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Hiller Family Papers, 1785-1993 (3856)
7.2 linear feet, 2 volumes
INTRODUCTION
Papers of a family of farmers, lawyers, bankers, doctors, and business people of Kahoka, Clark County, Missouri. The collection includes correspondence, photographs, genealogical records, estate records, diaries, personal account books, deeds, military records, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, manuscripts, and miscellaneous material.
DONOR INFORMATION
The Hiller Family Papers were donated to the University by Anne and Hiram Hiller through Lynn Morrow on 7 February 1991 (Accession No. 5018), with additions donated by the Hillers on 30 May 1991 (Accession No. 5044) and by Anne Hiller on 3 December 1998 (Accession 5795). Another addition was received from David and Pat Imming on 14 October 1992 (Accession No. 5081). Several of the documents in accession 5081 were loaned for copy, with the family retaining the originals.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
In order to facilitate the identification of family members in the papers, two family trees (Hiller and Tolman) were drawn by the processor of the collection and follow this inventory. These are not meant to be complete, but only to help the researcher identify the people in the letters and photographs.
The nine children of Charlotte Milliken (1799-1851) and William Hiller, Jr. (1796-1851) of Greene County, Pennsylvania all migrated to northeastern Missouri and southeastern Iowa after their parents died. They were: Harriet (1823-1893), John (1825-1899), James (1827-1862), Margaret (? -1894), William (1832-1905), Hiram Milliken (1834-1895), George (? -1904), Amelia (1838-?), and Royal (1842-1914).
Hiram Milliken Hiller moved to Athens, Missouri, in 1855 to take over the operation of a nearly bankrupt grocery and dry goods store and the care of his minor brother and sister from his uncle. Hiller returned to Pennsylvania briefly in 1857 to marry Sarah Fulton Bell (1837-1915) and take her back to Missouri with him.
By the time the Civil War broke out in 1861 all the Hiller children had migrated to Clark County and the surrounding area. When the likelihood of remaining neutral seemed impossible, the family prepared to serve the Union cause. Hiram and his older brother John served in the 2nd Cavalry Regiment of the Missouri State Militia in the New Madrid-Cape Girardeau area throughout most of the war. Hiram was a lt. colonel and John was a 2nd lieutenant and quartermaster of Company B, and later of Company A. William, George, and Royal enlisted in other Union units for shorter terms during the war. James, after bringing his wife Rebecca and their children to a safer environment with relatives in Pennsylvania, died on his way back to Missouri to enlist.
The family's active roll in the war helped them in the Radical Republican politics of the early postwar period. Hiram Hiller became clerk of Clark County Circuit Court in 1865 and a partner in the law firm of Matlock and Hiller. In 1867 he was commissioned a 1st lieutenant and quartermaster in the 7th Battalion of the Missouri State Militia. John Stafford, Amelia Hiller's husband, became tax collector and sheriff of Clark County, while Harriet's son William A. Spruance was deputy. John, William, and Royal Hiller were all businessmen in the county.
Col. Hiram Hiller was especially prudent in his investments and land speculations. He was instrumental in getting the Clark County seat moved to Kahoka in 1870 by providing, along with other members of Hiller and Company (John Hiller, Charles Matlock, John Stafford, and John Schee) the means to build a courthouse in Kahoka as a permanent seat of county government. This, of course, secured a measure of prosperity for the town and, incidentally, its principal landowners.
Upon moving his family to Kahoka in 1872, the Colonel became one of the most prominent citizens in town. He helped induce the Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska railroad to construct their line through Kahoka; founded the county's first bank (Clark County Savings, 1874) and an insurance company; sponsored the Hiller Block, a business section on the courthouse square; co-sponsored the establishment of Kahoka College; and contributed to the Episcopal and Presbyterian churches. He also founded the Exchange Bank of Kahoka in 1894, which was operated by the Hiller family until 1963. Colonel Hiram H. Hiller died in a railroad accident in 1895.
