A Hill Family From England
By Charles Louis Weidinger
Columbus OH - 01 Jun 2000

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A Hill Family From England
The story of one of many pioneer families
in America from 1678 to the present.

By Charles Louis Weidinger
Columbus OH - 01 Jun 2000

 


 

CONTENTS

 

Introduction
Contents
Chapter One.........From English Tyranny to America
Chapter Two.........Henry Hill and His Sons
Chapter Three.......From Maryland to Ohio
Chapter Four........End of An Era in Ohio
Chapter Five........Toward the Modern Era
Bibliography

 



INTRODUCTION

It has been stated that HILL was the eighth most common name to be found in the initial Federal Censuses of the United States of America in 1790 and 1800. Citizens with that name and others related have found the work of searching for ancestors a most confusing and frustrating endeavor.

Early in the 18th Century, there were Hills from England, Ireland, and even Germany, who had settled from Massachusetts to Maryland, including New York, New Jersey, and Virginia. My American ancestral line of HILL began in the new state of Maryland at the Port of Baltimore in April 1678, with the arrival of Robert Hill and several brothers from London, England. Robert was the son of a London Goldsmith, but little of that money crossed the Atlantic Ocean. He died unfortunately young and destitute, leaving a widow and seven poor young children.

This family persevered and produced progeny in several Maryland Counties as the state matured during the majority of the 18th century, and spread south into the Carolinas shortly after the War of the Revolution. Later, still others of this clan moved in search of new land into Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio. Some related families moved further west into the great plains and as far as Texas and Arizona after the Civil War.

Service during the War of the Rebellion saw related Hills fighting for both the blue and the grey, and without doubt killing each other in famous battles without even knowing this was happening. One of my indirect line ancestors, a great-great uncle, gave especially brilliant service to the Union Army in that war, and went to his grave a crippled man as a result. This story does not feature war service as a major subject. I feel that must be a separate and distinct effort of literature and history for a true student of American conflicts.

Having studied my HILL ancestors for some fifteen years to date, I conclude, as has at least one other genealogist, that the true father of our line was HENRY HILL of Maryland, son of the Robert Hill mentioned earlier. While not a rich man by any means, his purchases of land in several Maryland counties indicated a pioneering spirit, though he died in 1773 with only a modest estate on leased farm land on a giant manor owned by the prestigious family of John Carroll, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

That other genealogist recognized above is the late Lycurgus Perry Hill, Jr., of Harrisonburg, Virginia. Having read his extensive, hand-written account, I conclude that his knowledge of most of the progeny of Henry Hill of Frederick County, Maryland, far exceeds mine. My knowledge first hand, includes only those who are in a direct line from Henry to my grandmother, Kitturiah Hill of Deer Creek, Ohio. L. P. Hill's knowledge extends to more than fifty separate families, spread from North Carolina to Illinois. My line covers only the states of Ohio, Kansas, and Arizona. In essence, this work will not even approach the quantity of coverage as did L. P. Hill's. I have, however, attempted to document my work with notes to the best of my ability.

L. P. Hill's version of this story barely mentions the first Hill in this line in Charles County, Maryland. I found some items which reach much farther into the past. My version of this story begins in London, England in the early 17th century. For much of this tale, I am indeed indebted to the Maryland Genealogical Society, especially for the content of Bulletin Number Four,

Volume Number 32, Fall 1991, which laid out the scene in London in great detail. I am also indebted to G. Byron Hill, whose monumental work on The Hill Families of America Internet Site from Nashville, Tennessee, has done much to show the southern and western movement of Henry Hill's progeny.

We begin in London, England in the year 1620.

 

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    CHAPTER ONE: FROM ENGLISH TYRANNY TO AMERICA1

    John Hill, the earliest ancestor of whom I am aware, was born in London, England in 1620. Twenty years later, John and his future father-in-law, Robert Clarke, together with Henry Tarry, a "Citizen-Barber-Surgeon," proclaimed John Hill's intention to marry Miss Susanna Clarke, by License. While the ancestry of John Hill is unknown, he was described by Richard T. Foose of the Maryland Genealogical Society as a citizen and goldsmith of St. Mary Woolchurch, London. Mr. Foose also stated that the Clarke family of Tracy Park, London, was descended from Sir Simon Woodchurch and Anne, daughter of Sir William Harvey, Lord Mayor of London from 1272-1273.

    In those days, it was a mark of status to be married "by License" rather than "by Banns." In the latter case, intent to marry was publically proclaimed some weeks before the ceremony. This rather ritualistic proclamation was carried from England to the American Colonies very early in their history. In church records from Virginia and Maryland in the 18th Century, the "Thrice Proclamations" are often a matter of record, wherein all parties, with hands on the Bible, made officially recorded statements of family intent. In England, a license enabled the parties to keep their intent within the family circle. Licenses were issued by the Bishop of London, by the Vicar General or the Faculty Office or Court.

    John and Susanna were married on 2 July 1640 at St. Dunstan's Parish, and set up their household in St. Mary Woolnoth Parish. This ceremony was a double wedding, also joining John Warfield with Susanna Clarke's sister, Rachell. It is of interest to note that this Warfield family was the line which later bore Bessie Wallis Warfield of Baltimore, whose affair with the Duke of Windsor led to his abdication after being crowned King Edward VIII.

    St. Dunstan's Parish, and several others nearby, were gold smithing centers in that era. The banner of the gold smithing company was kept at St. Mary Woolnoth church, and John Hill was likely an employee of this company. By 1662, thirteen children were born to their union, two of whom died in infancy. Per the record, children John and Elizabeth Hill were buried in the center aisle of the church at St. Mary Woolnoth Parish. John and Susanna's children were as follows2:

     

         John Hill (1642-12 April 1646) Died age 4
         Susan Hill (October 1643-Unknown)
         Anthony Hill (January 1645-Unknown)
         Elizabeth Hill (January 1647-February 1661)
         Richard Hill (August 1649-Unknown in Maryland)
         Robert Hill I (October 1650-June 1697 in Maryland)
         Elizabeth Hill (21 June 1651-Unknown)
         Susan Hill (March 1652-Unknown)
         Charles Hill (13 February 1654-Unknown in Maryland)
         William Hill (19 February 1655-Unknown in Maryland)
         Mary Hill (14 March 1657-Unknown)
         Rachell Hill (28 March 1661-Unknown)
         Anne Hill (14 June 1662-Unknown)
    

    Susanna Clarke Hill died shortly after the birth of their last child, Anne Hill. She likely passed away on 1 September 1662, for she was "brought on the first from Horethorn Alley in St. Leonard Shoreditch Parish." This parish lay just outside London, in Middlesex. Their last two children, Rachell and Anne, had been baptized at St. Leonard's, the family evidently having moved there some time following Mary Hill's birth in 1657. Death following childbirth was to be tragically repeated five generations later with the death of Sarah Scaggs Hill in Maryland in 1793.

