"Portrait & Biographical Record of the Willamette Valley Oregon."  Chicago:
Chapman Publishing Company, 1903. p. 1381.
 
WILLIAM E. ILER

     Closely connected with the events of the pioneer days in Marion county,
Ore., is the life of William E. Iler, a youthful emigrant to the state of his
adoption, within whose range of vision have come great changes during his
residence here of over a half century. Fine houses and substantial barns have
taken the place of the little log cabins and " shacks " which once constituted
the conveniences of the farm; towns and cities have sprung up in the wilderness,
with their churches and schools and thriving industries; and even the old
fiddle, across whose strings he was wont to scrape the bow to make the music for
the country dances, has been displaced by the modern orchestra ; and only
recollection is left to connect the trials and hardships of those early days
with the present affluence.
     The birth of William E. Iler occurred in Mercer county, Mo., April 10,
1845, his parents being James and Maria (Vanalsdale) Iler, both of whom were
natives of the state of Ohio. From their Missouri home the father started with
his family for Oregon in 1847, traveling by ox-team. Upon his arrival at The
Dalles he had left but one ox and a cow, so they abandoned their wagon and came
by flat boat to Oregon City, where they spent their first winter in the west.
Mr. Her was employed during this winter in transporting provisions to the
soldiers stationed at The Dalles. In the spring of 1848 he settled upon a farm
owned by a Mr. Hudson, which was located three miles east of Oregon City, and
contained three hundred and twenty acres. There he remained but a short time,
soon taking up a donation claim in the same neighborhood. After a brief
experience in a logging camp he again took his .family to the Hudson farm,
remaining upon the same until 1851, when he took up another claim, located in
the vicinity of Butteville, Marion county, consisting of six hundred and forty
acres. In this location he remained until his death, in 1883, at the age of
seventy-two years. His wife died in 1880, at the age of sixty-seven. Of the five
children which blessed the union there is only one now living, that being
William E.Iler of this review. The second child, Emma R., attained maturity and
married Gustavus A. Cone, Sr. Her death occurred in 1881.
     William E. Iler was five years old at the time of his father's removal to
his claim, and there he grew to manhood, reared to an agricultural life. His
early education was received in the common schools in the vicinity of his home,
which he attended in the short intermission between the farming seasons. Owing
to his father's ill health he was compelled at the age of fifteen years to take
entire charge of the farm, which has never since passed from his control. He now
owns one hundred and eighty acres of land, upon which he is engaged in general
farming and stock-raising, also being interested in the cultivation of hops, in
which business he has met with gratifying success. In 1881 he first gave his
attention to the cultivation of this plant, beginning operations with seven
acres. In 1888 he had nearly sixty acres devoted to hops, in the year 1890
disposing of over thirty thousand pounds, these figures representing a
considerable sum of money. He has at the present time but twelve acres in hops.
In the stock line he is interested in Poland-China hogs.
     January 10, 1870, Mr. Iler was united in marriage with Miss Lulu Stephens.
Fraternally he is identified with the Masons, and is serving as treasurer of the
local lodge; he is also a member of Butteville Lodge No. 59, I. O. O. F.; the
Maccabees, and the Grange. Being one of the pioneer hop-growers of the
Willamette valley. Air. Her has been deeply interested in all movements that
tend toward the encouragement of the industry. He took an active part in the
organization of the Hop-growers' Fire Relief Association, of which he was
elected the first president, serving in this office for three years;
subsequently he was elected a member of the board of trustees in the association
for the protection of hop-growers in the Willamette valley. He is now serving as
treasurer of the latter company, which is carrying about $700,000 of insurance.
In the Farmers' Relief Fire Insurance Company he was one of the principal
organizers, and is now in the directorate.
     It will thus be seen, from this all too brief outline of the principal
features in the career of Mr. Her, that he has been intensely and unselfishly
interested in various movements which have had for an end the safeguarding of
the most important interests of the Willamette valley—for it cannot be denied
that in an agricultural section the prime interests are those of the men who
cultivate the fields and reap the harvests. In every way a representative of the
best citizenship of the country, his name will be perpetuated in this record as
that of a man whose life has not been lived in vain—who accomplished all that he
could for the benefit of his fellow-men, and whose aim was always to make his
career one of honor, integrity and utility. That he has accomplished the result
aspired to is the outcome of his own unaided efforts, and a distinct and
enduring credit to himself alone.

     
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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in April 2012 by Diana Smith.  Submitter
has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.