Hicksville, Ohio

Abstract The first chapter presents family history and nearly the first five years of the life of James Purdy, focusing on the years leading up to and following his birth. The Native presence in northwestern Ohio prior to white settlement is outlined, linked to the maternal family line’s claim that James’s great-grandmother was one-eighth Ojibwe. The lives and struggles of Purdy’s great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents are narrated, especially the successes and disappointments of various business exploits of his father, William, who went from banking in Hicksville to rural real estate, which regularly carried him away from home on business. This chapter notes the differences in temperament between serious and formal William and his free-spirited younger bride, Vera Otis. Hicksville, where Richard and James Purdy were born, is an idyllic backdrop that Purdy drew from in his work.