Hiram Milliken Hiller Jr. (March 8, 1867 – August 8, 1921) was an American physician, medical missionary, explorer, and

ethnographer Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

. He traveled in

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

and in

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, ...

, and

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

, returning with

archeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeology ...

, cultural,

zoological Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

, and

botanical Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

specimens and data for museums, lectures and publications. His notes and collections provide valuable information about those regions and their people from the late 19th century. In later life, he was involved in the study of

polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

during the epidemics that hit the United States in the early 20th century.

Family and early life

He was born on March 8, 1867, near

Kahoka, Missouri Kahoka is a city in and the county seat of Clark County, in the northeast tip of Missouri, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,961. History Kahoka was platted in 1858. The city is named for the historic Cahokia tribe o ...

, to Colonel Hiram Milliken Hiller Sr. (1834–1895) and the former Sarah Fulton Bell (1837–1915), who were both from Pennsylvania. He was the third of their six children who survived to adulthood. The elder Hiller, a

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

veteran and lawyer, was a prominent citizen of

Clark County, Missouri Clark County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 6,634. Its county seat is Kahoka, Missouri, Kahoka. The county was organized Decembe ...

, and was instrumental in the success of Kahoka until his death in a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

accident.Western Historical Manuscript Collection - Columbia
Hiller Family Papers, 1785-1993 (C3856)
, State Historical Society of Missouri. Accessed 2013.06.21. His

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

in Kahoka is a registered

historic landmark A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been rec ...

. The younger Hiller attended

Parsons College Parsons College was a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college located in Fairfield, Iowa. The school was named for its wealthy benefactor, Lewis B. Parsons Sr., and was founded in 1875 with one ...

in Iowa, earning his B.S. in 1887. He moved to Philadelphia to attend medical school at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. While there, he met several other men of similar interests, including

William Henry Furness III William Henry Furness III (August 10, 1866 – August 11, 1920) was an American physician, ethnographer and author from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He made multiple trips to the Oceania, South Pacific, and was among the first to study and photogra ...

(1867–1920, the son of Shakespearean scholar

Horace Howard Furness Horace Howard Furness (November 2, 1833 – August 13, 1912) was an American Shakespearean scholar of the 19th century. Life and career Horace Furness was the son of the Unitarian minister and abolitionist William Henry Furness (1802–1896), ...

and nephew of architect

Frank Furness Frank Heyling Furness (November 12, 1839 – June 27, 1912) was an American architect of the Victorian era. He designed more than 600 buildings, most in the Philadelphia area, and is remembered for his diverse, muscular, often inordinately scaled ...

), and Alfred Craven Harrison Jr. (1869–1925, nephew of

Charles Custis Harrison Charles Custis Harrison (May 3, 1844 – February 12, 1929) was an American businessman who owned several sugar refineries in Philadelphia from 1863 to 1892, and served as Provost of the University of Pennsylvania from 1894 to 1910. Early life H ...

, Provost of the University of Pennsylvania from 1894 to 1911). Hiller graduated in 1891 and served his residency at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital and at nearby Blockley Hospital.Finding Aid
Furness, Harrison and Hiller expedition records, 1060
University of Pennsylvania Libraries. Accessed 2010.06.19. He traveled in Europe (1893–1894) and spent time in Boston, where he earned money for later adventures while studying at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

.Fuji Takayasu
Provenance of Okinawan Artifacts in the United States (日本語)
, ''American View'', Winter 2008. U.S. Embassy, Tokyo. Accessed 2010.06.19. Edward S. Morse, a Harvard zoologist, was giving lectures about Japan, then a subject of great fascination in the West, throughout Boston; Hiller appears to have been inspired by these.

Expeditions

Hiller, Furness, and Harrison embarked on a series of expeditions to

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

and

. The three did not always travel together, and the records of their travels are fragmentary in places. Their first two voyages are the best-documented; the last voyage the worst. In October 1895, Hiller, Furness, and Harrison left the United States, using their own money to search for the fabled Dayak headhunters of

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

to collect ethnological specimens for the new

University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology The Penn Museum is an archaeology and anthropology museum at the University of Pennsylvania. It is located on Penn's campus in the University City neighborhood of Philadelphia, at the intersection of 33rd and South Streets. Housing over 1.3 mi ...

. On their way to the South Seas, they stopped at

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

Amami The The name ''Amami-guntō'' was standardized on February 15, 2010. Prior to that, another name, ''Amami shotō'' (奄美諸島), was also used. is a Japanese archipelago in the Satsunan Islands, which is part of the Ryukyu Islands, and is sout ...

, and

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

, among other places in Japan, arriving in Borneo after seven months of travel from the United States. They spent four months traveling and collecting in Borneo, although they did not always travel together. After leaving Borneo, they traveled to Singapore, Saigon, and China before returning to Japan, the

Republic of Hawaii The Republic of Hawaii (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Lepupalika o Hawaii'' epupəˈlikə o həˈvɐjʔi was a short-lived one-party state in Hawaii, Hawaii between July 4, 1894, when the Provisional Government of Hawaii had Black Week (H ...

, and the United States. Hiller arrived in Kahoka on December 4, 1896. Five months later (May 1897), they were off to Borneo again. Traveling by way of Japan, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Saigon, they returned to Singapore and used it as a base for a number of expeditions into such places as

Kalimantan Kalimantan (; ) is the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo. It constitutes 73% of the island's area, and consists of the provinces of Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, and West Kalimantan. The non-Ind ...

