Ernest G. Hildner

General Facts

Born: October 26, 1873 in Detroit, Michigan

Died: July 15, 1968, at the age of 94 at the home of his son Ernest G. Hildner Jr. in Jacksonville, Illinois

Wife: Ada Louise Smith Hildner (1878-1965) 

Ernest and Ada were married on October 14, 1902, in Pontiac, Michigan.

Children: Seven sons - Ernest G. Hildner Jr., Edward Smith (Ted) Hildner, John G. (Jack) Hildner, Alfred Leggett (Alf) Hildner, Charles Miller (Doc) Hildner, Jonathan (Jonnie) Hildner, and Phillips Brooks Hildner.

Items of Interest

  • The youngest member of the "First Basketball Team." He was 18 when the game was introduced in 1891
  • Last and oldest surviving member of the "First Basketball Team"
  • Played on the 1892 International YMCA Training School football team with Dr. James Naismith
  • Among the 18 Original Team members inducted into the inaugural class of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on March 3, 1959

Important Dates

1893: Graduated from the Secretarial Department of the International YMCA Training School (now Springfield College)

1893-1894: Assistant Secretary, YMCA, Albany, New York

1894-1896: Student at Union College, Schenectady, New York

1896-1898: Student at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan

1898-1901: Student at Auburn Seminary, Auburn, New York

1901-1902: Started Supply Presbyterian Church, Vassar, Michigan

1902-1904: Assistant Pastor, Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church, Detroit, Michigan

1904-1908: Pastor, Church of the Covenant (Presbyterian), Detroit, Michigan

1908-1929: Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Princeton, Indiana

1929-1937: Pastor, Presbyterian Church, Hillsdale, Michigan

1937-1948: Pastor, Presbyterian Church, Indian River, Michigan

General Facts