Augusta Bartell was born around 1850 in New York to immigrants John and Augusta Bartell. The family moved to Ganges, Michigan, sometime in the 1850s, and her father worked as a shoemaker there. By 1870, the family owned $800 of real estate and $30 of personal property. She married Allen Hickison in Ganges on March 17, 1869, and they had at least three children: Albert, born around 1870; Celia, born around 1872; and Nelly, born around 1877. The family moved to Lima, Ohio, in the late 1870s, and her husband worked as a stationary engineer there. By 1885, they were living in Lincoln County, Kansas. She died sometime after 1895.