CURTIS WATSON WICK, cashier of the State Bank, Parkers Landing, Pa., was born in Sugar Creek township, Armstrong Co., Pa., Apr. 23, 1861, son of John R. and Hannah (Watson) Wick, the grandson of Elisha Wick.  His ancestors are of pioneer stock of Westmoreland and Armstrong counties.
     Elisha Wick was born in New Jersey and when a young man located in Westmoreland county, Pa., and in the early part of the nineteenth century came to Armstrong county.  He located in what is now Sugar Creek township, where he purchased a large tract of land, receiving a patent for the same from the United States government.  He continued to live here, having cleared and improved his land.  He married Anna Moore, also a native of New Jersey, and their family consisted of the following children, all being now deceased: James P., Henry, Jeremiah, Chambers, John R., Sarah Ann, Elvira and William A.  Of the above three were physicians, Henry, Jeremiah and William A.  Sarah Ann married Watson Mays.
     John R. Wick, son of Elisha Wick, was born in Armstrong county.  For many years he engaged in teaching school and was well and favorably known as an educator in Armstrong and Clarion counties.  In 1868 he located at Rimersburg, Pa., where he embarked in general merchandising and banking, having a prosperous business career for many years.  His death occurred in 1907, at the age of eighty-two years.  He married Hannah Watson, who was born in Clarion county, a daughter of Abraham and Rachel (Black) Watson, and a granddaughter of Thomas Watson, all of whom were pioneers near Black Fox furnace, in Clarion county.
     To John R. and Hannah Wick ten children were born: Emily, who became the wife of Wilbur G. Warren, of Cleveland, Ohio; Curtis W.; Annie R., who married John Hepburn of Warren, Pa.; William A.; Jennie S., who married Charles G. Graham, of Butler, Pa.; John R.; Maggie M., who married Rev. W. Scott Bowman of Uniontown, Pa.; Blanche P., who is deceased; Carrie A. who is deceased; and a son who died in infancy.
     Curtis Watson Wick was reared at Rimersburg from the age of seven years and received his educational training in the public schools there and at the Clarion Collegiate Institute.  He began his business career in the mercantile line at Rimersburg, and in 1892 was appointed assistant cashier of the State Bank at that place, and served in that capacity until January, 1902, when he was appointed cashier of the First National Bank of Parker City, and this position he filled acceptably until July 1, 1911.  In August of that year he helped to organize the State Bank of Parkers Landing, which is capitalized at $25,000, with a surplus fund of $5,000, incorporated under the banking laws of Pennsylvania.  The officers of this financial institution are:  A. S. Wightman, president; T. A. Kerr and A. E. Butler, vice presidents, and C. W. Wick, cashier.  This bank opened for business Jan. 1, 1912, in the handsome new bank building especially erected for that purpose in 1911, at a cost of $12,000, one of the fine business structures of this city.  The bank is in flourishing condition, one of the most promising financial institutions in the county.
     On Nov. 22, 1894, Mr. Wick was married to Blanche Hosey, daughter of Samuel M. and Anna (Harnish) Hosey, of Madison township, Clarion county, and member of an old and historic family of Pennsylvania.  They have six children, namely: Hosey R. and James W., twins, C. Wayne, Lois and Marguerite, twins, and Ellen.  Mr. Wick and wife are members of the Presbyterian Church.  In politics he is a Republican, while fraternally he belongs to the Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias and Masons, having attained the thirty-second degree in the last named fraternity.  He holds membership in Blue Lodge No. 27, and Chapter No. 259, R. A. M., of Clarion, Pa.; Commandery No. 44, K. T., of Franklin, Pa.; and the Consistory at Pittsburgh.
Source: Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Her People, Past and Present in two volumes Illustrated - Vol. II - Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1914 - Page 536

