Edwin Hillyer was an American industrialist from

Waupun Waupun is a city in Dodge County, Wisconsin, Dodge and Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Fond du Lac counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 11,344 at the 2020 census. Of this, 7,795 were in Dodge County, and 3,549 were in Fond du ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. Hillyer first came to Waupun in 1847, eight years after

Seymour Wilcox Seymour may refer to: Places Australia *Seymour, Victoria, a township *Electoral district of Seymour, a former electoral district in Victoria *Rural City of Seymour, a former local government area in Victoria *Seymour, Tasmania, a locality ...

, the settlement's founder.

Life

Edwin Hillyer was born in Ohio on September 30, 1825. Edwin, along with his brother, Joseph Talcott Hillyer, settled in Waupun in 1847. When they first arrived, both of them worked in lumber. In 1849, Edwin and eight other Waupun settlers came down with gold fever and formed a company to travel to California. They all returned in 1852.

Civic Life

Hillyer was heavily connected to several early Waupun industries. When he returned from California, he engaged in a store business with his brother before he sold his share a few years later. He and others established the Dodge County Mutual Insurance Company, and Hillyer worked there for the entirety of its existence. In 1856, he played a major role in constructing the Milwaukee & Horicon Railroad between Waupun and Horicon.''The First One Hundred Fifty Years: A History of Waupun, Wisconsin, 1839 to 1989''. James Laird, 1989. Hillyer was also a leader in the formation of the Forest Mound Cemetery. For a time, Hillyer was the deputy warden at the Wisconsin State Prison. It was also he who directed the landscaping in front of the original building. Hillyer had also served in the Assembly for the

6th Wisconsin Legislature The Sixth Wisconsin Legislature convened from January 12, 1853, to April 4, 1853, in regular session. They reconvened from June 6 to July 13 to sit as a court of impeachment for Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge Levi Hubbell. This was the first le ...

. He ran as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Waupun Public Library

The Waupun Library Association was established in 1858 through the efforts of Hillyer and William Euen. Hillyer was the first librarian and ran the library out of his insurance office. When it began, the library only had nine feet of shelving. In 1895, citing his advanced age and the job's strenuous work, he turned the book stock over to the city. When the city took ownership of the library, the mayor appointed a new library board which included Hillyer and Lucius D. Hinkley, another prominent Waupun industrialist. He was involved in the 1904 construction of the Carnegie Library in Waupun. Hillyer served on the board until his death.''The First Hundred Years: A History of Waupun, 1839-1939''. Scott, Edith Moul, 1939.

Military service

When the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

broke out in 1861, Hillyer raised part of two companies for the Wisconsin Volunteer Infantries. Company D. of the 3rd and Company K. of the 10th. He was appointed captain of Company K. He served until he fell ill in 1863 and resigned from his post. He was honorably discharged from the military.

Death and legacy

Edwin Hillyer died at the age of 83 on December 8, 1908. He was buried in Forest Mound Cemetery in Waupun. In 1966 the Wisconsin Magazine of History published the first half of Hillyer's Gold Rush Journal, which chronicled his journey from Waupun to California.John O. Holzhueter, & Edwin Hillyer. (1966). From Waupun to Sacramento in 1849: The Gold Rush Journal of Edwin Hillyer. The Wisconsin Magazine of History, 49(3), 210–244. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4634148

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hillyer, Edwin 1908 deaths People from Ohio People from Waupun, Wisconsin People of Wisconsin in the American Civil War People of the California Gold Rush Businesspeople from Wisconsin 1825 births 19th-century American businesspeople