James Wickham was born to Patrick and Catherine (nee Quigley) Wickham, January 31, 1862, in Melancthon Creek section, Richland County, Wisconsin. His parents were natives of County Wexford, Ireland who married in New York and lived in Cleveland, Ohio and Whitewater, Wisconsin before settling on a Richland County farm in 1860. Both died in 1894. James was the next to youngest of seven children. He was educated in Richland County and Richland Center schools, and after high school graduation taught school for several terms. Wickham began his law practice in 1886 after completing his law studies at the University of Wisconsin. He practiced alone in Eau Claire for 3 years, until forming a partnership with Frank R. Farr in 1889, and also was Eau Claire city attorney for 7 years, 1898, 1900-1905. The partnership continued until 1909, when Wickham was appointed circuit judge for Wisconsin's newly-created 19th circuit. Wickham served as judge until poor health forced him to leave the bench in 1942, having declined three offers of appointment to the Wisconsin Supreme Court during his career.

In 1891 Wickham was married to Ida Hoskin (d. 1904). They were the parents of James Arthur, a Milwaukee attorney; Walter; William; and Catherine (later Sister Mary Dominic or Sister Mary Kim), who graduated from Rush Medical College in Chicago and worked in church missions in the Far East. James Wickham married Helen Koppelberger in 1908; she died in 1920, and in 1923 he married Katherine Linley. Wickham died in 1944.

Frank Rufus Farr (1860-1932) was born in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, to Rufus and Ellen Farr. In 1879 the family moved to Eau Claire, where two years later Farr and his brother, Dr. J. F. Farr, opened a drug store on the city's north side. Farr later attended the University of Wisconsin and graduated from the law school in 1889. He returned to Eau Claire and went into practice with James Wickham. After Wickham's appointment to the bench, Farr went into partnership with L. M. Sturdevant, Wisconsin's attorney general, and later, with Arthur W. MacLeod until 1932. From 1890 to 1894 Farr was a receiver of the U.S. Land Office, and in 1894 and 1896 was elected Eau Claire County district attorney. He died in 1932 and was survived by his wife Irene (nee Heimbaugh), and sons Donald L., Merrill, and George M. Farr.