    In 1663, a special tax of two shillings was imposed on each hearth and oven in every household in England, to finance military operations abroad. The Hearth Tax was greatly resented, and returns for London recorded many households as having barred their doors in the faces of the accessors, refusing them admittance to count the hearths. In 1663, 13 year old Robert Hill, his 14 year old brother Richard, and younger brothers Charles and William were no doubt fully aware of this cruelty of the King, and even then may have been on the way to future plans for escaping the tyranny of England.

    Though the record is somewhat confusing, it appears that John Hill died about 28 April 1677. He was buried at St. Dunstan's Parish on the 29th having been "brought from the 'Quest House'" on that date. History is a strange up heaver of families and events. The St. Mary Woolnoth Church was partially destroyed by "a great fire" in London in 1675, and Royal Architect Sir Christopher Wren began efforts of reconstruction during the year of John Hill's death. One might hope that his remains were later moved to St. Mary's and reunited with his wife and children. In any event, with both parents gone, it is apparent that four of John Hill's sons decided to make good with seeking their fortunes in the new American Colonies.

    In April 1678, a party listed as "Robert Hill, et. al." arrived in the bustling Port of Baltimore in the new state of Maryland.3 Robert was then nearly 28 years of age. Since there was a succession of Robert Hills in this line, I have taken the liberty of calling this man Robert Hill I. With him were his brothers Richard, Charles, and William. Whether the party included any of his sisters is unknown. These young men may have booked passage as indentured servants for a period of four years to repay their passage to America. Ten years earlier, in 1668, a teen age girl named Mary Shaw arrived from Ireland. It appears from all evidence at hand that she changed the spelling of her surname from the original Celtic "Shaugh" in order to promote correct pronunciation. She too, may have been an indentured servant, and may have met Robert Hill while working for the same family or one nearby in Baltimore. The actual spelling of Mary's surname is based on the finding of Robert Hill's grandson's middle name, "Shaugh."

    In 1685, Robert Hill I and Mary were married in Charles County, seated by the small port town of Port Tobacco. There were no existing land records as far back as this era, but Robert and Mary settled into simple farming life in Charles County. At the time, the counties to the west of Charles, Anne Arundel, and Prince Georges had not yet been created, all towns were small and primitive, and marriage licenses and death certificates had not been instituted. Their lives appear to have been impoverished. In his book, "The Hill Family of America," the late William Q. Hill lists the names of all seven of Robert's children. This discovery led to a definite link through Henry Hill between Robert Hill I of England and succeeding generations of the family.

    Robert Hill I unfortunately died young, at age 48, in May or June 1697.4 The only documentary link to his death exists in the form of an inventory record of his estate, completed in July 1697 by Mrs. Mary Watson, widow of John Watson. In this inventory, Mary Watson noted that "the widow was left with many poor children." Another note in this record stated that Phillip Hill, son of Robert I, had his cattle mark (brand) recorded on 9 September 1707. This may have been a given middle name (Phillip), and did not identify which of Robert's sons was noted in the source. The author suspects that Robert Hill was quickly and quietly buried, likely in a simple wooden coffin, on his farm. No other records of his death exist, and no evidence of burial in any cemetery that early has been found.

    Mary Shaugh Hill died in probably 1701. This was proven by the fact that the Charles County Court, in August 1701, awarded Phillip(?), age 10, and Henry, age 8 to Robert Hill I's brother Richard until they were of age.5 This led me to believe that Phillip was actually Thomas Phillip Hill, as he would have been 10 years old. This record did not explain what may have happened to Robert's second youngest son, Joseph.

    Chapter Two deals with Robert Hill I's son Henry and his sons.

     


    NOTES FOR CHAPTER ONE

    1. The English Ancestry of the Warfields of Maryland, Richard T. Foose, Maryland Genealogical Society Bulletin, Volume 32, Number 4, Fall 1991, Pages 397 to 418, selected portions dealing with the family of John Hill.

    2. Op. Cite., Note 1, and Henry Hill of Frederick, Maryland, page 1, Lycurgus Perry Hill, Jr., undated, Harrisonburg, Virginia. 3. Early Charles County, Maryland Settlers, Bates & Wright, Family Lineage Publishers, Baltimore, Maryland, 1995.

    4. Documents received from the Maryland Hall of Records, Annapolis, and the Charles County Historical Society, 1998, Record of Inventory, Estate of Robert Hill, by Mrs. Mary Watson.

    5. Docket, Orphans Court, Charles County, Maryland, August 1701, Maryland Genealogical Society, 1998.

     

     

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    CHAPTER TWO: HENRY HILL AND HIS SONS

    Henry Hill, the youngest child of Robert Hill I, married Ann Truman of Prince Georges County in 1718. Born to the very poor circumstances described above, Henry later became a land owner and farmer in three Maryland counties. Henry and his second son, Joseph Isaac Hill, were listed by Maryland Historian Peter Wilson Coldham as two of three earliest pioneers bearing the name in the state. The third man, noted by Coldham, was William Hill, likely Henry Hill's uncle, the 6th son of John Hill of London. 1

    By 1734, Henry Hill and family had traveled north to Anne Arundel County, where "Henry Hill, Gent." purchased several tracts of land. That year, he bought a 159 acre tract called "Folly's Point."2 On 10 June 1736, he bought a huge 621 acre tract he called "Hill's Delight."2 How long he retained his Anne Arundel County properties is not known, but on 4 May 1742, he bought a modest 95 acre tract in Prince Georges County he called "Hill's Second Thought."2

    While no record of any sale of Henry Hill's lands has been found, on 24 March 1744, he leased 100 acres of Carrollton Manor from Charles Carroll, Esq., for 17-1/2 years. 3/ This land was near the present-day village of Buckeyestown. Fifty acres of this tract was called "Park Hall," from evidence found in Henry's will, probated in the town of Frederick in 1773. 4/ A note of interest is presented here from Lycurgus Perry Hill's work: 5/

     

    "It is obvious that Henry and his family were "survivors." Times were extremely hard in this area during the mid 1700s. The area around Frederick County could have been considered a front line against the French and the Indians in the war by that name. It must have been extremely difficult scratching out an existence on a small plot of land with Indians shooting at you from behind every tree. As late as 1763, the State of Maryland was paying fifty pounds sterling for an Indian scalp."