Hiram and Sarah raised six children to adulthood: Hattie (1860-1943), Charles (1864-1940), Hiram, Jr. (1867-1921), Lida (1869-1957), Samuel (1872-1933), and George (1875-1911). Hiram, Jr. was the adventurer of the family. After completing medical school in Philadelphia in 1891, he spent several years travelling in Europe and Asia, primarily Borneo and Japan. On a series of explorations to the Far East between 1896 and 1901, he and some colleagues studied the cultures of several primitive tribes, returning with archeological, cultural, zoological, and botanical specimens and data for museums, lectures and publications. Hiller then managed a sugar plantation in Cuba for a wealthy friend from 1902 to 1907 in order to capitalize his return to Philadelphia and his medical practice.
Colonel Hiller's other sons remained in Kahoka as lawyers and bankers, running the family businesses. The eldest, Charles, became the family patriarch with six sons of his own: Harrod (1891-1947), Stuart (1893-1933), Hugh "Ike" (1895-1983), Robert (1898-1967), Allan (1902-1949), and William "Craig" (1908-1967). Ike and Robert served in France during World War I, while Stuart was beginning a long siege with crippling arthritis that kept him out of the service.
Stuart's sons fought in World War II, Charles in the Pacific and Hiram in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy. Hiram also served in Korea in 1954-1955, where he married a Christian missionary. Stuart's wife, Osee Tolman Hiller, spent many years as the Kahoka librarian and her sons ran the Hiller Insurance Agency. Hiram lived with his 3rd wife Anne in the Col. Hiram M. Hiller home, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, until his death in 199(?).
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
The Hiller Family Papers consist of correspondence, photographs, genealogical records, estate records, diaries, personal account books, deeds, military records, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, manuscripts and miscellaneous material relating to a prominent Kahoka, Missouri, family. The papers focus on the personal lives of an upper-middle class family of farmers, lawyers, bankers, doctors and business people living in and around Clark County, Missouri for 135 years. Because the growth of the town of Kahoka was strongly influenced by the Hillers, the papers provide a good picture of the social and business lives of both town and family for more than a century. The papers are arranged into eight series: Correspondence, Diaries, Genealogy, Estate Records, Legal/Financial Records, Photographs, John M. Hiller, and Miscellaneous.
The largest series, Correspondence, is arranged chronologically from 1785 to 1993, with the bulk between 1886 and 1976. Although there is one letter dated 1785, the correspondence between members of the Milliken, Bell, and Hiller families really begins in the mid-1840s. The volume of correspondence increases greatly during the 1880s when the children of Hiram and Sarah Hiller left for school and other pursuits. Letters from the young people, especially Hiram, Jr., discuss the upper-middle class social life of Philadelphia, Boston, and Iowa, while their parents= letters are filled with news of family and Kahoka people and events. Several letters from Hiram, Jr., dating from 1888 to 1892, provide good descriptions of contemporary medical education and practice. Correspondence from his travels in Europe, 1893-1894; Asia, especially Borneo and Japan, 1896-1901; and Cuba, where he managed a sugar plantation, 1902-1907, provide a wonderfully descriptive travelogue with contemporary American middle class commentary that is extremely informative.
Although Civil War correspondence is primarily contained in the John M. Hiller series, this series does contain several letters from family members in World War I, World War II, and from Korea during the period of U.S. occupation after the conflict. These letters discuss military life and war with knowledge and clarity and are a valuable addition to the family papers. There are also some letters written in Korean to Hiram and Lila Hiller at the time of their marriage in 1955.
The Diaries series is arranged alphabetically by author. The eleven diaries of Charles and Hiram Hiller, Jr., written in the 1880s, describe school, work, weather, sports, botany (which was a hobby of both young men), and social activities with the other young people of the Kahoka area. The 1893 diary of Sam Hiller is much the same. Osee Tolman Hiller's diaries, 1938 and 1941, are primarily calendars documenting the everyday activities and errands of a middle-aged widow. The diary of Hiram Hiller contains entries from February and March 1943 when he was serving with the U.S. Army in North Africa during World War II. It describes his job maintaining the military motor vehicles as well as the everyday activities of the soldiers.
