|
a.
|
Note: Edwin's death certificate gave his place of birth as Shemung County, Pennsylvania. It turns out that Edwin was from Pennsylvania (probably Bradford County) and his father was from Chemung County, New York. This little bit of misdirection took several years to unravel. In the obituary below it says that Edwin left behind two brothers. As near as I can tell this is correct. The two brothers still living were Clarence in Kansas and Samuel in Oklahoma. However, Edwin's brother Thaddeus had died in California less than two months before. I wonder if the family had received word of Thaddeus' death or was it just that they had not heard from him in a long time and presumed that he was dead. All three of Edwin's sisters were still living at the time of his death and none of them were not mentioned in his obituary. The obituary goes on to say that Edwin had seven children living at the time of his death. The 1920 Census for Hooker Twp., Gage Co., Nebraska says that Emily had 9 children of which 7 were still alive. Apparently they lost two children in infancy. In 1993 my sister and I were sent on a mission to Nebraska to locate the graves of Edwin and Emily Hillman. Our mom thought that they were buried in Bayard Cemetery. We soon learned that the only Hillmans listed as being buried in Bayard Cemetery were C. R. Hillman and Alva Hillman. It was many years before I learned that C. R. Hillman was Edwin's brother Clarence Romine Hillman and Alva Hillman was Clarence's son. As I eventually learned, neither C. R. nor Alva were buried in Bayard Cemetery. I was finally able to locate the original mortuary records and determine that the graves assigned to C. R. and Alva were actually the graves of Edwin and Emily. I still don't know what caused the mix-up. It is possible that C. R. and Alva paid part of the costs of Emily's funeral and somehow their names were associated with the graves. In 2000 the children of Robert and Anna (Diehm) Hillman joined together to have a stone placed on Edwin's and Emily's grave.
OBITUARY - Bayard Transcript - October 5, 1922
DEATHS OCCUR IN LAST FEW DAYS Old and Young Alike Bow to the Will of Rule of All the Universe Edward R. Hillman passed away on September 29 at 11:30 a. m. Funeral services being held at his home four miles east of this city Sunday, October 1, Rev. Vivian W. Graybill of Dalton officiating. Mr. Hillman was 83 years, 4 months and 14 days old at the time of his death and was reported to be a kind and indulgent husband, father and friend. Besides his aged wife he leaves two brothers, three sons, and four daughters, besides many friends to mourn his passing.
GRAVE STONE
HILLMAN EDWIN RATHBURN Married EMILY C. ROGERS MAY 15, 1840 -- SEP. 29, 1922 Nov. 17, 1863 DEC. 13, 1846 -- MAR. 26, 1935 PARENTS OF ALICE, JOHN STELLA MARY, LAURA, ROBERT AND GUY PLACED IN THE YEAR 2000 BY THEIR GRANDCHILDREN
|