    Henry Hill died on 9 February 1773. He likely died in Frederick County, for his will was probated in the town of Frederick on 24 March 1773. His children were named in his will, which revealed his daughters as well as his sons. This will led to my belief that Ann Truman Hill had died before Henry. She is not named in the body of his will. This belief is reinforced by the writings of the late Lycurgus Perry Hill, Jr., and we had never communicated. Henry Hill's final resting place has not been found. Both Henry and his wife Ann were likely buried on his leased farm at Carrollton Manor. Henry and Ann had eight children recorded as follows:

     

         Robert Hill II (1720-April 1795)
         Joseph Isaac Hill (1722-1798 Kentucky)
         Henry Truman Hill (1724-1799 South Carolina)
         Phillip Hill (1727-1774 Maryland)
         Thomas Hill (1728-1801 South Carolina)
         Elizabeth Hill (c.1730-Unknown)
         Catherine Hill (c.1732-Unknown)
         John Hill (1735-1803 Ohio)
    

    ROBERT HILL II

    Robert Hill II, eldest son of Henry Hill, married Rachel Robey of Prince Georges County in 1745. Following his father's death in 1773, Robert II inherited part of his leased farm at Carrollton Manor. The maiden surname of Robert Hill II's wife is evident in the middle name of his second son, Henry Robey Hill. As stated earlier, the spelling of his third son's middle name was a tribute to his great grandmother, Mary Shaugh Hill. It was the discovery of Benjamin S. Hill's true middle name that revealed the original spelling of Mary Shaugh Hill's maiden name. Robert Hill II's and Rachel's children were:

     

         Henry Robey Hill (1752-1797 South Carolina)
         Benjamin Shaugh Hill (4 November 1753-7 December 1831 Ohio)
         Robert Hill III (1764-1846 Kentucky)

    There may have been other children born during the eleven year gap between Benjamin and Robert III, but I have no record of them. Robert Hill II died on his Frederick County farm on 10 or 11 April 1795. His burial, which took place on 12 April 1795, was likely on this farm. Robert's estate was appraised on 24 April 1795, attested by his son Benjamin and his uncle, Joseph Hill. The appraisal document also revealed that Robert Hill II's son, Robert Hill III (1764-1846) appeared before Frederick County Magistrate George Murdoch on 9 November 1795, when he attested to the accuracy of the appraisal of his father's estate. The following is a transcription of actual reproduced hand-written documents received from the Maryland State Archives.

              Inventory of the Goods and Chattels belonging to
              the Estate of Robert Hill, late of Frederick
              County and the State of Maryland, attested:
    

    1 Old Horse. 1 Horse Colt. 1 Cow. 1 Yearling. 2 Sows. 3 Old Sheep, Other Lambs. 1 Chest. 1 Feather Bed. 1 Small (ditto). 4 Old Chairs. Old Pewter. Earthen War. 1 Dutch Oven & Pot Hooks. 1 Old Gun. 1 Old Matt & 2 Old Collars. Coopers Wire & Basket. 2 Old Plows. 1 Old Iron. 1 Old Table. 1 Old Looking Glass. Old Knives & Forks. 1 Saddle. 5-3/4-lb Hemp Thread. 3-1/4 lb Tow. 1 Pr Silk Yards. 1 Glass Tumbler. 1 Tea Pot & Earthen Basin Wearing Apparel_____________________ L 36.7.10 We the subscribers having been duly qualified for the purpose do certify that the above is a true Inventory of the Goods & Chattels belonging to the Estate of Robert Hill, deceased, which has come to our sight or knowledge and that we have appraised the same in Current Money of Maryland. Given under our hands the 24th day of April 1795. or his Samuel S. Thomas Benj. X Hill ) In Whiteneck mark ) Kin Appraiser Joseph Hill ) Frederick County Nov. 9, 1795

    There came Robert Hill, a son of Robert Hill late of Frederick County deceased, and made Oath that the foregoing is a true and perfect Inventory of all and singular the Goods & Chattels of the said deceased, that hath come to his hands or possession at the time of the making thereof, that which hath since or shall hereafter come to his hands and possession he will return in an additional Inventory; that he Knows of no Concealment of any part or parcel of the deceased Estate by any person whatsoever, that if he should hereafter discover any Concealments or suspect any to be, he will Acquaint the Orphans Court with such Concealment a cause of suspicion of that it may be enquired into According to the Law. Geo. Murdoch, Esq.

     

    OTHER SONS OF HENRY HILL

    JOSEPH ISAAC HILL, SR.

    Joseph Isaac Hill, born in 1722, married a lady named Ruth Elizabeth in 1743, probably in Anne Arundel County. I have not found any record of Ruth's maiden name. "Isaac" and Ruth had five children by 1759. The children were:

     

         Henry Hill (1744-1797 South Carolina) Married Alice Ridgely
         Joseph Isaac Hill, Jr. (1748-1793) Married Margaret Row
         Nathan Hill (1751-Unknown Kentucky) Married Drucilla Davis
         Ruth Hill (1752-Unknown) Married Richard Ankrom, Jr.
         Thomas Hill (1759-1831 Miami County, Ohio) Married Sarah Howard

    Lycurgus P. Hill states, in his handwritten work, that Joseph Isaac Hill, Sr., must have married into money. This may be, for Joseph's land owning ventures exceeded that of his father Henry. Joseph arrived in the newly founded Frederick County, Maryland, in 1749, when that entity was only one year old. His purchase of 87 acres of land in western Frederick County called "Mountain Branch," on 9 December 1749, is a matter of record. On 7 June 1758, he bought adjacent land of unspecified size called "Lashmuts Folly." On 29 September 1763, Joseph (who more often went by his middle name Isaac) bought an adjacent 40 acres called "Ralph's Field." On 23 October 1779, he bought yet another adjacent tract called "Mountain Glade." In 1796, all of Joseph Isaac Hill's lands were resurveyed, totaling 300 acres, and renamed "Mountain Fields." Likely after the Revolutionary War, Isaac and at least one of his sons, Nathan, moved from Maryland to Kentucky, where Joseph Isaac Hill died in Mason County in 1798.

    Per L. P. Hill, Joseph Isaac Hill, Sr., made the following bequests in his will. To son Henry, he left ten pounds in Maryland currency. Son Joseph Isaac Jr's children were each left a share. Daughter Ruth, who married Richard Ankrom, Jr., and moved to Washington County, Pennsylvania, was left a share. Son Nathan, who was living on his father's farm in Mason County, Kentucky, handled the Kentucky part of his father's estate, and was given the farm after paying the other heirs a shared $400. Also per L. P. Hill, this farm was located on the waters of Mill Creek, containing 150 acres. Son Thomas, who remained in Frederick County, Maryland, handled the Maryland part of his father's estate. L. P. Hill states that Joseph Isaac, Sr., sold all of his land holdings in Frederick County, Maryland before he left for Kentucky. As a result, he owned the Kentucky farm, as well as cash and bonds from the Maryland sales. This must have resulted in quite a complex series of court and family correspondence to resolve all matters in this early time.

