East and north facades of the house.Photo byL. Morrow/NRHP Nomination Form.

This historic house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 21, 1986. Located at 570 N. Washington, Kahoka, a great-grandson of Col. Hiller, Hiram Macomber Hiller, lived in the house until 1997. While real estate sites indicate the house is no longer on the market, you can visit here to see images of the interior.

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 1997. (Source.)

Backstory

In the mid to late 1960s, Col. Hiller's great-grandson, Hiram Hiller, along with his wife, Anne, began a restoration and remodeling of the historic home. They probably had their work cut out for them, but they kept the house alive.

Ten rooms, two and one-half bathrooms, and a new basement received attention. The plastered interior was replaced with a new drywall. Also installed were updated wiring, plumbing, and heating, and the bathrooms were expanded.

Interestingly, in the kitchen, there were two stoves installed for separate use by the Hillers who authored a regional recipe book.

To build a full concrete basement, the house was raised. The basement space was used for winemaking and storing the Kahoka area's antique material culture.

Col. Hiram M. Hiller

Col. Hiller's house is still the oldest residence north of the railroad in Kahoka. Hiller acted as a county officer and was on the Kahoka Board of Trustees as a town planner.

Col. Hiller founded Clark County's first bank and he contributed to the foundation of the First Methodist Episcopal Church. He also contributed to the Methodist Episcopal South and Presbyterian churches. In addition, he co-sponsored the establishment of the Kahoka College, and he sponsored young up-and-coming attorneys to read law in his office.

Col. Hiller fought in the Civil War and when he returned home, on so many levels, he influenced the development of the town.

It was Hiller's uncle, Hiram Heaton Milliken, who initially wanted Hiller to come to Athens, Missouri where Milliken ran a rural grocery and dry goods store. Hiller arrived in 1855 to help with the store and a minor sister and brother. A couple of years later, he went back to Pennsylvania to bring his bride, Sarah Fulton Bell, to Missouri. They married on August 27, 1857.

In the summer of 1863, Hiller was commissioned as Lieutenant Colonel by Governor Hamilton R. Gamble after he enlisted in the Missouri State Militia, 2nd Missouri Cavalry. While serving as an officer, he sent his family to Pennsylvania to be safe. He had an active administrative role in the Union victory in Missouri.

In 1867, Hiller was commissioned 1st Lieutenant and Quartermaster in the 7th Battalion of the Missouri State Militia by Governor Thomas Fletcher. Later, Hiller became circuit court clerk and he also formed a law partnership with Charles E. Matlock.

In June 1873, Col. Hiller and his wife granted a right of way through their property to the Missouri, Iowa, and Nebraska railroad for track and depot. In the summer of 1874, Col. Hiller started planning on the building of his house. By May 1875, they moved in.

The Spencer murder case

In 1877, Matlock and Hiller were the defense attorneys for Willis James, a brother-in-law to Spencer. James was charged with the murders of all five Spencer family members. This was a memorable event to have occurred in Clark County.

In the State of Missouri vs. Willis James, Matlock and Hiller received an acquittal for James. The local citizens were so angry and upset with the verdict that they formed a mob and killed James. If James was innocent, however, this brought some notoriety to Matlock and Hiller's firm.

Oddly enough, another accused person, Bob Young, was tried and acquitted in a second trial. People who were outraged decided to lynch him. Author, Duane Taylor, has written a book about this unsolved mass murder case, Innocent as the Angels.

Historic photograph taken about 1880.Photo byUnknown/NRHP Nomination Form.

By 1880, Col. Hiller and Sarah were living in their house with their six children, a niece, and a servant girl.

During the 1880s, Kahoka doubled its population and Col. Hiller kept sponsoring organizations and building constructions to improve the town. In 1884, Col. Hiller donated a tract of land to build a college, and once it was built, he served on the Board of Directors for Kahoka College.

Col. Hiller's son, Charles, joined his family's legal practice. Hiller and his son even started an insurance business that was affiliated with Hartford Insurance Company out of Hartford, Connecticut and this business lasted until the mid-1900s.

In the 1890s, Hiller established the Exchange Bank of Kahoka and staffed it with family members. By the 1950s, this bank became one of the oldest running banks in Kahoka. Eventually, when great-grandson Hiram Hiller owned the house, he sold his reamining interest in the bank in 1962.

Col. Hiram Hiller died in a freak railroad accident at Kahoka on August 14, 1895. During his life, he was able to see how Kahoka progressed and developed. Col. Hiller left a strong legacy with Kahoka's early history.

The Hiller Family Papers (1785-1993) collection is available at The State Historical Society of Missouri Research Center-Columbia. The collection consists of correspondence, diaries, genealogy, estate records, legal/financial records, photographs, John M. Hiller, and miscellaneous.

Col. Hiller was only 61 when he died on August 14, 1895. His wife, Sarah Fulton Bell Hiller, died on August 20, 1915, at age 77. His great-grandson, Hiram Macomber Hiller, lived in the house until he died on August 10, 1997, at age 79, and his wife, Anne Huiskamp Hiller, died on November 3, 2009, at age 83.

Kahoka

Kahoka is located on the northeast tip of Missouri. Since 1872, it's been the county seat of Clark County. According to World Population Review, there are 1,999 residents in Kahoka.

Kahoka was laid out in 1856 and named for the Cahokia Indians. Other buildings in Kahoka listed on the National Register are the Clark County Courthouse and the Montgomery Opera House.

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