JOHN WICK, JR., founder of Wickboro (now a part of the borough of Kittanning) and a Kittanning capitalist and promoter of conspicuous standing, was born in Kittanning May 15, 1859, son of John and Sophia Wick.
     JOHN WICK, SR., and his wife were born in Germany, and came to the United States in 1856, locating at Kittanning.  He was a shoemaker by trade, and found ready employment for his skill in the new home, being so successful that he was encouraged to open a shoe store in the borough, conducting it with very satisfactory results until his retirement, a few years prior to his death, which took place Aug. 1, 1908; his wife passed away in June, 1908.  They were active and devout members of the Reformed Church.
     John Wick, Jr., attended public school until the age of eleven, when he began to earn his own living, securing employment at fifty cents a day.  Later he learned shoemaking, which trade he followed for some time, a working from sixteen to eighteen hours per day.  All this while he carefully saved his money, and was finally able to embark in a mercantile business.  For ten years he conducted this, but in 1889 sold to engage in a pottery concern.  He erected the Wick China Company's plant, the first of its kind in Pennsylvania, manufacturing semiporcelain dinner and toilet ware.  He was made president and general manager of the company.  From its beginning Mr. Wick has extended his operations until he has become connected with some of the most important interests of this part of the county.  His keen judgment, deep insight into business conditions and the relative value of demand and supply, have made him a valued and honored associate in any undertaking he could be induced to enter.  In 1892 Mr. Wick and his brother Fred purchased a large tract of land, which they laid out and named Wickboro, Mr. Wick  being president and manager of the company.  They sold seven hundred lots, erected houses, selling them upon easy terms, and the result is that the residents of Wickboro own their homes.  Perhaps no other man has done more to improve the conditions of the laboring man in Kittanning and Wickboro than Mr. Wick.  In addition to making it possible for men in moderate circumstances to buy homes, he has given employment to hundreds in his various industries.  In 1895 he established the Wickboro Brick Company, on a farm, now in Kittanning; this is now the Kittanning Brick & Fire Clay Company.  He went into this with his brother Fred, Dr. Jessop and Orr Buffington.  The quality of brick manufactured his made the output of this plant famous from Maine to Texas.  The success of this enterprise gives Armstrong county the distinction of being the home of one of the largest manufacturing plants in the world devoted to this line of brick production.  In 1898 Mr. Wick, in conjunction with Capt. J. B. Ford, erected the Ford China Company plant at what is now Ford City.  This company soon developed a large business, and eventually took its place among the leaders in this particular line in the world.  Ford City was built up about this factory, which employs five hundred men.  In 1900 Mr. Wick sold his interest in the Wick China Company and bought out Captain Ford, becoming sole proprietor of the Ford china Company, thus continuing until 1904.  In 1902 he donated the ground for the Kittanning Plate Glass Company's plant, so as to secure for Kittanning this large industry, which also employs many men; and through his influence, also, the Kittanning Mirror Company was established.  He was one of the pioneer natural gas producers in Armstrong county, which has produced more natural gas than any other county in the State of Pennsylvania.  In 1913 Mr. Wick built the Wick Opera House, one of the finest opera house buildings in Pennsylvania, of solid concrete fireproof construction; the seating capacity is twelve hundred.
     It is impossible in an article of this length to go into Mr. Wicks work fully.  However, it is but just to state that while he has prospered in his undertakings his success represents but a small measure of the good he has accomplished.  The manufacturing enterprises founded by Mr. Wick (or in whose establishment he assisted) in the vicinity of Kittanning have employed hundreds and paid in wages to date over sixteen million dollars.  In fourteen years the assessed valuation in Wickboro rose to $1,100,000 from a beginning of a few houses, the taxes now amounting to
$40,700 annually.  Aside from the material advantage of his successful operations to the community, the example he sets and the lessons his energy and willingness to labor hard for desirable results teach go far to aid others in their desire to better existing conditions.
     In 1885 Mr. Wick married Ursilla B. Kinsey, of East Liverpool, Ohio, daughter of Jonathan and Margaret Ann (Thompson) Kinsey, the former the pioneer pottery manufacturer at East Liverpool, Ohio.  Mr. and Mrs. Wick have one daughter, Kathryne B., now the wife of Marcus Allison Smith, of Pittsburgh, Pa.; they have one son, Marcus Allison, Jr.
Source: Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Her People, Past and Present in two volumes Illustrated - Vol. II - Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1914 - Page 512

Source: Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Her People, Past and Present in two volumes Illustrated - Vol. II - Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1914 - Page 672

Source: Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Her People, Past and Present in two volumes Illustrated - Vol. II - Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1914 - Page 592