    HENRY TRUMAN HILL

    Born in Charles County in 1724, and named in honor of his mother's family, Henry married Elizabeth Peach in Prince Georges County, Maryland in 1747. Henry T. and Elizabeth Hill had four children by 1768. The children were:

     

         Joseph Hill (1749-1806 Greenville District, South Carolina).
             Married a lady named Sarah, maiden name unknown.
         William Hill (1751-Unknown, South Carolina)
         Henry Hill, Sr. (1764-1841 Montgomery County, Illinois) 
             Married Elizabeth Brunts.
         James Hill (1768-1829 Abbeville District, South Carolina) 
             Married a lady named Katherine, maiden name unknown.

    Little is known about Henry Truman Hill except that he leased land in Carrollton Manor in 1744, and died in 1799 in Union District (later County), South Carolina. L. P. Hill found from the account books of Charles Carroll, Esq., a lease which ran from 1767 to 1774, which was transferred from an account book dating before 1754. He also found evidence in the form of an issue of Maryland Historical Magazine, Volume 13, 1914, page 263, which states that Henry T. and his youngest brother, John Hill, despite the ten year difference in their ages, collected pay for service in the French and Indian War, as members of Captain Elias Delashmut's Company, having served in 1758.

    I noted with some surprise the similarity in names of the farm land bought very early ("Lashmut's Folly") and this man's surname. Could it be that his true name was "DeLashmut?" Such a land purchase by Joseph Isaac Hill may well have been incentive for Henry Truman and John Hill to join "DeLashmut" to protect property which was purchased the same year that they served. PHILLIP HILL

    Phillip Hill, born in 1727, married Penelope Robey, a sister of Rachel who married Robert Hill II. Probate Court documents indicate that Phillip Hill died in September 1774. In 1781, as a result of honorable service during the war, a Lieutenant Phillip Hill was awarded a Federal Grant of four 50 acre lots of farm land in western Maryland, likely in Washington County. This award may have been made posthumously, and he was never able to claim them. While an interesting development, I question whether this man was the same Phillip Hill. From Maryland Church records, substantiated by L. P. Hill, Phillip and Penelope had the following children:

     

         William Hill (c.1748-Unknown)
         James Hill (c.1753-Unknown)
         Thomas Hill (c.1756-Unknown)
         Zephania Hill (c.1758-Unknown) Married Barbara Teschner. 

    After Phillip's death, an administrative bond of Phillip's estate was made by Penelope Hill, administrix, with William McCarthy and Joseph Hill providing sureties in the amount of 300 pounds sterling on 9 September 1774. Mr. Charles Carroll's account book shows a lease for Phillip and Penelope for the period 1769 to 1774 when Phillip died, and Carroll extended this lease for Penelope until 1779. He must have extended it further in order to substantiate findings of the Hill families grouping found in the Federal Census of 1790 in Frederick County, Maryland.

    THOMAS HILL

    Born in 1728, Thomas Hill married Elizabeth Roe in Charles County, Maryland on 19 February 1757. He died in 1801 in Union District (later County), South Carolina, not far from his brother Henry Truman Hill. I will not list their children.

    JOHN HILL

    Henry Hill's son John was born at Antietem Creek in Prince Georges County, Maryland in 1735. He married Elizabeth Buher in 1761 near his birth place at Antietem Chapel. About 1780, John and Elizabeth left Maryland and settled in Clermont County, Ohio, where he died on 6 January 1803 at the town of Loveland. I found this interesting, in that John Benjamin Hill had cousins in other parts of the state of Ohio. Again, I will not list their children.

     


    NOTES FOR CHAPTER TWO:

    1. Early Settlers of Maryland, Peter Wilson Coldham, Volumes I and II, Genealogy Publishing Company, Baltimore, Maryland, Ohio State Library, Genealogy Section, Columbus, Ohio, 1998; Notes on Henry Hill and family.

    2. Op. Cite., Note 1.

    3. Prince Georges (Frederick) County Land Records, BB #1 (1743-1746), pages 185-186, researched by Lycurgus Perry Hill, Jr.

    4. Will of Henry Hill, Frederick, Maryland, Volume 39, Page 84, probated 24 March 1773, Hall of Records, Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, Maryland.

    5. Henry Hill of Frederick, Maryland, Lycurgus Perry Hill, Jr., undated, Page 25.

     

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    CHAPTER THREE: FROM MARYLAND TO OHIO

    From this point onward, we depart from the other Hill families in direct line from Henry Hill of Charles County, and continue with the story of the descendants of Benjamin Shaugh Hill, son of Robert Hill II. Benjamin S. Hill is my direct link.

    BENJAMIN SHAUGH HILL1

    My fourth great grandfather, the second child of Robert Hill II, was born at Carrollton Manor, Frederick County, Maryland, on 4 November 1753. On 5 September 1778, he married Sarah Scaggs of Anne Arundel County at Apple's Reformed Lutheran Church at Thurmont, a small crossroads town 10 miles east of Hagerstown.2 Benjamin and Sarah's children were:

     

         Robert Hill IV (24 November 1782-26 November 1863 Ohio)
              Married Mary Ann "Polly" Haggard
         Phoebe Hill (1784-Unknown Ohio)
         John Benjamin Hill (5 November 1786-13 September 1842 Ohio)
              Married Kitturiah Boadley
         Sarah Hill (1789-16 June 1850 Ohio)
              Married Robert Bishop
         William Hill (10 October 1790-13 June 1867 Ohio)
              Married (1) Mary Ruffner, (2) Elizabeth Allen
         Dorcas Hill (1793-20 July 1880 Ohio)
              Married Elisha Godfrey

    At the christening of their third child, John Benjamin Hill, in 1786, the godfather was one John Balfield, who I discovered was a landowner not only in Maryland, but in Ross County, Ohio. Balfield would figure prominently in events some eleven years later. Following the birth of their sixth child in 1793, Sarah Scaggs Hill died, likely of yellow fever, which reached epidemic proportions that year in Virginia and Maryland. The location of Sarah's grave site has never been found, which could indicate another example of a quick burial on the leased family farm in Carrollton Manor.

    THE 1790 CENSUS

    This diversion shows some proof that the family of Henry Hill and his sons were grouped very close together on leased farms in Carrollton Manor during this census. My work here is reinforced by work done by Lycurgus Perry Hill. Per L. P. Hill:

     

    "...Robert (Hill) is living in a cluster of Hills with Henry Robey Hill, Benjamin (Shaugh) Hill, and Robert Hill (III). Robert is living next door to Benjamin, who is living next door to Penelope, Phillip's widow, who is living next door to Henry Robey Hill. The whole group is renting on Carrollton Manor."3

    My research led to a series of interesting finds through the Frederick County Historical Society. With those findings, I saw a series of events which led to a very interesting second marriage for Benjamin Shaugh Hill. During the period 1796 to 1806, letters being held at post offices in Hagerstown and Frederick, Maryland, showed a writing courtship took place between Benjamin Shaugh Hill and his late wife's sister, Elizabeth Scaggs Compton. Elizabeth was widowed about 1800 when her husband, Samuel Compton, passed away on their Virginia farm very near the northern border of Maryland.