The Genealogy series, arranged by type of document and then divided into families, is primarily the product of Lida Hiller Lapsley's lifelong efforts to document and record her family's ancestry. Included are photocopies from pages of family bibles, D.A.R. records, notes, newspaper clippings and announcements of births, weddings and deaths of the Bell, Greenlee, Fulton, Harrod, Hiller, Lapsley, Milliken and Stafford families. Mrs. Lapsley's notes and notebooks often contain material about several of the related families in the same document and need to be studied rather carefully to gather all of the information included. The Moore, Nichols, and Tolman family data is the result of the influence of Osee Tolman Hiller, wife of Lida's nephew Stuart Clippings and announcements of family events have been added through the 1990s. . The Huiskamp material in folder 146a was added by Anne Huiskamp (Mrs. Hiram Macomber) Hiller after the bulk of the collection was processed.
The Estate Records series, arranged alphabetically by name, consists of wills, inventories, notes and financial data dealing with the estates of certain family members. For ease of access, each person's records have been retained in the order in which they were received.
The Legal/Financial Records series is arranged chronologically from 1790 to 1983 and consists of deeds, wills, commissions, some military records, birth and death certificates, guardianship records, stock lists, income tax records, tax receipts, bills, personal account books, and other records. Of special interest are the Civil War muster rolls of Company A of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment of the Missouri State Militia for 31 December 1864 to 30 April 1865, Hiram H. Hiller's military and gubernatorial commissions, 1862-1867, the records of the financing of the Clark County court house at Kahoka, 1869-1870, World War II ration books and purchase certificates, and the sale of the family-owned Exchange Bank of Kahoka in 1963.
The Photographs series is arranged alphabetically by family, with the Hiller and Tolman families then arranged by generation. The family photographs date from around the 1840s to the 1980s and consist of tintypes, ambrotypes, cartes de visite, formal portraits, snapshots and color slides. Several folders of pictures of Kahoka buildings and public school classes, as well as Korean street scenes and orphanages dating from 1954 and 1955 and other photos, follow the family pictures. In addition to their use in genealogical study, these photographs are of interest as examples of contemporary fashion, including military uniforms from the Civil War, World War I, World War II, and Korea.
The John M. Hiller series, which was added to the papers at a later date, contains both the personal papers of John Hiller (1825-1899) and military records generated by Hiller as quartermaster of Company B, and later of Company A, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, Missouri State Militia, during the Civil War. Family members found these documents intact in the field desk of Lt. Hiller more than a century after the war. This series has been kept separate from the rest of the collection for that reason. A large portion of the personal diaries and correspondence and a few of the military documents were photocopied for the collection and the originals were retained by the family.
The personal papers section, arranged chronologically, consists of diaries/account books and correspondence from 1852 to 1875. The diaries/account books are small volumes kept by Hiller to record personal financial accounts, appointments, daily events and, often, original poetry. The diaries covering the war years often intersperse personal accounts with notes intended for use later in the compilation of the quartermaster records for which Hiller was responsible. The personal correspondence chronicles the movements of the various family members during and after the war. Many of the letters, especially those from Samuel Culver, discuss contemporary issues and voice strong political opinions. The postwar correspondence consists primarily of business correspondence and material relating to Clark County tax collections and sheriff's sales. This last reflects brother-in-law John Stafford's positions in county government.
The military records section of this series is also arranged chronologically and consists of copies of military orders, muster rolls, oaths of allegiance, and quartermaster records including receipts, requisitions, reports, vouchers, invoices, etc., for supplies, stores and provisions for Hiller's company during the war. The quartermaster records are especially extensive for the end of 1864 and the beginning of 1865. Also included are a few Confederate prisoners' statements and letters.
