John B. Hilliker, M. D., at No. 460 South Division street, Grand Rapids, is a native of Walker township, Kent county, Mich.; was born May 18, 1860, and is a son of William H. and Hannah (Thurston) Hilliker, both natives of the state of New York and of German extraction. The parents were born, respectively, in 1824 and 1827, and were married in Jackson county, Mich., the result of the union being four children. Of these, Ellen, the eldest, died at the age of twenty years; the second, Charles B., died in 1897; the doctor is the third in order of birth, and Ethloine, the youngest, is the wife of Peter McFarlane, a farmer of Mecosta county, Mich. The mother passed away at their home in Kent county in 1870, and the father is now living near Big Rapids, Mecosta county. The latter has been an agriculturist all his life, and during the late Civil war served his country well and faithfully for three years in a Michigan regiment.

Dr. John B. Hilliker was educated in the district schools of Kent county and the Grand Rapids high school, and after having become thoroughly versed in the ordinary English branches entered the medical department of the university of Illinois, and graduated from the college of Physicians & Surgeons, at Chicago, in 1892. He at once entered upon his lifework as physician and surgeon in the elegant suite of rooms he at present occupies, and here has established an extensive and remunerative practice.

Dr. Hilliker is a member of the Michigan State Medical society and of the Grand Rapids Medical & Surgical society. Fraternally, he is an Odd Fellow and Knight of Pythias; politically, a republican, and he is serving his third year as a member of the board of education of Grand Rapids.

Dr. Hilliker was united in marriage in 1882, in Kent county, with Miss Hattie Finton, a native of Kent county and a daughter of C. H. Finton. Mr. Finton was a gallant soldier during the Civil war and served three years. To the happy marriage of Dr. And Mrs. Hilliker have been born three children, viz: Charles F., December 17, 1884; Blanche Rosamond, March 18, 1888, and Marion Lucile, May 30, 1895. Mrs. Hilliker, a most estimable lady, holds membership is several ladies’ societies, including the Rathbone Sisters, the St. Celia society, and the Daughters of Rebekah. The family reside in their fine modern mansion at No. 447 South Lafayette street, and this is not only the home of domestic felicity, but of a cheerful hospitality.

Dr. Hilliker has been self-dependent from early childhood, has worked his way through college, and has established for himself an honorable and lucrative profession. Personally, he is an affable and agreeable gentleman, and imperceptibly impresses all with whom he comes in contact with an idea of his culture and moral attributes.