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from Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa by Manoah Hedge The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. 1906
Dr. William G. Hillis, engaged in the practice of medicine at Union Mills, was born in Jackson county, Indiana, December 27, 1851, a son of Dr. David B. Hillis, who was a son of Governor David Hillis, of that state, born in Indiana and who died in Keokuk at the age of sixty-four years. The father was a graduate of the Missouri Medical College at St. Louis, and practiced his profession for a number of years in Indiana. In 1859 he came to Iowa and engaged in the dry goods business at Bloomfield. Removing to Keokuk, Iowa, in 1860, at which place he enlisted for service in the Civil war, being appointed by Governor Kirkwood lieutenant-colonel of the Seventeenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. During the service he was promoted to the rank of colonel of the regiment and later was brevetted brigadier general. Following the war he returned to Keokuk, Iowa, where he resumed the practice of medicine, gaining distinction as an able representative of the profession. For several years he was professor of theory and practice in the College of Physicians and Surgeons and thus became well known as an educator. His political allegiance was given to the republican party, with which he was prominently identified. He was recognized as one of its leaders in this state and was, at one time, spoken of for the position of lieutenant governor. He frequently made campaign addresses in various parts of the state and was a stanch and stalwart advocate of the party principles. A gentleman of strong intellectuality and of marked natural and acquired ability, he occupied an enviable position in his profession and in political circles as well. His religious faith was that of the old school Presbyterian church. His first wife, who bore the maiden name of Laura Kisor, was born in Indiana and died in Keokuk at the age of forty-seven years. They were the parents of four children, of whom Dr. Hillis of this review is the only one now living. His younger brother, Oscar B. Hillis, studied law and was admitted to the bar but never practiced. At the time of his death he was serving as clerk of the United States circuit and district courts at Omaha, Nebraska, having been appointed by Judge George W. McCrary. For his second wife Dr. David B. Hillis married Mrs. Charles Phelps, a widow, who is now living in Keokuk, Iowa. Dr. Hillis of this review acquired his early education in the schools of Keokuk and determining upon the practice of medicine as a life work he completed a course and was graduated from the Keokuk College of Physicians and Surgeons with the class of 1875. After receiving his diploma he located at Beacon, Mahaska county; where he practiced for two years. He then returned to Keokuk, where he was associated in practice with his father for several years, subsequent to which time he removed to Mount Hamill, Iowa, where he continued in practice for four years. Later he spent one winter with a surveying party in northern Minnesota, having acquired considerable knowledge serving in the United States engineer's office at Keokuk at the time the canal was built there. In 1897 he located at Union Mills, where he has since remained, devoting his time and energies to medical and surgical practice with good success, having comprehensive knowledge of the principles of the science of medicine, while at all times he is correct in the adaptation of his knowledge. In politics he is a republican and although he has been solicited to accept public office he has always declined.
Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa
Mahaska County, Iowa Genealogy