The Miscellaneous series includes manuscripts, notes, clippings and publications relating to the explorations of Dr. Hiram H. Hiller, Jr. in Borneo in the 1890s; maps and clippings of Clark County and Kahoka items; Office of Price Administration and Red Cross pamphlets from World War II; school papers, report cards and notes of some family members; school yearbooks from Culver Military Academy, Lombard and Beloit Colleges, 1911-1915; scrapbooks; and miscellaneous clippings and other material. There are five scrapbooks. Two of them contain clippings and memorabilia of several famous, primarily theatrical, people and events of the mid to late nineteenth century, as well as clippings of the Neeper family and other Kahoka people. The third scrapbook contains clippings of the Hillers and other local people during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including a description of the building of the Keokuk lock and dam.
The last two scrapbooks are oversized volumes stored separately from the bulk of the collection. Volume one consists of photographs and other memorabilia from Stuart Hiller's time at Culver Military Academy, 1909-1913. The second contains picture post cards of Japan, probably collected during the visits of Dr. H.M. Hiller around the turn of the century.
FOLDER LIST
Correspondence Series
f. 1 1785-c.1840s
f. 2 1844-1845
f. 3 1854-1878
f. 4 1882-1885
f. 5 1886-1888, volume of letters from M. Thompson to C. Hiller
f. 6 1886-1888
f. 7 c.1888-1890
f. 8-13 1889
f. 14-20 1890
f. 21-27 1891
f. 28-32 1892
f. 33-37 1893
f. 38-40 1894
f. 41 1895
f. 42 1896
f. 43-44 1897
f. 45 1898
f. 46-50 1899
f. 51-53 1900
f. 54-58 1901
f. 59-60 1902
f. 61 1903
f. 62-63 1904
f. 64-65 1905-1906
f. 66 1907
f. 67 1908-1910
f. 68-69 1910-1912
f. 70 1913-1914
f. 71 1915-1916
f. 72-73 1917
f. 74-76 1918
f. 77-78 c.1918-1920
f. 79 1921
f. 80 c.1924-1925
f. 81 1927-1929
f. 82 1930-1931
f. 83 1933
f. 84 1935-1937
f. 85 1938-1941
f. 86-89 1942
f. 90-91 1943
f. 92-94 1944
f. 95-96 1945
f. 97-98 1948-1954
f. 99-101 1955
f. 102 1956-1958
f. 103 1960-1961
f. 104 1962
f. 105 1963-1967
f. 105a 1969
f. 106 1970-1971
f. 106a-b 1972-1973
f. 106c-d 1974
f. 106e-g 1975-1976
f. 107 1977-1985
f. 107a 1986-1988
f. 107b 1989
f. 107c 1990-1993, n.d.