    On 30 September 1806, Benjamin S. Hill married Elizabeth Scaggs Compton in Frederick, Maryland. The Hill family saga of Ohio actually began at that point. In the Spring of 1807, Benjamin brought his entire family, and unspecified others down Zane's Trace by horse cart and flat boat to near Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio. It is my guess that the family first settled on a plat of John Balfield's land in Scioto Township south of the city. On 22 February 1814, Benjamin and his son John Benjamin Hill bought a 600 acre tract in Deerfield township (Plat 6837) from Henry Massie, a son of Revolutionary War General Nathaniel Massie. 4

    Massie had enmassed a tremendous amount of acreage in both Ross and Pickaway Counties, part of which was inherited due to his father's wartime service. In 1819, some of this land was deeded to Benjamin's son, Robert. In 1825, a portion was sold by his son, John Benjamin Hill. On 28 April 1828, the following article appeared in the Scioto Gazette, published in Chillicothe:

     

    "Died on the 15th inst., Mrs. E. Hill, a respectable and pious lady of the county."

    Following Elizabeth's death, Benjamin left Ross County, and moved in with his son William, at his farm in Fairfield County, north of Lancaster. He died on 7 December 1831, and was buried at the McNamee-Hite Family Cemetery near Thurston, in Pleasant township.5 His grave stone remains visible today. In part, it reads:

     

                      Do not cry for me,
                      Nor shed your tears in vain,
                      My face you shall not see,
                      Till called to rise again.

    WILLIAM HILL

    A fourth great uncle, William Hill, son of Benjamin Shaugh Hill, was also born at Carrollton Manor on 10 October 1790. After traveling to Ohio with his family in 1807, a later relocation northward from Ross County into Fairfield County is not explained by any information I have. William's farm in Walnut Township was very close to a farm first claimed in 1805 by one George Hill of Cecil County, Maryland. A search in Lancaster, Fairfield County, Ohio, did not reveal any kinship between the line of Henry Hill and that of George Hill. William Hill married Mary Ruffner of Fairfield County about 1827. Mary died following the birth of one child, John Ruffner Hill. In 1830, William Hill remarried Elizabeth Allen. All William's remaining children were born to Elizabeth. In this family group were:

    Father: WILLIAM HILL (MD 10 Oct 1790-13 Jun 1867 OH)
    Mother: (1) Mary Ruffner, married 1827. 
                Child: John Ruffner Hill (OH 1828-1904 OH)(Lorina Pence Ashbrook)
    Mother: (2) Elizabeth Allen, married 1830. 
                Children: Lambert S. Hill (OH Abt. 1831-Unk)
                          Owen D. Hill (OH Abt. 1833-Unk)
                          Robert L. Hill (OH Abt. 1835-Unk)
                          Mary Ann Hill (OH Abt. 1837-Unk)
                          William D. Hill (OH Abt 1839-Unk)       
                          Samuel M. Hill (OH Abt 1840-Unk)

    In his will (Fairfield County Will Books, Volume I, page 609), William Hill appointed his widow, Elizabeth as executor of the estate, and laid out his bequests to his children and some of their heirs. Of note here is that in his will, he branded his son, Samuel M. Hill as "disobedient," and did not bequeath a share to him, but divided his share between his wife and children.

    NB: Information received on 28 May 2000 from Cathleen Michael on the internet revealed the two marriages of William Hill, and solved several discrepancies in my family tree data.

    JOHN BENJAMIN HILL6

    My third great grandfather was 21 years old when he traveled to Ohio with his family. He was born on 5 November 1786, and was christened on 2 September 1787, with John Balfield as his sponsor. 7/ On 13 July 1809, he married Kitturiah Boadley, a Ross County resident from the state of Delaware. In 1822, he moved from land in Deerfield township, Ross County, to a farm southeast of New Holland, Pickaway County, Ohio. In a small collection of photographs and papers I received from my aunt, Mrs. John F. (Rubye) Weidinger, the following original note appeared.

     

              "We hereby certify that Mr. John Hill is qualified
               to teach Spelling, Reading, Writing, and Common
               Arithmetic in a common English School. We also
               believe him to be of good moral character.
    

    Nov. 29th, 1830 Joseph Olds M. Brauley Examiners of Cou(nty) Schools Pickaway County"

     

    This document is the earliest evidence which shows that careers in education in this line of the Hill family began at least as far back as John Benjamin Hill. It continued onward through generations to include John Fletcher Hill (my great-great uncle), Charles Fremont Hill (my paternal great grandfather), and Kitturiah Hill, my paternal grandmother. The following article, based on an interview with Samuel Hill, was published in "A History of Franklin and Pickaway Counties, Ohio" by the Williams Brothers in 1880, and appeared on page 306. It begins by indicating the penchant of earlier generations to use the middle name rather than the given first name, a tendency which lasted several generations in the 19th Century.

     

    "Benjamin Hill was a native of Maryland, and came from Carroll's Manor, in that state, to near Chillicothe, in 1807. There were numerous children in the family, but one of whom is located in Pickaway County. He was a soldier in the War of 1812. He married Kitturiah Boadley, and in 1822, settled some two miles southeast of New Holland village, Perry Township, where he died on September 6, 1842, and his wife in November 1855. The children were: William, who died in the United States Army in 1843; Sara A; Elizabeth; Samuel; Mahala; and John F. Samuel only lives in Monroe Township. He married Ally Ann Porter, has a grocery store, and is postmaster, having been appointed when the office was established in 1855."

    I found it interesting that Samuel did not mention his grandfather, as if his recall of the family started with his father. Visits to the Cedar Grove (Grimes) Cemetery on Judas Road off the Egypt Pike near New Holland in 1993 proved fruitless. On 12 June 1994, I was amazed to find the headstones of both John Benjamin and Kitturiah Boadley Hill had been excavated, and moved to readable positions near the actual site of Kitturiah's grave. Their stones are inscribed as follows, typed as accurately as possible from photos:

     

                              In Memory of
                             John Hill was
                              Born AD 1786
                          & Died Sep 13, 1842
                              Aged 55 yrs
                             ? mos ?? Days
    

    KITTURIAH HILL Died Nov 23, 1855 Age 63 ys, 1 mo, 3 dys

     

    Next to her headstone is the large pillar-like grave stone of Dorcas Hill Godfrey. Dorcas was born in Frederick County, Maryland. She married Elisha Godfrey, a son of Joseph Godfrey (1770-1817) of Connecticut. Elisha died in 1873 in Warren County, Illinois, during a wagon trip from New Holland, Ohio to Kansas. Dorcas returned to New Holland, died on 20 July 1880, and was buried at the Cedar Grove (Grimes) Cemetery.

