The son of Louis (Layzer) Bielikov and Glicke Katzenellenbogen, Billikopf emigrated to the United States from Vilnius, Lithuania (then part of Russia) in 1895 and settled in Richmond, Virginia, where he attended local schools.

[1] At the age of 15 he became a regular contributor to the Richmond, Virginia weekly publication, The Jewish South, calling himself "Jacob Billikopf (the Russian boy)".

During this period he befriended philanthropist William Volker, when Kansas City was gripped by high unemployment and crime rates, as well as overcrowded jails.

Billikopf, Volker, and attorney Frank P. Walsh served on a volunteer, nonpolitical committee dedicated to undertaking action to resolve these social debacles.

The board oversaw provision of social services and family aid, free legal advice, a loan agency and the inspection of factories and work places.