BRITTIN, ERNEST H., M.D., a worthy representative of his profession in Auburn, Ill., belongs to a family that has been prominent in Illinois for several generations. He was born in Fancy Creek Township, Sangamon County, November 21, 1874, a son of Henry and Nancy D. (Mallory) Brittin, the former of Welsh descent and the latter probably of French ancestry. Henry Brittin grew to manhood on the farm in Fancy Creek Township where his birth occurred, there married and lived his entire life near his birthplace. His farm of 320 acres comprised a part of the farm which belonged to his father, Evans Brittin, secured in an early day. Evans Brittin was a native of Ohio and located in Sangamon County in 1818. The parents of Nancy Mallory moved from Kentucky to Sangamon County and she was born in Clear Lake Township, where she lived until her marriage.

Henry Brittin settled in Fancy Creek Township after his marriage and there all his children were born. He died on his farm in 1900 at the age of sixty-two years, and his widow died in 1901. They were devout and active members of the Christian Church most of their lives, and in politics he was a stanch Republican. He voted at every election, as he believed this was the duty of every citizen, and though often solicited to accept office, refused to do so. He gave his full support to every measure calculated to advance the interests of the community, morally or materially, and was a patriotic, public-spirited citizen. He was a great lover of his home and was always solicitous of the comfort of his wife and children. He and his wife were parents of eight children: John E., on the old home farm; Henry E., a traveling salesman living at Springfield; Albert L., a physician and surgeon living at Athens, Ill.; William A., also a physician and surgeon practicing at Virden, Ill.; Emma N., widow of William Waldon, living at Athens; Roger E., a farmer living near Blackwell, Okla; Walter M., died in Sangamon County in 1901, at the age of twenty-two years.

The boyhood days of Dr. Ernest H. Brittin were spent on the farm in Fancy Creek Township, and he attended the district school in the neighborhood. He took a scientific course in the college at Valparaiso, Ind., and in 1898 entered the Barnes Medical College at St. Louis, Mo., graduating in the class of 1902. In June of that year he entered upon practice at Pawnee, Ill., where he remained until 1907, then locating in Auburn, where he has built up an excellent practice. He is most careful in his diagnoses, keeps abreast of the times by studying modern literature and lectures along the line of his work and has won a deservedly high reputation in his profession.

June 18, 1902, Dr. Brittin married Miss Lulu Cook, a native of Auburn, and daughter of the late George Cook. Two children have been born of this union, Marjorie and Walter. Dr. Brittin is a member of the Masonic Lodge at Pawnee, and also belongs to the County Medical Society. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church, and in politics he is a Republican. Like his father, he is interested in the progress and welfare of the community in which he resides, and is always ready to advance the interests of his fellows. He inspires the respect and confidence of those who have been associated with him and his future prospects are bright.