Lewis Hicks Stepp, Sr. was born on October 18, 1882, in Buncombe County, North Carolina. Stepp was a foreman at the Tallassee Power Company plant at Badin, North Carolina. In 1919, he provided testimony in an investigation into alleged maltreatment of employees by Tallassee management. Hicks died in Black Mountain, North Carolina on December 16, 1961.