     

                                 DORCAS
                                wife of
                             Elisha Godfrey
                                  died
                             July 20, 1880
                            in the 87 yr of
                                her age
                      The pains of death are past
                         Labor and Sorrow Cease
                   and Life's warfare closed at last
                       Her Love if found in Peace
    

    The grave of Mahala Hill Evans is located about 50 feet south of Dorcas Hill Godfrey's stone pillar at the Cedar Grove Cemetery.

    NB: Per Nadine M. Eccles of Hood River, Oregon, Burton and Jehu Godfrey were the executors of Elisha Godfrey at his death. They ended up with his property. In her family, Nadine said that when anyone got greedy, they would hear someone say, "As crooked as old Jehu."

    "Wills of Pickaway County," compiled by the DAR list the will of John Hill, which mentions his wife, sons Samuel and John (Fletcher), daughters Elizabeth Penniwell and Mahala Evans. The executor was Samuel Hill, made 27 August 1842, with Samuel Hughes and Thomas W. Bennett witnesses. The will was probated on 23 September 1842. Obviously, John Benjamin Hill made out his will knowing he was soon to die.

    SAMUEL HILL8

    My great-great grandfather was born in Deerfield township, Ross County, Ohio, on 18 January 1818, the son of John Benjamin and Kitturiah Boadley Hill. He received an above-average education in Ross and Pickaway Counties. He married Alice Ann Porter,("Allie", or "Aly") a daughter of John Porter of New Holland, Ohio, on 16 January 1843. They were married at the new Hebron AME Church in Grange Hall by Rev. Phillip Nation, a "fire and brimstone" preacher who may have been related to Carrie Nation. Sam was a grocer, granger, postmaster, and a Justice of the Peace. He was very active in pro-Union newspaper activities during the Civil War. It is to him that the adage, "What the Sam Hill is going on?" can be traced. The following letter is the sole example the author has of these activities:

     

                              Deer Creek, Pickaway County, Ohio
                                           September 7, 1861
         Hon Simon Cameron
         Sec. Of War
         Washington, D.C.
    

    Dear Sir: Inclosed you will find clipping from Circleville Watchman, an incendiary sheet published at Circleville, Pickaway County, Ohio. Such should not be tolerated in our midst, and know of no other lawful means to stop such sheets from circulating among us than by the War Department in Washington, D.C.

    I remain, your obedient servant,

    Samuel Hill Postmaster, Deer Creek Pickaway County, Ohio

     

    An additional entry with this letter noted that Sam Hill received a reply from Secretary of State Seward to the effect that he should "send more if it continues to look bad." I wish I had a copy of that clipping!

    Alice Ann Porter Hill died on 7 June 1894, and was buried at the Hebron AME Church Cemetery at Grange Hall. Samuel Hill died on 4 April 1897 following a "lingering illness," and was buried beside his wife.

    Excerpt, "Deercreek Doings," a small newspaper published in Williamsport, Ohio during the mid 19th and early 20th century.

     

         The Death and Burial of Mrs. Samuel Hill
    

    Deercreek, Ohio, June 12, 1894 (Special) Mrs. Samuel Hill died late Thursday, June 7, 1894, at the age of 73 years and 2 days. The funeral was held at Hebron Church, of which she was a faithful member for 57 years, on Saturday. The service was conducted by Rev. I. B. Braderick. Mrs. Hill's maiden name was Aly A. Porter, and she was born near her late residence in Monroe Township, June 5, 1821. She was married to Samuel Hill January 26, 1843, and they lived happily together for over 51 years. To them was born two sons and four daughters, viz: Milton Hill, who died in infancy; Sarah J. Byrd of Mt. Sterling; Lizzie Rugg and Diana Douglass of Outville, Licking County; Samantha Bowman of Williamsport; and Charles F. Hill who resides with his parents. All the children alive were present at the funeral.

    Excerpt, The Williamsport News, Williamsport, Ohio, 27 June 1918.

    Bowman, Samantha Hill, daughter of Samuel and A. A. Hill, was born near Hebron Church, this county, May 1, 1854, and departed this life June 17, 1918, age 64 years, 2 months, 16 days. She was married to A. J. Baker in 1877. To this union two sons were born. Roy Baker died in early manhood. Ansel Baker died in infancy. In 1885 she was united in marriage to James Bowman, who with two daughters, Mrs. Hazel Wickenseimer of Ashville and Mrs. Zettie Helwagen of Williamsport, are left to mourn the loss of mother. Of the Hill family there are left two sisters, Mrs. Lizzie Rugg of Newark, O. and Mrs. Sarah J. Byrd of Mt. Sterling, and one brother, Charles F. Hill of Bellefountaine. There are also three grandchildren, Bernice and Helen Baker of Springfield, and Aubrey Wickenseimer of Ashville. Mrs. Bowman became a member of the M.E. Church at Hebron in early girlhood and afterward transferred to Williamsport M.E. Church, which she attended when the cares of life and ailments of the body did not prevent. While we mourn for her today as a relative and friend, yet we realize that her sufferings are over and our loss is her eternal gain.

    Card of Thanks - Sincerest thanks are extended to all who aided us during the sickness and death of our wife and mother. James W. Bowman and daughters.

     

    JOHN FLETCHER HILL

    While my father, Charles Hill Weidinger, never met or saw the man he called his "great uncle Fletcher," it was known among the Weidingers and Hills that he had accomplished some great things. This brother of Samuel Hill wrote a magnificent letter to Sam during the height of several Civil War battles. A sketch of his life was contributed by Mrs. Rosalie Hartinger, with updating changes made by the author.

     

    A Life Sketch of John Fletcher Hill

    John F. Hill, teacher and farmer, was born near New Holland, Pickaway County, on 28 March 1833. 9/ His grandfather came to Ohio after the Revolutionary War. His grandfather was Benjamin Hill (1753-1831) who served as a soldier in that war. John F. Hill was the youngest child of John Benjamin Hill (1786-1842) and Kitturiah Boadley (1792-1855). John B. Hill had served as a soldier in the Ohio Militia during the War of 1812.

    Having received a common school education, he taught school in Ross County, Ohio, starting at age 17. Mr. Hill was married in September 1855 to Miss Mary Kearney, of Ross County. They had four sons, John B. Hill, M.D., born in 1856, educated at Lawrence University, Kansas, and practiced medicine at Hallowell, Kansas; Joseph Hill, born in 1857, educated at Lawrence University, and once a teacher at Labette County, Kansas; William Sherman Hill, born in 1859, educated at Fort Scott College, and once a teacher and farmer; and Robert Anderson Hill, born in 1861, educated at Fort Scott, and a farmer.

