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Biography:
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I am a "son" of Hillsboro. My ancestors were Hillsboro residents since the late 1800's. My great-great grandfather, William M. Vawter, owned and operatated the 'bus line in Hillsboro, when a 'bus (short for omnibus) was a horse drawn enclosed cart which could transport up to a dozen passengers. He operated this 'bus service from the railroad station to the hotel. This provided him with enough income to build himself, and his children, homes on Vawter Place. My grandmother, maiden name Jennievee Eugenia Smith, was the pianist at the Orpheum Theater in the 1920's, during the silent movie days. On Sundays, she played the pipe organ at three Hillsboro Churches. My mother was born Almeda Jane Schaper. She was a school teacher at Winhold School during the 1930's. World War Two opened up occupational opportunities for women and she was able to find employment (and her husband - my father) outside of Hillsboro. My parents brought my brother and me back to Hillsboro in 1948 to be baptised at Hillsboro Methodist Church. We were the fifth generation of our family to be baptised there. I am now a retired mechanical engineer and cost accountant living in southern California.
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