Charles Raymond Hilaman^{[1, 2]}

1919 - 2010  (91 years)

• Name	Charles Raymond Hilaman
  Born	10 Jun 1919	West Grove, Pennsylvania
  Gender	Male
  Died	3 Dec 2010	Elkton, Maryland
  Buried	Rosebank Cemetery, Cecil County, Maryland
  Person ID	I4858	My Reynolds Line
  Last Modified	9 Nov 2014

  
  

  Family	Elizabeth Reynolds,   b. 5 Apr 1919, West Chester, Pennsylvania ,   d. 18 Jan 2014, Calvert, Cecil County, Maryland  (Age 94 years)
  Married	31 Dec 1944	Meeting House, Chester, Pennsylvania
  Last Modified	22 Jun 2019
  Family ID	F1772	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos

  Charles Raymond Hilaman c. raymond hilaman-elizabeth reynolds.jpg

  
  

  Documents		Death Notice Charles Hilaman
  		Marriage Record reynolds-hilaman.jpg

  
  

• Sources

  [S4] Deborah Lozano. Cecil Soil Magazine ? July/August 2011 C. raymond hilaman & the Portable grain Mill The passage of the community gristmill into history is part of the long tradition of cultivating soil for a living. The introduction of portable feed mills offered a bold new technology to farmers. C. Raymond Hilaman helped bring this advancement to the farms of Cecil County with his milling and feed business. ?Mom and Dad bought their house in 1950. He had farmed before that and then my dad worked for the Herrs in Zion, Maryland during the 1950s and maybe even earlier than that,? Jim Hilaman said recently. ?Stanley Herr and a man named Charlie Footie developed a prototype portable feed mill. They then sold the patent to Daffin Manufacturing of Lancaster. That is where my Dad bought his first portable mill.? C. Raymond Hilaman bought that mill in 1960 and started his own business. There were many small farms in the area, and he traveled from farm to farm, building a core of loyal customers. This quietly marked a relatively new service for farmers, bringing the mill to them. This change in the farming industry was noted in a Sunday News story that appeared in the Lancaster newspaper on May 18, 1958. The story described the new innovation of Daffin Manufacturing as hurrying the demise of large-scale water mills. Daffin mass-produced their ?Farm Feedmobile Mills? and there were plenty of customers in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and Cecil County, Maryland. Jim described the portable mill service as an inevitable part of farming evolution. Enterprising men, such as his father, would bring the mill to the farm, grinding grain into feed mixtures. Most of the farms were small operations?often dairy farms?and the mixture would be specific to the needs of the farmer. His father added the feed delivery part of the business to help farmers supplement the milling service. ?At some point the Herrs stopped milling. A man named Alfred Z. Haines bought a portable mill and worked under C. Raymond Hilaman Milling. Mr. Haines also started hauling feed from Wayne Feeds to farms and that may be how that part of Dad?s business started,? Jim said. ?In 1970, Dad bought a six-wheeler truck to haul feed. With feed delivery and portable milling work, that truck eventually probably got four or five hundred thousand miles on it. ?Dad bought a second portable mill in 1968 from Feedmobile Incorporated out of Lititz, Pennsylvania. Mr. Haines eventually got out of the milling business completely,? Jim explained. The business was growing and prosperous at that point in time. ?Dad grew up in the depression, and he did not know what the word quit was,? Jim said. Jim described family vacations during the 1960s and 1970s where they would rent a cottage at Elk Neck State Park. The children would spend their days playing and swimming in the Elk River, enjoying the park. Their father would go off to work in the morning, delivering feed and milling for farmers, and then return to the cottage in the park in the evening. Eventually the children also became involved with the business. ?I grew up with it,? Jim humbly said. ?Most of the work was done on a weekly basis, with a route for each day of the week. We dealt with hundreds of farmers over the years. We ended up doing a lot of work in Lancaster County with the Amish, also Chester County, but the core of the business was in Cecil County. The list would just go on and on. The work was nonstop.? Jim described visits to the farms as not including a lot of small talk but they did get to know the places and the people. The customers were very loyal to his father for both milling and the feed delivery. As smaller farms began to diminish, the work for milling and delivery also began to gradually decline. C. Raymond Hilaman managed his business for more than three decades, eventually retiring in the early 1990s. Jim left the business in 1992. ?Our dad really enjoyed gardening, particularly in his retirement,? Jim said. He was also a long time member of the Rosebank U. M. Church and the Calvert Grange. He and his wife Elizabeth raised six children, and they had twenty grandchildren and twentyeight great-grandchildren. C. Raymond Hilaman passed away in December 2010 at the age of 91 years. In addition to the legacy of his family, C. Raymond Hilaman helped bring a method-changing service to local farmers. Times have changed once again, a part of the evolving culture of farm life. ?In my life I have no regrets, even with all the work, it was good,? Jim said. His father would probably have said the same thing. ?CSM [S4] Deborah Lozano. Charles Raymond Hilaman Charles Raymond Hilaman Charles Raymond Hilaman, age 91, of Rising Sun, MD, eldest son of the late Norman and Esther Crowl Hilaman, passed away peacefully Friday, December 3, 2010 surrounded by his loving family at Union Hospital in Elkton, MD. Posted: Monday, December 6, 2010 2:15 am Charles Raymond Hilaman, age 91, of Rising Sun, MD, eldest son of the late Norman and Esther Crowl Hilaman, passed away peacefully Friday, December 3, 2010 surrounded by his loving family at Union Hospital in Elkton, MD. Born June 10, 1919 in West Grove, PA, Raymond spent his early years working on the family farm in Nottingham, PA. He attended Unionville High School and spent several years working on farms in Pocopson Twp. He began a career in milling in 1949 in Rising Sun, MD and started his own business in 1960 as C. Raymond Hilaman Milling serving farmers in Cecil County and surrounding areas. He enjoyed his family, his home, his vegetable garden famous for its sweet corn, and he was always ready for a hot game of pinochle. He was a longtime member of Rosebank U.M. Church and the Calvert Grange. In his earlier years he was involved in Boy Scouting, Calvert Elementary PTA and United Methodist Youth Fellowship. He is survived by his loving and caring wife of 66 years, Elizabeth Reynolds Hilaman; children Charles R, Jr., and wife Eleanor, of Nottingham, PA, Mary Beth Bickel and husband Harry, of Airville, PA, Robert and wife Theresa, of Elkton, MD, Debbie Pierce and husband Clancy of Newark, DE, James E. and wife Betsy of Rising Sun, MD, and Susan Vadala and husband Leo of Bowie, MD; 20 grandchildren, 28 great grandchildren, sister Ruth Brittingham of West Chester, PA and numerous nieces and nephews. Service will be held 11AM on Wednesday, December 8, 2010 at Rosebank United Methodist Church, 1743 Telegraph Rd., Rising Sun, MD 21911. Friends and family may visit 6-8 PM on Tuesday, December 7, 2010 at Rosebank United Methodist Church as well as one hour prior to the service. Burial will be at Oxford Cemetery following the service. Memorial contributions can be made in Raymond's honor to Rosebank United Methodist Church c/o R.T. Foard F.H., 111 S. Queen St., Rising Sun, MD 21911. To send condolences visit www.rtfoard.com R.T. Foard Funeral Directors & Crematory (410) 658-6030