21 March 2015

Dr. Charles Augustus Hillweg

1856 — 1913

Biographical Sketch

Dr. Charles A. Hillweg, of Corning, was born in Muscatine, Iowa, June 26, 1856, the son of Rev. P. and Martha (Danker) Hillweg. 1   His father was a German Methodist Episcopal minister, who is now retired after thirty-two years of service, and his mother is also still living; they are residing in this State.  Mr. Hillweg finished his education at the Platteville Wisconsin State Normal School, then taught school one year, began the study of medicine in the office of Dr. H. T. Snyder, and finally graduated, in 1878, at the Hahnemann Medical College of Chicago. 2   He began practice in Iowa, then followed his profession in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and in 1886 established himself in Corning. 3   His thoroughness and conscientiousness soon brought him a large patronage, as he is one of the best representatives of his school in this part of the State.  Of course he is recognized as a sufficiently well qualified physician by the State Board of Health.  He is also a practicing surgeon.

In Chicago, in 1878, he married Miss A. E. Hastings, a native of Canada, and they have three children.  One daughter, M. Irene, died at the age of eight years: Charles M. U. and Aileen I. are living. 4 

In his political views Dr. Hillweg is a stalwart Republican.  At present he is chairman of the County Central Committee.

Source: Biographical History of Montgomery and Adams Counties, Iowa. Containing Portraits of all the Presidents of the United States, with accompanying Biographies of each; a Condensed History of Iowa, with Portraits and Biographies of the Governors of the State; Engravings of Prominent Citizens of the Counties, with Personal Histories of many of the Early Settlers and Leading Families (Chicago, Illinois: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1892), page 269.

Notes

  1. Charles Augustus (or August) Hillweg was the eighth of nine children known to have been born to Rev. Peter and Martha (Danker) Hellweg.

    According to the published register of the German Methodist Episcopal Church at Muscatine, Iowa, Charles was baptized on 20 July 1856 by H. Fiegenbaum. This is almost certainly a reference to Rev. Heinrich Hermann Fiegenbaum. At the time he was a Presiding Elder in the German Methodist Episcopal Church, serving an area that stretched from Galena, Illinois, where he was probably residing, to St. Paul, Minnesota.

    In documents related to the Hellweg family, researchers will encounter a wide variety of spellings of the family name; sometimes there will be more than one variant of the surname in the same document. I believe Hellweg is the more authentic orthography and this is the form I use by default.

    Charles Augustus is a special case. Throughout his adult life he made a conscious decision to spell his surname Hillweg. According to John H. Hellweg, a descendant of Peter and Martha Hellweg, there was a feeling among some in the family, especially as they became more distant from their German language roots, that spelling the family name Hell... might give offence in some circles.

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  2. Charles completed a course of study in homeopathic medicine.

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  3. Corning is located in Adams County, Iowa.

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  4. Charles A. Hillweg and Anna Ella Hastings were married on 1 January 1878 at Chicago, Illinois. Miss Hastings was born at the village of Thorold, Ontario, Canada, located on the edge of the Niagara Escarpment at the western end of Lake Ontario.

    Charles and Ella's first two children, Irene and Charles, were both born at West Bend, Washington County, Wisconsin. Aileen was born at Corning two years before this biographical sketch was published.

    Irene Hillweg died at Chicago on 19 January 1889 of malignant diptheria.

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Brief Genealogy

Charles A. Hillweg's family

Anna Ella Hastings' family

I currently have no information about Anna Ella Hastings' birth family beyond what is available in the obituaries for her husband, Charles A. Hillweg, and in the pages from the Hellweg-Danker family bible.

Hillweg - Hastings family

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