Charles M. Hilleary, who had identified himself since early youth with educational work and is now superintendent of the city schools of Humboldt, represents one of the early pioneer families of Bourbon County.
He was born at the Village of Xenia in Bourbon County, Kansas, May 28, 1879. His people located in that section of southeastern Kansas prior to the Civil war. The Hillearys came originally from England and were colonial settlers in Virginia. Professor Hilleary’s grandfather Daniel Stump Hilleary was born in 1823. In early life he removed west, to Ohio, later into Illinois, and still later to Kansas. He served in the American armies in the war with Mexico and was captain of a company. His active career was spent as a farmer, and he died in Xenia, Kansas, in 1888. He married a Miss Pritchard, a native of Ohio, and she died near Newark in that state in 1848.
Lucius W. Hilleary, father of Charles Marion Hilleary, was born at Newark, Ohio, July 18, 1848. He spent part of his early life there, and went with his father to Vermillion County, Illinois, where he grew up on a farm. In 1866 he came with Daniel S. Hilleary to Kansas and located in Bourbon County at Xenia. He married there, and for many years was engaged in farming and merchandising. In April, 1885, he removed to Stafford County, Kansas, was a farmer in that locality, but in 1898 again resumed merchandising at Macksville, in the same county. He is now living retired. Lucius W. Hilleary is a republican and a member of the Methodist Church. He married Catherine V. Thompson. She was born in Polk County, Missouri, March 18, 1853, and her ancestors were also from England and early settlers in Virginia. Her father Phenus Thompson was born in Tennessee in 1814, went to Kentucky and later to Missouri, and in 1861 settled in Bourbon County, Kansas. He followed farming in that district the rest of his life, but died while on a visit to Polk County, Missouri, in 1887. Several of his sons were soldiers in the Civil war. Phenus Thompson married Miss Crumbly, who was born in Tennessee and died at Xenia, Kansas. Lucius W. Hilleary and wife are the parents of four children: Montimer, a merchant at Hutchinson, Kansas; Gertrude, who died when two years of age; Charles Marion; and Eva, wife of Rev. W. B. Summers, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Mitchell, Kansas.
Charles M. Hilleary spent most of his early life on a farm in Stafford County. He attended the rural schools, and in 1896 graduated from the high school at Macksville. The following two years were spent as a teacher in the rural districts of Stafford County. He then entered the State Normal School at Emporia, but in the intervals of his course there he was principal of the high school at Macksville for two years. He finally completed his studies and graduated at Emporia in 1904 and in the same year took charge of the high school at Parker, Kansas, as principal. A year later he went to St. John, Kansas, and became superintendent of the city schools, and in 1910 accepted a similar office at Humboldt. Mr. Hilleary is a progressive school man, and had worked steadily for the upbuilding and improvement of the schools of Humboldt during the past six years. He had accomplished some very creditable results. He had under his supervision two school houses, a staff of twenty-four teachers, and the enrollment of pupils in the city schools is 726.
He is a member of the Southeast Kansas and the Kansas State Teachers Association, and the National Educational Association. He also belongs to St. John Lodge No. 254 Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons, to Valley Chapter No. 11, Royal Arch Masons, at Humboldt, and to Humboldt Camp of the Modern Woodmen of America. In politics he is a republican and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
On June 30, 1909, at Macksville, Kansas, Mr. Hilleary married Miss Bernice M. Carter. She is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John L. Carter, her father being a grain merchant at Dodge City, Kansas. Her mother is now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Hilleary are the parents of two children: Mina Imogene, born July 3, 1910, and Montimer Marion, born October 24, 1914.