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WILLIAM  H.  CISNE, grain and seed merchant, Cisne.  The gentleman whose name heads this sketch belongs to that enterprising class of men to whose active and well-directed efforts the material growth and prosperity of a town or community is largely if not wholly to be attributed.  Mr.  Cisne was born May 13, 1856, in Wayne County, and is the eldest child of Levi M. and Jane (Ray) Cisne.

 His youth was spent in assisting his father upon the home farm, and he received what early education the common schools of the time afforded.  His early life was characterized by a desire for active engagements, and in after years he has displayed the same ceaseless activity in all of his business undertakings.  He possesses a general and comprehensive mind, and his solicitation regarding the future of the little but lively town of Cisne has developed a remarkable supply of untiring energy, commendably directed to the substantial promotion of the interests of the people in general well as his own.   In 1880, he went into partnership with his brother-in-law, Mr. F. M. Brock, and purchased the building property of James Milner, near railroad tracks.  The firm of Brock & Cisne is well known, having done a heavy business at this point for several years, dealing generally in grain, seed and farm implements of all kinds.  January 1, 1884, the firm dissolved partnership, Mr. Cisne being the ancestor.  He continues also to have charge of the railroad business at this place, and as the agent thereof, as well as in his various business capacities, he has the respect and confidence of the  entire community.

He was married, December 21, 1876, to Viola Brock, a daughter of J. C. Brock, the genial proprietor of the Cisne Hotel.  This union has been blessed by one child -- Fred Leo,  a bright and mischievous little fellow, who delights in pop guns and noisy articles generally.

Mr. Cisne's a member of the A. O. U. W., Fairfield Lodge, No. 65, and in political matters, given his support to the Republican cause, in which he is prominently identified.  His original and masterly arguments in favor thereof, and of political purity, are conducive of a general breaking up of all opposition, and place him in the foremost rank of those who have at heart the interests of the masses.