mayor to be born in what is now modern-day

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

References

1728 births 1780 deaths 18th-century American politicians Loyalists in the American Revolution from New York (state) Mayors of New York City People from Flushing, Queens People of the Province of New York {{NewYork-mayor-stub