    With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Mr. Hill's feelings of patriotism and his ancestral past convinced him to join the battle. On 6 August 1862 he enlisted in the Union Army at Clarksburg, Ohio, recorded by Peter Adams. He was assigned to Company K, 89th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, led by Major John H. Jolly (Jolly's Infantry). He was with the regiment during its campaigns in Kentucky and West Virginia up the Kanawha River. In June 1863, the 89th was transferred to the Army of the Cumberland, 3rd Brigade, 4th Division, 14th Corps. At the battle of Chickamauga, on 20 September 1863, he was captured, with his regiment, and conveyed to Richmond, Virginia. In November he was transferred to the prison at Danville, Virginia. On 14 November 1863, he escaped with sixty others, evaded enemy forces for 16 nights, but was one of only three soldiers who successfully crossed Union Army lines at Fayetteville, Virginia, on 1 December 1863.

    He reported to Governor Todd of Ohio, and was allowed to remain at his home in Ross County for three months. He returned to his regiment on 8 March 1864. He was with General Sherman's campaign into Georgia, and was severely wounded in the left leg on 1 September 1864 at the battle of Jonesboro. Prior to his injury, he had served duty as Company Clerk. On 21 May 1864, he wrote a long letter to his brother Samuel.

    Mr. Hill was initially hospitalized in Atlanta, and in December, was moved to the 1st Division U.S. Army Hospital at Evansville, Indiana. He remained there until 21 January 1865, when he was moved to the Military Hospital at Camp Dennison, near Cincinnati. He never completely recovered from his wounds, walked with a limp aided by a cane, and was honorably discharged on 8 June 1865 with a disability pension. Pension Certificate No. W.O. 107450 is on file at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

    Unfortunately, Mrs. Hill passed away in 1866. "Fletcher" married Margaret A. (Nee Unknown) on 16 March 1868, but this union was dissolved by divorce on 3 November 1869. In 1870, he married Nan Clara McRoberts of Chillicothe, by whom he had a daughter, Elizabeth F. "Lizzie" Hill, born in 1871. Having resumed his teaching career, Mr. Hill and family moved to Illinois, and from there to Labette County, Kansas. When he arrived in Kansas, he had but little means, but by prudence and economy, he purchased a fine 500 acre farm near Oswego. He served for eight years as a Justice of the Peace, and for two years on the Board of School Examiners of Labette County. He was a correspondent of the Agriculture Department in Washington, D.C., was with the Kansas Agriculture Department, and was Commander of Post No. 150, Grand Army of the Republic. Nan Clara Hill died on 30 June 1897, and was buried in the family plot in Labette County, Kansas. Soon thereafter, failing health was cause for Mr. Hill to relocate to Phoenix, Arizona, where on 3 July 1898, he married for a fourth time, to Mrs. Harriet E. Drury, who may have been a provider of care during his final days. 10/ On 18 May 1903, John Fletcher Hill died of heart failure, per a death certificate provided by the Arizona State Archives. He was buried at the IOOF (Odd Fellows) Cemetery in Maricopa County, Arizona. At that cemetery, there is a large memorial stone honoring his Civil War service, and the gravestone of both John F. Hill and Hattie E. Hill, who died on 13 January 1917.11

     


    NOTES FOR CHAPTER THREE

    1. Family records on file with the author. Includes notes by Charles Hill Weidinger (my father), Ann Weidinger Wilderness (sister), and notes by Coral Stinson Hill (great uncle).

    2. Lutheran Marriages and Burials, Frederick, Maryland, 1743-1811, Frederick Sheely Weiser, National Genealogical Society, Special Publication No. 38, 1972, Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 72-79448, ISBN 0-915156-38-5, Page 20. Of note here is the fact that this wedding was witnessed by Samuel Compton (misspelled Comden) and his wife Elizabeth (Scaggs), whom Benjamin S. Hill married in 1806, following Sarah's death in 1793.

    3. Henry Hill of Frederick, Maryland, Lycurgus Perry Hill, Jr., undated, written by hand, page 25. L. P. Hill's assertion of the "togetherness" of all related households at Carrollton Manor is substantiated by dwelling and family number in the census data.

    4. Ross County Index of Deeds prior to 1900, Ross County Engineer Archives, Chillicothe, Ohio, received by the author in 1998.

    5. (a) Records of the DAR, Genealogy Section, Fairfield County Library, Lancaster, Ohio. (b) Photograph, headstone, Benjamin S. Hill, McNamee-Hite Cemetery, Thurston, Ohio, taken by Mr. Ralph Emmons, sent to the author in 1999.

    6. Op. Cite., Note 1.

    7. Op. Cite., Note 2. Early marriages and burials in Frederick County, Maryland, are cited from three additional volumes by Weiser, covering Hill Family weddings through the 1840s.

    8. Op. Cite., Note 1. Family confirmed by a review of the Federal Census of 1850 and 1860.

    9. Extract, Death Certificate, Hill, John F., 556 N. 5th Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona, died 18 May 1903, dilation of heart, age 69. In attendance, H. A. Hughes, MD. Interred IOOF Cemetery, George F. Merryman, Undertaker. This certificate predates the volume and numbering system of such documents in Maricopa County, Arizona.

    10. Marriage Certificate, John F. Hill and Mrs. Hattie E. Drury, 3 July 1898, C. W. Crouse, Probate Judge. Witnesses: Frank Luke and D. L. Murray.

    11. (a) Death Certificate, Hill, Harriet E., Index 249, No. 2019, mitral insufficiency, possibly 10 years. Born Ohio, parents unknown. Informant, J. A. Moore. Burial, London, Ohio, 15 January 1917.

     

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    CHAPTER FOUR: END OF AN OHIO ERA

    ROBERT HILL IV

    On 26 November 1863, Robert Hill IV, son of Benjamin Shaugh Hill, died on his farm in Deerfield Township, Ross County, Ohio. A quirk of fate left Robert buried alone at the Hickle Family Cemetery, not far from his former farm. With his death, only his brother William remained alive of all Benjamin's children. Robert's family group was as follows:

     

    Father: ROBERT HILL (MD 24 Nov 1792-26 Nov 1863 OH)
    Mother: Mary Ann "Polly" Haggard
            Children: John Collins Hill (OH 1831-1905 IL)(Nancy)
                      William Hill (OH 1832-Unknown)(Susan)
                      David W. Hill (OH 1834-Unknown IL)(Ann M. Holloway)
                      Benjamin A. Hill (OH 1836-Unknown)(Sarah Fallow)

    STRANGE REUNION

    On 30 April 1864, some of the children of both Benjamin Shaugh Hill and John Benjamin Hill gathered in Chillicothe, Ohio. The occasion was to litigate a "Quit Claim" on the late Robert Hill IV's Deerfield Township farm land in order to sell a portion to John B. Hill's youngest, John Fletcher Hill. "Fletcher" was then at home in Ross County, recuperating from his wounds received at Jonesboro during the Civil War, before he was discharged.

