EDWARD HILLER-- (Deceased), Leaf River Township, Ogle County, Ill. In earlier days, before the business of milling had been placed on its present footing and when transportation facilities were so inadequate that a mill was necessary in every neighborhood, the miller was a man of great importance in his community and the business everywhere attracted capital and brains. The well remembered citizen whose name appears above, was one a leader in this industry. Edward HILLER was born in Baden, Germany, March 21, 1831, and came with his parents to America in 1837, settling in North Grove, Ogle County. In 1854 Mr. HILLER, married at Freeport, Ill., Miss Mary A. SCHREIBER and they had seven sons and six daughters. He was a farmer extensively until 1864, when he removed to Iowa and engaged in milling. In 1878 he went from Iowa to Missouri, where he lived until 1881, when he returned to Ogle County and built the Leaf River Roller Mill. During his active life he built and operated seven flour mills and two sawmills in the States of Kansas, Iowa, Missouri and Illinois. A man of enterprise and force of character, he was always planning and carring out worthy business projects, and though he met with some reverses, he was of too stern stuff to weakly succumb to them. His education was limited, but by reading and observation he became well-informed. About this time Mr. HILLER did considerable teaming to and from Chicago, a distance of 100 miles. In 1850 after spending two years in the lead mines near Galena, he made an overland trip to California with an ox-team, which was marked by many hardships and perils. In 1871 he visited Europe, and what he saw there was of the greatest interest to him, as he was blessed by the possession of a thought and practical mind and found edification in a comparision of conditions in the old world with the conditions in our newer country. He was a earnest Christian and an indefatigable Bible reader. The last two years of his life were spent in the home of his daughter, the amiable and accomplished wife of Martin LIGHT, of Leaf River Township. His widow , with whom he traveled life's pathway more than fifty years, survives. He is buried by the side of his parents in the Adeline Cemetery. At his passing, many a Christian man and woman who had long known him was impelled to repeat: "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord." He died October 3, 1907, in the seventy-seventh year of his age. A biographical sketch of Martin LIGHT, his son-in-law, will be found in its proper order in this volume.

1909 Encyclopedia of Illinois and the History of Ogle County, Volume 2, by Munsell Publishing, Chicago, Ill. page 920

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