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

British Malaya The term "British Malaya" (; ) loosely describes a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that were brought under British Empire, British hegemony or control between the late 18th and the mid-20th century. Unlike the ...

, and Tambak before returning the way they came. They returned in August or September 1898. While on expedition, Hiller was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

. Unlike their other expeditions, the third was an eastward journey. They sailed for England on June 14, 1899, traveling from London to Paris and Marseilles before boarding the ''Ernest Simon'' for Asia. The voyage took them through the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

and to

Djibouti Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...

before arriving in

Colombo, Ceylon Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the f ...

. They traveled in Ceylon,

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

, and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

before sailing for

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

(recently annexed by the United States) and

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, circling the world before returning home in May 1900. Their last voyage may have been somewhat restricted by the realities of life (the three were all over 30 by this point). Leaving Philadelphia in February 1901, they traveled to New Orleans and San Francisco before sailing for Honolulu and Yokohama aboard the ''Sir Coptic''. They extensively toured Japan, particularly Hokkaido. Hiller met Jenichiro Oyabe, a Japanese man who had been educated as a missionary at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

and

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

. Oyabe served as a translator and a guide for a side-expedition to the

Ainu people The Ainu are an Indigenous peoples, indigenous ethnic group who reside in northern Japan and southeastern Russia, including Hokkaido and the Tōhoku region of Honshu, as well as the land surrounding the Sea of Okhotsk, such as Sakhalin, the Ku ...

, and consequently Hiller amassed a large collection of the objects of Ainu daily life before proceeding to the

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies) is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The ''Indies'' broadly referred to various lands in Eastern world, the East or the Eastern Hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainl ...

. While in the East Indies, he would collect the

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

of the Sumatran slow loris, which was named after him as ''Nycticebus hilleri''. Once Hiller returned home, he stayed in contact with Oyabe, who wrote him friendly letters encouraging him to "tell the world about my beloved Ainu people."

Later life

Hiller married Blanche Hays, of

Bellefonte, Pennsylvania The Borough of Bellefonte is a borough in and the county seat of Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is approximately 12 miles northeast of State College and is part of the State College, Pennsylvania metropolitan statistical area. ...

. Hiller managed a sugar plantation in Cuba for "a wealthy friend" ( Harrison's father was a sugar manufacturer, and Harrison entered his father's business in 1902) from 1902 to about 1907 in order to make money to bankroll his return to Philadelphia and the establishment of a medical practice. The Hillers settled in Rose Tree, at the north edge of

Media, Pennsylvania Media is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in and the county seat of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located about west of Philadelphia. It is part of the Delaware Valley, also known as the Philadelphia metropolitan area. ...

. Hiller founded a clinic in nearby

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

for poor workers in the factories there.The ''General Alumni Catalogue of the University of Pennsylvania'' (1917, p. 1068) gives his address as 522 W. 9th Street. While there, he encountered a devastating outbreak of a disease that spread rapidly and paralyzed its victims, especially children. A few physicians in other towns were experiencing similar outbreaks. They communicated, shared experiences, and realized not only that they were dealing with the same disease ( "infantile paralysis"), but that it was a form of polio, which apparently had taken a more damaging, virulent, epidemic form. The Hillers had two daughters.

Death

Hiller died on August 8, 1921, in

, possibly from complications from polio. He is buried in Union Cemetery in Bellefonte.Find A Grave
Dr. Hiram M. Hiller
/ref> His widow moved with her daughters to

Lower Merion, Pennsylvania Lower Merion Township is a Township (Pennsylvania), township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Philadelphia Main Line. The township's name originates with the county of Merionethshire, Merioneth in north Wales ...

, closer to Philadelphia, where she lived until her death in 1944.

Collections

Thanks in significant part to Hiller, the Penn Museum's collection of Ainu artifacts is one of the largest in any museum. The Foundation for Research and Promotion of Ainu Culture (FRPAC) borrowed a sizable portion of the Penn Museum's collection to display in the Ainu Craft Exhibition 2008 at the

Niigata Prefectural Museum of History is a prefectural museum in Nagaoka, Japan, dedicated to the history of Niigata Prefecture. The museum opened in 2000. See also * Echigo Province * Sado Province was a province of Japan until 1871; since then, it has been a part of Niiga ...

Nagaoka City is a city located in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. It is the second largest city in the prefecture, after the capital city of Niigata. , the city had an estimated population of 264,611 in 109,283 households and a population density of . The total ...

, Japan. The Penn Museum also holds 57 artifacts and 3 diaries Furness and Hiller brought back from Amami and Okinawa, and the university library has additional materials.

References

Bibliography

*Hiram Milliken Hiller
"Wild mountain tribes of Borneo"
''Harper's'', May 1901, pp. 935–944. Accessed 2018.04.24. *Alison Miner
The Ainu People and an Early Anthropological Friendship Across an Ocean
PennMuseumArchives, February 28, 2009. Accessed 2010.06.20. *Finding Aid
Furness, Harrison and Hiller expedition records, 1060
University of Pennsylvania Libraries. Accessed 2010.06.19. *Medical Society of the State of Pennsylvania, ''The Pennsylvania Medical Journal'', Volume 21, pp. 395, 705 (1918). *Fuji Takayasu

''American View'', Winter 2008. U.S. Embassy, Tokyo. Accessed 2010.06.19. *Western Historical Manuscript Collection - Columbia
Hiller Family Papers, 1785-1993 (3856)
State Historical Society of Missouri. Accessed 2010.06.19.

Family and early life

Expeditions

Later life

Death

Collections

References

Bibliography

Further reading