Kate’s notes: Just a few points to make here on some of the details in this biography. Ann Edmiston, the wife of William Gillilan, may have had some Welsh in her pedigree but it may not have come from her paternal side. Edmiston/Edmonston/Edmonstone is an old name of Scots origins and a number of this family emigrated to the American colonies from Northern Ireland.
    I have seen any number of variations in spelling of the Edmiston surname, even within families. In the 1808 marriage bond documents for William Gillilan and Ann Edmiston, of which I have copies of the originals, the name was given as Edmiston, Edminston and Edmonston, all depending upon who was writing each document. However, both James (Ann’s father) and Andrew Edmiston signed their surname as I have used it here, Edmiston.

THE
BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
OF
LINN COUNTY
IOWA.
___________

ILLUSTRATED.
___________

“A people that take no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will never achieve
anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote generations.” –MACAULAY.
___________

CHICAGO:
THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY.
1901.

NATHAN C. GILLILAN

    Nathan C. Gillilan has passed the Psalmist’s span of threescore years and ten but is still an active figure in business life. Such a record should put to shame many a man of younger years who, grown weary of the cares and responsibilities of an industrial or commercial career, would relegate to others the burdens which he should bear. A life busy, useful and honorable has won for Mr. Gillilan the respect and confidence of his fellow men, and wherever he is known he is held in high regard. A pioneer settler of Iowa, he came to Linn county almost sixty years ago, his residence here dating from 1842. Marvelous changes have occurred since that time, as with the onward march of progress Iowa has gained a place in the front rank among the great commonwealths which comprise the Union. It is the early settlers who laid the foundation for the present progress and prosperity of the state and to such all all honor is due.
    To this class belongs Nathan C. Gillilan. He was born in Mason county, West Virginia, then a part of Virginia, Oct. 5, 1827, a son of William and Anna (Edmundson), both of whom were natives of Greenbriar[sic] county, Virginia. On the maternal side he is of Welsh ancestry and on the paternal of Scotch-Irish lineage, the families having been residents of America at the time of the Revolutionary war. In 1833 the father of our subject removed with his family to Champaign county, Ohio, and in 1842 came to Linn county, Iowa, living amid the scenes of pioneers life in both places and enduring all the hardships which fall to the lot of early settlers, His wife died in Virginia in 1832, and in 1834 he married Lydia Upton Antrim, a widow, who died soon after coming to Iowa. By the first marriage there were six sons and three daughters, but Mr. Gillilan of this review is now the only survivor.  In 1837 two of the sons and a daughter had come to this state, and in 1842 they were joined by the father and four other children. In the party which arrived in 1837 were Samuel Kelley, James Gillilan, James Dawson and Edward Crow, the first named being the husband of our subject’s sister. They traveled on horseback and with wagon and found here an unsettled district of country, the land all wild and entirely destitute of improvement. Kingston and Marion were the only towns in this portion of the state at the time and they were mere villages. The families all took up homesteads and engaged in farming, and the town of Viola was afterward established on part of the land owned by James Gillilan. When the father of our subject arrived he also secured a tract of wild land and began the development of a farm which he continued to operate for a time. His wife died in 1845, and he passed away at the home of his son William in 1854. There was one daughter by the second marriage who is yet living – Virginia, now the wife of William Haas, of Maine township. She was but six months old when brought by her parents to this state. Mr. and Mrs. Gillilan were members of the Methodist Episcopal church and took an active part in its work. In politics he was a Whig.
     The children of the Gillilan family were educated in the common schools, pursuing their studies in a log school-house, seated with slab benches, the session lasting only three months in the year. The teacher was paid by subscription and “Boarded round” among the scholars. Our subject pursued his education in Virginia and Ohio and for a short time was a student in the district schools of Iowa. He was reared upon the home farm and since the age of sixteen he has provided for his own support, beginning to earn his own livelihood by working as a farm hand. In 1862 he enlisted in Company F, Twentieth Iowa Infantry, joining the army as a private. He was promoted to sergeant and served until honorably discharged at Raleigh. He participated in the battle of Prairie Grove and was also in a number of skirmishes. After leaving the army he returned to his home in Iowa and again resumed farming.
    Mr. Gillilan had been married in 1851 to Miss Mary L. Heaton, who was born in 1833, in St. Lawrence county, New York, and in 1839 was brought to Iowa by her parents, the family locating in Dubuque county and the following year coming to Linn county. The father was a farmer by occupation and died when the daughter was sixteen years of age. The mother died when Mary was only four and a half years old. Her paternal grandfather was in the Revolutionary war, serving for seven years as an army surgeon. Two of the daughters of the Heaton family are yet living, a sister of Mrs. Gillilan being Mrs. Barber, who resides in Central City, at the age of eighty-two years. Unto our subject and his wife have been born thirteen children, two of whom died in early childhood, while the others are yet living, namely: Charles H., a farmer residing in Maine township; Lydia, the wife of H. P. Bellows,a blacksmith of Wahoo, Nebraska; Augustus H., a well driller, residing at home; Orpha J., the wife of E. E. Good, of Wahoo, Nebraska; Marcus, a farmer of Maine township; Will C., who is living in Minnesota;  Sheridan and Sherman, twins, the former at home, while the latter is married and resides upon a farm in Jackson township; Jake L., a soldier of the Spanish-American war, who re-enlisted in the Thirty-sixth Regiment of the Regular Army and is now in the Philippines; Mary, the wife of A. A. Schwantz, who makes his home near Creston, in Union county, Iowa; and Oscar R., who is a graduate of Cornell college and is now principal of the schools in Center Junction, Iowa. The children all attended the schools in Linn county and after ward attended college, pursuing literary, scientific or business courses, and six of the number have become successful educators.
    Mr. Gillilan in 1853 purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land at the government price and also twenty acres of timber, and for many years he continued farming, transforming his place into a very valuable and highly cultivated property. In 1890, however, he left the farm and came to Central City. He has since purchased a small farm near the town and has disposed of the old homestead. His enterprise and energy in the control of agricultural pursuits brought to him a handsome competence. For the past nine years he has engaged in the undertaking business here, being the only representative of that industry in the place. In early life he was a supporter of the Whig party and cast his vote for Zachary Taylor. In 1856 he voted for John C. Fremont and has never failed to cast a ballot for the Republican candidates since that time. He has held a number of local offices, has been a delegate to district and state conventions and has taken an active part in politics, his influence being a potent element in securing the best interests of the party. He has always contributed to church work and is a prominent member of Marvin Mills Post, No. 212. G. A. R., in which he has held the office of vice commander. Through almost six decades he has resided in Linn county and is therefore familiar with its history, his career here forming a connecting link between the primitive past and the progressive present with its splendid facilities and advantages. He has taken just pride in its progress and has contributed in no unimportant manner to its upbuilding.

                                                                                -transcription by Kate Maynard, 2012