High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! William Hickling Prescott (May 4, 1796 January 29, 1859) was an American historian, known for his books The History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic and The History of the Conquest of Mexico. William H. Prescott was born in Salem, Massachusetts on May 4, 1796, the first of seven children, though four of his siblings died in infancy. His parents were William Prescott, Jr., who was a lawyer, and his wife, née Catherine Greene Hickling ...