1798–1865, American statesman, b. Dorchester co., Md. In 1857 he was elected governor of Maryland as a Know-Nothing. After the states of the lower South seceded in 1860–61, he refused to yield to the popular demand to call a special session of the Maryland legislature because he feared that the legislators would rush blindly into secession. Subsequently, with federal troops occupying the state and secessionists, including legislators, under arrest, Maryland elected a thoroughly Unionist legislature, which sent Hicks to the U.S. Senate, where he served from Dec., 1862, until his death.
