William S. Wicks is the author of the manual Log Cabins and Cottages: How to Build and Furnish Them, which promotes the harmonization of a building--both the interior and exterior--with its immediate surroundings, and Log Cabins. Wicks served as Buffalo Parks Commissioner from 1897 to 1900. He was a life member of the Historical Society and the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy as well as a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. Wicks retired from the Green & Wicks architectural firm in 1917 and passed away two years later.