San Francisco County
Biographies
WILLIAM
HENRY KILER
For twenty-five years a member of the San Francisco bar, William H. Kiler has become well known as a trial lawyer and also through his important contributions to the literature of his profession. He was born in Urbana, Illinois, June 1, 1875, a son of William Albert Kiler, who was a native of Dayton, Ohio, born April 17, 1840. Of English origin, the family was established in this country prior to the Revolutionary war and Jacob Kiler, one of its representatives, participated in the struggle for American independence, serving as corporal of his company. The paternal grandfather of William H. Kiler fought in the Mexican war and William A. Kiler was a Union soldier during the Civil war. The latter married Charlotte Mittendorf, who was born in Wolfenbuettel, Germany, March 22, 1845. Her father, Christian Mittendorf, who served as a captain of the King’s Guard in Germany from about 1840 to 1845, deserted and came to the United States when his daughter Charlotte was an infant. Settling in Chicago, he owned the property now known as Hyde Park, which he used for a vegetable garden, and later traded this land for a farm at Champaign, Illinois.
His grandson, William H. Kiler, obtained his high school education at Urbana, Illinois, graduating with the class of 1893, and was its valedictorian. Afterward he matriculated in the University of Illinois, which awarded him the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1897, and subsequently attended the law school of the university for two years. While a student there he was prize orator of the university in 1895 and 1896, leader of its debating team during 1896 and 1897, and a member of the university football teams of 1893, 1894 and 1895. He remained in Urbana until 1897, when he was made superintendent of schools at Dixon, Illinois, filling the office for two years, and from 1898 to 1899 was instructor in history and English at the Culver Military Academy of Culver, Indiana. Returning to Urbana, he pursued the study of law at the University of Illinois for two years and spent the period from 1900 to 1903 in the law office of Breckenridge & Shelby at Lexington, Kentucky, where he learned trial work under Colonel W. C. P. Breckenridge. Mr. Kiler arrived in Los Angeles, California, in 1903 and remained in that city for three years, writing legal articles for the L. P. Powell Publishing Company. He is the author of the following legal articles, published in the Encyclopedia of Evidence: “Contradiction of Witnesses,” volume 3, pages 530-536; “Criminal Conversation,” volume 3, pages 782-800; “Cross-Examination,” volume 3, pages 807-913; “Dower,” volume 4, pages 865-888; and “Forcible Entry and Detainer,” volume 5, pages 775-804. In 1906 he removed to San Francisco and here he has since followed his profession. As a trial lawyer he has done notable work and also specializes in the law of suretyship, acting as attorney for the Southern Surety Company of New York.
On the 19th of February, 1919, Mr. Kiler was married in Oakland, California, to Miss Ethel McGill, who was born in Denver, Colorado, February 12, 1884, a daughter of James D. and Ida M. (Reynolds) McGill, the former of Scotch descent and the latter of English ancestry. The father was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1860, while the mother’s birth occurred at Lafayette, that state, in 1865, and both are now deceased. Entering the field of dramatic art, Mrs. Kiler played juvenile roles with Frederick Warde and Kathryn Kidder and also won prominence as a mezzo soprano soloist. Mr. Kiler votes with the republican party but is not active in politics. He keeps thoroughly informed regarding the vital questions and issues of the day and is opposed to the League of Nations and to prohibition. He belongs to the Down Town Association and to several golf clubs. He is a director of the Big Ten University Club of San Francisco and a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity, and the Shield and Trident, an honorary senior fraternity.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Source: Byington, Lewis Francis, “History of
San Francisco 3 Vols”, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 1931. Vol. 2 Pages 236-238.
© 2007 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
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