Ratcliffe Hicks

Ratcliffe Hicks (1843–1906) was an American lawyer, industrialist, state legislator, and philanthropist from Tolland, Connecticut. The family home is now the Hicks-Stearns Family Museum. The Ratcliffe Hicks School of Agriculture at the University of Connecticut and the Hicks Memorial Municipal Center and Library in Tolland are named after him.

Life

Born in Tolland on October 3, 1843, Ratcliffe was the eldest son of Charles R. Hicks (1812–1878), a prominent merchant from Providence, Rhode Island, and later New York City, and Maria A. Stearns (1815–1905). His grandfather on his mother's side was a judge and state legislator from Tolland. His grandfather on his father's side was a successful sea captain.

Ratcliffe attended the Monson Academy and the Williston Seminary preparatory schools and graduated with honors from Brown University in 1864. He was a founding member of the Delta Upsilon chapter at Brown. Returning to Tolland, he became a schoolteacher while studying law under local judge and politician Loren P. Waldo. After passing the bar, Hicks practiced law in Meriden and Hartford, including three years in the law offices of U.S. Senator Orville H. Platt. Hicks became a prominent attorney, litigating important cases and earning over $10,000 annually in legal fees, equivalent to $280,000 in 2020 dollars.

Hicks' father-in-law died in 1881, and Hicks became the executor of the Stearns estate. In 1882, Hicks withdrew from his law practice to become president of the Canfield Rubber Company of Bridgeport. By 1896 he had built the company into a manufacturing enterprise with $250,000 in capital (versus a mere $10,000 in 1882) and $1 million in annual sales. Ratcliffe remarried on October 19, 1895, to Isabella Wormer of Chicago. Isabella sued for divorce in September 1896 on the grounds of "intolerable cruelty." The divorce was granted along with alimony of $50,000 in cash in early 1897. Ratcliffe Hicks died of pleuropneumonia

Philanthropy During his lifetime, Hicks established annual prizes for public speaking at Brown University, Storrs Agricultural College (later the University of Connecticut), and Meriden High School.

Hicks also left substantial bequests to the Town of Tolland. He left $10,000 to the Tolland Public Library

Elizabeth Hicks

The only child of Ratcliffe and Elizabeth "Lizzie" Canfield Hicks, Elizabeth Hicks (1884–1974) became a philanthropist in her own right. She continued to dwell in the family home on Tolland Green after her father's death in 1906. She worked very closely with the University of Connecticut to develop the Ratcliffe Hicks School of Agriculture. She spoke at the dedication ceremony for the school in 1950 and was known for hosting formal teas each spring with the students and campus leaders. She also served on many local boards and committees, including the school's and library's, but never ran for political office.