Diaries Series
f. 108-109 Charles Hiller, 1883-1889
f. 110-111 Hiram M. Hiller, Jr., 1883-1888
f. 112-113 Osee Tolman Hiller, 1938, 1941
f. 114 Miscellaneous Hiller diaries, 1893-1943
Genealogy Series
f. 115 Bible--Charles Hiller family
f. 116 Bible--Hiram M. Hiller, Sr. family
f. 117 Bible--Moore, Nichols families
f. 118 Bible--Tolman family
f. 119 D.A.R. records--Hattie, Lida Hiller
f. 120 D.A.R. records--Mary Thompson Hiller, Yuma Tolman
f. 121 Notes--Bell family
f. 122 Notes--Bell/Greenlee families
f. 123 Notes--Fulton family
f. 124 Notes--Harrod family, including family tree
f. 125 Notes--Hiller family
f. 126 Notes--Hiller/Lapsley families
f. 127 Notes--Milliken family
f. 128 Notes--Stafford family
f. 129 Notebook--Bell/Fulton/Harrod families
f. 130-132 Notebook--Hiller/Milliken/Fulton/Bell families
f. 133-134 Notebook--Hiller/Milliken/Bell families
f. 135 Notebooks--Genealogical dates
f. 136-137 Obituaries/Weddings/Births--Bell/Fulton/Greenlee/Harrod
f. 138-145 Obituaries/Weddings/Births--Hiller
f. 146 Obituaries/Weddings/Births--Miscellaneous people
f. 146a Huiskamp family genealogy
Estate Records Series
f. 147-148 Bell, Levi H. (d. 1862) and Sarah (d. 1871)
f. 149-151 Hiller, George (d. 1911)
f. 152-154 Hiller, Hiram M. (d. 1895)
f. 155 Hiller, Hiram M., Jr. (d. 1921); Hugh M. Hiller (d. 1983)
f. 156 Hiller, Osee Tolman (d. 1965)
f. 157-159 Hiller, Sarah F. Bell (d. 1915)
f. 159a Hiller, Virginia (wife of William Craig Hiller, d. 1986)
f. 160 Hiller, William, Jr. (d. 1851)
f. 161 Hiller, William Craig (d. 1967)
f. 162 Lapsley, Lida Hiller (d. 1957)
Legal/Financial Records Series
f. 163 1790-1852
f. 164 1852-1860
f. 165 1862-1867, Civil War muster rolls, commissions
f. 166-167 1869-1870, Clark County Court House financial records
f. 168 1871-1872
f. 169 1873-1876
f. 170 1880-1889
f. 171 1893-1904, personal account book of Lida H. Hiller
f. 172 1893-1907
f. 173 1911-1915
f. 174 1914-1928, personal account book of Lida Hiller Lapsley
f. 175 1916-1919
f. 176 1920-1930, Charles Hiller will
f. 177-180 1941, menus and receipts from Osee Hiller's restaurant
f. 181 1942-1955, World War II ration books and certificates
f. 182 1956-1958
f. 183 1959-1963, Exchange Bank of Kahoka stock lists
f. 184 1964-1969
f. 185 1971, sale of Hiller farm
f. 186-186a 1971-1978, records of Hiller Insurance Company partnerships
f. 187 1979-1983
Photographs Series
f. 188-189 Bell family
f. 190-191 Hiller album
f. 192 William Hiller family
f. 193 Hiram M. Hiller family
f. 194 Hattie Hiller (Lapsley)
f. 195-196 Hiram M. Hiller, Jr.
f. 197 Lida Hiller (Lapsley)
f. 198 Samuel Hiller family
f. 199-200 George M. Hiller family
f. 201 Charles Hiller
f. 202 Mary Thompson Hiller
f. 203-205 Charles Hiller family
f. 206-208 Hugh "Ike" Hiller family
f. 209 Robert Hiller family
f. 210 Allan Hiller family
f. 211 William "Craig" Hiller family
f. 212-213 Stuart Hiller
f. 214-216 Osee Tolman Hiller
f. 217 Stuart Hiller family
f. 218 Charles S. Hiller family
f. 219-222 Hiram M. Hiller
f. 223 Lila Thompson Hiller
f. 224-225 Hiram and Lila Hiller
f. 226-228 Hiram M. Hiller family
f. 229 Mattie Nichols album
f. 230-231 Nichols family
f. 232-233 Nichols family
f. 234-237 Tolman family
f. 238 Martha Tolman Creger
f. 239-242 Yuma Tolman Faulk family
f. 243-245 Kahoka, Missouri
f. 246-249 Korea, 1954-1955
f. 250-251 Miscellaneous photos
John M. Hiller Series
f. 252 Account books/diaries, 1850s
f. 252a Account book, 1852-1865 (photocopy)
f. 253-253a Account books/diary, 1861-1863 (photocopy)
f. 253b-c Account book/diary, 1863 (photocopy)
f. 253d Account book, 1863 (photocopy)
f. 253e-f Account book/diary, 1864 (photocopy)
f. 253g Account book/diary, 1865 (photocopy)
f. 254 Personal correspondence, 1857, 1860-1861
f. 255 Personal correspondence, 1862
f. 256-257 Personal correspondence, 1863
f. 258-260 Personal correspondence, 1864
f. 261-263 Personal correspondence, 1865
f. 264-266 Personal correspondence, 1866
f. 267 Personal correspondence, 1867
f. 268 Personal correspondence, 1868-1869
f. 269 Personal correspondence, 1870
f. 270 Personal correspondence, 1871
f. 271 Personal correspondence, 1872-1873
f. 272 Personal correspondence, 1874-1875
f. 273 Personal correspondence, n.d.
