[1] Wikoff was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Lafayette College[2] with both a bachelors and masters degree.

Wikoff began his career as a civil engineer under George B. McClellan on the Illinois Central Railroad, where he worked for two years, from 1855 until 1857.

[3] In April 1861, at the outbreak of the American Civil War, Wikoff enlisted as a private in the 1st Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment.

[3] In 1898, in the Spanish–American War, Wikoff led the 22nd Infantry from Fort Crook to Cuba, where he was transferred to lead the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division under the command of Major General William Rufus Shafter's V Corps.

His two successors, William S. Worth and Emerson H. Liscum, were also shot before Ezra P. Ewers, the fourth in command, assumed control.