Josephine Hicks was born in New York City in June, 1835.  She died on Christmas Eve 1921 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  In 1873 she graduated from the Woman's Medical College of Philadelphia, in which city she practiced successfully for many years.  She was the daughter of Catherine Van Norden, and Charles Hicks, who was the inventor of the first percussion caps, the machine for making them, and the powder with which they were charged.  Also, at the time of his death, he had practically perfected the Hick's Centrifugal Dynamite Gun.