Hiram M. Hiller Jr. facts for kids
Hiram Milliken Hiller Jr. (born March 8, 1867 – died August 8, 1921) was an American doctor, explorer, and expert in different cultures. He also worked as a medical missionary.
Hiller traveled a lot in Oceania and different parts of Asia, including South, Southeast, and East Asia. He brought back many interesting things. These included items related to ancient cultures, different ways of life, animals, and plants. He shared these with museums, in lectures, and in books. His notes and collections still give us important information about these places and their people from the late 1800s. Later in his life, he studied polio during the outbreaks in the United States in the early 1900s.
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Hiram Hiller's Early Life and Family
Hiram Hiller Jr. was born on March 8, 1867. His birthplace was near Kahoka, Missouri. His parents, Hiram Milliken Hiller Sr. and Sarah Fulton Bell, were both from Pennsylvania. Hiram Jr. was the third of their six children who grew up.
His father was a lawyer and a veteran of the American Civil War. He was an important person in Clark County, Missouri. He helped Kahoka grow until he died in a train accident. His family home in Kahoka is now a historic landmark.
Hiller's College Years and Medical Training
Hiram Hiller Jr. went to Parsons College in Iowa. He earned his science degree there in 1887. After that, he moved to Philadelphia to study medicine. He attended the University of Pennsylvania.
While at medical school, he met other students who shared his interests. These included William Henry Furness III and Alfred Craven Harrison Jr. Hiller finished medical school in 1891. He then worked as a resident doctor at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital. He also worked at Blockley Hospital nearby.
Hiller traveled in Europe from 1893 to 1894. He also spent time in Boston. There, he earned money for his future adventures. He studied at Harvard. A Harvard zoologist named Edward S. Morse gave talks about Japan. Japan was very popular in the West at that time. These talks seemed to inspire Hiller greatly.
Hiram Hiller's Exciting Expeditions
Hiller, Furness, and Harrison went on several trips together. They explored East and Southeast Asia and Oceania. They did not always travel as a group. The records of their journeys are sometimes incomplete. Their first two trips are the most well-known.
First Expedition (1895–1896): Searching for Headhunters
In October 1895, Hiller, Furness, and Harrison left the United States. They used their own money for the trip. Their goal was to find the famous Dayak headhunters of Borneo. They wanted to collect items for the new University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
On their way to the South Seas, they stopped in Japan. They visited places like Yokohama, Amami, and Okinawa. After seven months of travel, they arrived in Borneo. They spent four months exploring and collecting things in Borneo. They did not always travel together during this time. After Borneo, they went to Singapore, Saigon, and China. Then they returned to Japan, Hawaii, and finally the United States. Hiller arrived back home in Kahoka on December 4, 1896.
Second Expedition (1897–1898): Back to Borneo
Just five months later, in May 1897, they set off for Borneo again. They traveled through Japan, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Saigon. They returned to Singapore, which they used as a base. From Singapore, they made several trips into places like Kalimantan, Sarawak, British Malaya, and Tambak. They returned home the same way they came, in August or September 1898.
Third Expedition (1899–1900): Around the World
Unlike their other trips, this third journey went eastward. They sailed for England on June 14, 1899. From London, they traveled to Paris and Marseilles. There, they boarded the Ernest Simon ship for Asia.
The ship went through the Suez Canal and stopped in Djibouti. Then they arrived in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). They explored Ceylon, India, Burma, and Australia. After that, they sailed to Hawaii (which had recently become part of the United States). Finally, they went to Vancouver, Canada. They had circled the world and returned home in May 1900.
Fourth Expedition (1901): Discovering the Ainu People
Their last big trip might have been shorter because they were all over 30 by then. They left Philadelphia in February 1901. They traveled to New Orleans and San Francisco. From there, they sailed to Honolulu and Yokohama on the ship Sir Coptic.
They explored Japan widely, especially Hokkaido. Hiller met Jenichiro Oyabe, a Japanese man who had studied at Yale University and Howard University. Oyabe helped Hiller as a translator and guide. They went on a special trip to meet the Ainu people. Hiller collected many items from the Ainu's daily life.
After Japan, Hiller went to the East Indies. There, he collected a special type of Sumatran slow loris. This animal was later named Nycticebus hilleri after him. When Hiller returned home, he stayed in touch with Oyabe. Oyabe wrote friendly letters, asking Hiller to "tell the world about my beloved Ainu people."
Hiram Hiller's Later Life
Hiram Hiller married Blanche Hays from Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. His days of exploring jungles were over. From 1902 to about 1907, Hiller managed a sugar plantation in Cuba. He did this for a rich friend. This job helped him earn money to return to Philadelphia. He then started his own medical practice there.
The Hillers settled in Rose Tree, near Media, Pennsylvania. Hiller opened a clinic in nearby Chester. This clinic helped poor factory workers. While working there, he saw a terrible outbreak of a disease. It spread quickly and paralyzed its victims, especially children.
Other doctors in different towns were seeing similar outbreaks. They talked to each other and shared what they learned. They soon realized they were all dealing with the same disease. It was called "infantile paralysis," which was a form of polio. This type of polio seemed to be much more harmful and spread easily. The Hillers had two daughters, Margaret Linn and Virginia.
Hiram Hiller's Passing
Hiram Hiller died on August 8, 1921. He passed away in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. It's possible he died from problems related to polio. He is buried in Union Cemetery in Bellefonte. His wife and daughters moved to Lower Merion, Pennsylvania, closer to Philadelphia. Blanche lived there until she died in 1944.
Hiller's Important Collections
Thanks a lot to Hiram Hiller, the Penn Museum has one of the biggest collections of Ainu artifacts. The Foundation for Research and Promotion of Ainu Culture (FRPAC) borrowed many items from the Penn Museum's collection. They showed them in the Ainu Craft Exhibition in 2008. This exhibition was held at the Niigata Prefectural Museum of History in Nagaoka City, Japan.
The Penn Museum also has 57 artifacts and 3 diaries. These were brought back by Furness and Hiller from Amami and Okinawa. The university library has even more materials related to their travels.
