Rothmer J. Silliman, the father 0f our subject, was born in the town of Como, Whiteside county, Illinois, where he was reared to manhood. He followed the profession of teaching for a time but later turned his attention to general agricultural pursuits. About 1874 he went west to Nebraska and engaged in the lumber business but, because of the grasshopper scourge, left that state in the spring of 1877. Coming to Nevada, Story county, Iowa, he purchased the lumber business of Judge Kellogg, the yard standing on the present site of the Letts Hotel. Two or three years later he bought a half interest in the West grain elevator and, renting the remaining half, embarked in the grain business, also removing his lumber yard to the site of the elevator. He was prominently identified with the lumber and grain business at Nevada until 1894, in which year he disposed of his interests there. He was one of the organizers of the First National Bank of Nevada, was elected its second president and served as the chief executive officer of that institution for several years. His principal object in coming to Nevada was to secure the advantages of the schools at that place for his children. About a year after his arrival in the town he was made a member of the school board and during the remainder of his life labored untiringly and effectively in the interests of the public schools of Nevada. The public library building at Nevada will also be a matter of much pride to future generations of the Silliman family, for it was erected as a Silliman memorial building in honor of Rothmer J. Silliman, showing the esteem in which he was uniformly held. His political allegiance was given to the republican party and he served at various times as a member of the town council. Fraternally he was identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, while his religious faith was indicated by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church. His demise, which occurred on the 3d of February, 1896, was the occasion of deep and widespread regret and a serious loss to the community. His widow. still survives and makes her home at Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Edwin R. Silliman was reared under the parental roof and supplemented his preliminary education, obtained in the Nevada schools, by a course of study in Simpson College at Indianola, Iowa. On leaving that institution he returned to Nevada and for a time assisted in the conduct of his father's business. Rothmer J. Silliman and his oldest son, Homer N., were operating a bank in Cambridge, this county, at the time of the panic of 1893, when every financial institution in Cedar Falls failed with the exception of one. Seizing the opportunity, they removed to that city and established the State Bank of Cedar Falls, Mr. Silliman of this review being sent to Cambridge to look after the interests of the bank there. A year and a half later our subject purchased the bank in association with Edgar John, conducting it successfully until 1896. In that year he sold his interest to his partner and came to Colo, here taking over the banking business of P. W. Hopkins and establishing the Citizens Bank, which he conducted until 1902. In 1900 he purchased a farm of one hundred and twenty acres in