f. 274 Military records, 1861
f. 275-278 Military records, 1862
f. 279-280 Military records, 1863
f. 281-282 Military records, 1864 Jan-Aug
f. 283-288 Military records, 1864 Sep
f. 289-295 Military records, 1864 Oct
f. 296-301 Military records, 1864 Nov
f. 302-309 Military records, 1864 Dec
f. 310 Military records, 1865 Jan
f. 311-312 Military records, 1865 Feb
f. 313-316 Military records, 1865 Mar
f. 317-319 Military records, 1865 Apr
f. 320-321 Military records, 1865 May
f. 322-324 Military records, 1865 Jun
f. 325-326 Military records, 1865 Jul
f. 327 Military records, n.d.
f. 328 Confederate letters; also original poem, "Dan, the Slave: An Episode of the Rebellion," by John M. Hiller
Miscellaneous Series
f. 329-330 Borneo--Clippings and pamphlets
f. 331-333 Borneo--Manuscripts, Dr. H.M. Hiller, 1896-1901
f. 334 Borneo--Published articles, Dr. H.M. Hiller, 1896-1901
f. 335 Clark County--Clippings
f. 336 Clark County--Maps and history
f. 336a-b Clark County-Courthouse Dome Restoration, 1991
f. 337-338 Kahoka--Clippings and history
f. 338a Pamphlets--World War II
f. 339-341 School records--Hiram M. Hiller, 1920s-1930s
f. 342 School records--Lida Hiller Watson, 1990
f. 343 School records--Osee Tolman, 1900s
f. 343a School record--Hiram T. Hiller, 1970s
f. 344 School year book--Culver Summer Naval School, 1911
f. 345 School year book--Culver Military Academy, 1911
f. 346 School year book--Culver Military Academy, 1912
f. 347 School year book--Lombard College, 1914
f. 348 School year book--Beloit College, 1915
f. 349-350a Miscellaneous--Military documents of Hiram M. Hiller, 1941-1965
f. 351-354 Miscellaneous
f. 355-356 Scrapbooks--Neeper family
f. 357 Scrapbook--Hiller family
OVERSIZE
v.1 Scrapbook--Culver Military Academy, Stuart Hiller, 1909-1913
v.2 Scrapbook--Japan, c.1890s
http://www.system.missouri.edu/whmc/invent/hiller.htm#top
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Western Historical Manuscript Collection-Columbia
23 Ellis Library
University of Missouri-Columbia
Columbia, MO 65201-5149
(573) 882-6028
WHMC@umsystem.edu
http://www.system.missouri.edu/whmc/invent/hiller.htm#top
Note: William Hiller Jr., husband of Charlotte Milliken, had a brother, John Hiller who married Catherine Hughes.
John's daughter, Artimacy Hiller married Josia (or Joseph) McGee in Greene Co, Pennsylvania in 1836. Artimacy and Josia lived in PA, VA and MO. They lived finally in Pike Co, Missouri and Ralls Co, Missouri near Busch. They both died in that area and are buried at the McGee Cemetery at Busch, Pike Co, Mo. (off Pike Co Rd. # 100 near Jct. of new Hwy. 79 and Rt. T past Victor's Point.
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