Alfred C. Dillon, M. D.—More than a quarter of a century has passed since Dr. Dillon came to Kansas, and during this period he has witnessed much of the growth and development which has placed the State in the front rank agriculturally. He is one of the honored veterans of the greatest civil war in the world's history, and has been as stanch and true in all relations of life as he was to his country when he followed the stars and stripes on the battle fields of North and South. Today he is one of the oldest and most highly respected citizens, as well as a leading member of the medical fraternity of Osborne county, being one of the first physicians to settle in this section of the country. Dr. Dillon was born on a farm in Mahoning county, Ohio, October 11, 1844, a son of Jesse O. and Tina Jones Dillon. The paternal grandparents located, at an early day, on a farm in Trumbull county, Ohio, where they spent their lives, until death touched them in the early '30s. Jesse Dillon was born in Virginia in 1801 and removed to Ohio with his parents while still a small boy. He grew up on the farm, learning the practical side of agriculture, and when old enough began to run a farm of his own, in Champlain township, Trumbull county, Ohio, where he lived until his death, in 1887. He was a Republican in politics and held the office of justice of the peace for many years. Mrs. Dillon was born in Trumbull county in 1802. Her parents were natives of the Old Dominion and emigrated from Virginia to Ohio at an early date, locating in Trumbull county, where they passed their lives. Dr. Dillon's parents were married in 1823 and became the parents of the following children: David, deceased; Horace, deceased; Emery, now a farmer in Trumbull county; Homer, deceased; Alfred, and Hine, a farmer living near Warren, Ohio. Dr. Dillon received his elementary education in the public schools of Trumbull county, then taught school four terms to earn enough money to pay his expenses at the seminary of Farmington, Ohio. At the outbreak of the Civil war he responded to President Lincoln's call for volunteers to preserve the Union and enlisted in Company E, One Hundred and Ninety-sixth Ohio infantry. After serving a month he was promoted to the rank of corporal, in which capacity he acted until honorably mustered out of the service. At the close of the war he again took up academic work, graduating from the academy in 1867. Having determined some time before to make medicine his profession, the young man had studied with his brother, Dr. Horace Dillon, of Warren, Ohio, for two years before entering school at Farmington, and thus was well prepared to enter the Cleveland Medical College in the fall of 1868, where he graduated two years later. Dr. Dillon first located at Marcellus, Mich., but a year later came to Osborne, Kan., locating on a soldier's claim in the beautiful Solomon valley, and was the first physician in this locality. He soon proved up on the claim and engaged in the active practice of his profession from that time on. Dr. Dillon is the ideal physician, as the day has never been too hot, the night too cold or the ride too long for him to respond to a call. In the early days of Kansas a doctor had many hardships to endure and discouragements to overcome, but this sturdy man was not faint-hearted and his faith in the country was not misplaced, for he has gained a comfortable fortune and has a gratifying practice. Dr. Dillon has served as county coroner for six years; is a Republican in politics; a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; and of the Grand Army of the Republic, and a member of the United States pension examiners for the last twenty years. On June 26, 1866, Dr. Dillon married Mary A., the daughter of John and Anna Shafer, of Champion, Ohio. There are five children in the Dillon family: Nellie M., born May 14, 1868; Alberta, born 1870, died in Topeka, Kan., in 1896, at Christ's Hospital, where she was a graduate nurse; John A., born in 1872, a graduate of the Topeka Medical College in 1891, now practicing at Larned, Kan.; Harry D., born May 11, 1881, a dentist at Osborne, who married Rena Hatfield August 31 1908, and now has a son, Michael O., born July 10, 1910, and Emma, born in 1876, the wife of John Belk, of Cloudcroft, N. M.