    Probate Court documents showed the following persons made up the family in attendance: Mary A. Hill (Mary Ann "Polly") the widow of Robert Hill, John C. and Nancy Hill, William and Susan Hill, Benjamin A. and Sarah Hill, and Baird W. and Ann M. Hill of Knox County, Illinois. This area in Illinois was John F. Hill's first stopping point on his way to Labette County, Kansas in 1870. With the departure of the party of John Fletcher Hill and others from the state, only William Hill, son of Benjamin Shaugh Hill, and Samuel Hill, son of John Benjamin Hill, and his children, remained to carry on the line. With my grandmother's death in 1943, and subsequent deaths near Newark in Licking County, and near Lancaster in Fairfield County, the line of Henry Hill of Frederick County, Maryland, came to an end.

    STRANGE GRAVESITE

    At the Concord Presbyterian Cemetery, just north of Lattaville in Concord Township, Ross County, Ohio, lie the graves of Henry J. Hill (1807-1857), his wife Mary E. Hill (1807-1857), and a son, Jefferson Hill (1833-1857). I believe that Henry J. Hill may have been a cousin of Benjamin Shaugh Hill, and left Maryland for Ohio sometime after Benjamin arrived in 1807, the year Henry J. Hill was born. Please note that this entire family (?) died the same year. What tragedy occurred? From information just learned in April 2000, during the years 1857-1859, there occurred the worst nationwide epidemic of influenza up to that time. Only an event like that might explain such devastation, and could explain many deaths during that period.

     

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    CHAPTER FIVE: TOWARD THE MODERN ERA

    CHARLES FREMONT HILL1

    Born on 1 April 1862 at Deer Creek near Grange Hall, Ohio, my great grandfather spent a career as a teacher and superintendent in Ohio Public Schools. When the great flood of 1918 destroyed the small Miami Valley towns of Osborne and Fairfield, near Dayton, he was principal of the school at Osborn. The entire household, which included Charles, Zetta Stinson Hill, Kitturiah Hill Weidinger, my uncle John and my father, moved to the small town of Cable, near West Liberty. Again, Charles F. Hill was principal of the public school. In 1920, he was appointed superintendent of the children's home in Bellefountaine, Ohio, but lost that position for reasons my late father could not recall. In 1921, my father would have been in the third grade. That year, the family moved to Rushylvania, where Charles was superintendent of the Salt Creek Township public school, and Kitturiah was a teacher.

    In 1924, my great grandfather retired and move with his wife Zetta to Circleville. His last employment was as custodian of the old (and former) Walnut Street School. They lived across the street on the southwest corner of Walnut and Washington Streets. Kitturiah then relocated with her sons to Huntsville, Ohio, north of Bellefountaine, where she ended her teaching career. In 1925, Kitturiah married Nathan A. Moore, a widower, wright, and leather worker in Huntsville. By 1930, when my father graduated valedictorian of his class, my grandmother had retired. Kitturiah lived her final days in Huntsville, and died of pneumonia in Bellefountaine in 1943. My great grandmother, Zetta Stinson Hill, died in Circleville in 1934. Charles F. Hill died of uremic poisoning, the effects of a bad prostate gland, at Mount Carmel Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, on 17 June 1938. I vividly recall being lifted high by my father to take a final look at "Charlie" Hill, with his large, flowing head of pure white hair. In those days, funerals and wakes were often held in the home of the deceased.

    KITTURIAH HILL

    Born near Williamsport, Ohio on 23 September 1885, my grandmother was a tall, stately woman, whose early photographs displayed a "Gibson Girl" character. I learned from my late father that after her first husband's death, she was a tough task master who would go to any lengths to "protect" her sons. My father might have attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, as arranged through a scholarship by then Governor Vic Donahay. She would not permit it. Dad also could have had a scholarship in tennis to attend Wittenburg College. She would not permit that. She was also very much against his wish to marry Florence Marie Jackson, who my father had met in Huntsville, Ohio. Despite these traits, of which I was unaware until I held several interviews with Dad in preparation for this study, I have fond recall of my grandmother, who died when I was eleven years old.

    Her second marriage to Huntsville leather wright "Nate" Moore was not a happy one, which I observed as a young child during visits and stays with them. The loss of my grandfather, Howard Weidinger, in 1912, was always cause for a sadness in her which I have come to understand only in recent years. The following letter, received by my grandmother late in 1942, provides some sense of this sadness.

    From Ralph and Freda Weidinger, San Mateo, California, on a Christmas Card, received 15 December 1942.

    Dear Folks,

    I'm sorry I have never answered your letter. It just seems like I'm so busy most of the time I neglect writing. Hope you and your family are well. We wonder about you all. Are your boys in the service? We hear from Warren W. (Harvey's son) quite often. He is in Australia. Ed W. (Ed's boy) is living with us and working in the ship yards. He was turned down by the Navy because of his heart. He is a nice boy and we enjoy having him with us. Hope this war ends soon so our boys come home and live normal lives again.

    Yes, Kitturiah, we do have a large picture of Howard and will keep it for you. We will send it sometime in the future when the mail is not so congested and the war effort is over. Hope you are all well and have a happy Christmas. Everyone here will be working on that day. Write when you can.

    Love - Ralph and Freda

    My grandmother died of pneumonia in Bellefountaine, Ohio on 23 May 1943. She did not live to see the end of World War II, and never again saw the portrait of her late husband. I wish that Ralph and Freda had sent that portrait to her quickly. Had they done so, I might now have it in my possession and on proud display in my home. Her brother, Coral Stinson Hill, died in Belle Center Ohio, in 1967. With his death, only my father, Charles Hill Weidinger, was left alive with the blood of Henry Hill of Frederick, Maryland, in his veins. To end this attempt, I would like to paraphrase the final statement of Lycurgus Perry Hill, Jr., in his wonderful hand-written work.

     

    "I realize that this material is but a skeleton of the family of Henry Hill. My hope is that future researchers will build on this narrative to form a more complete picture."

    Charles Louis Weidinger
    Colonel, USAF (Retired)
    Columbus, Ohio
    1 June 2000

     

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    BIBLIOGRAPHY

     Items fully explained in the body of the text are not included in this bibliography.

    Genealogical and Historical Society Documents

    1. The English Ancestry of the Warfields of Maryland, Richard T. Foose, Maryland Genealogical Society Bulletin, Volume 32, Number 4, Fall 1991, Pages 397 to 418, selected portions dealing with the family of John Hill.

    2. Early Charles County, Maryland Settlers, Bates & Wright, Family Lineage Publishers, Baltimore, Maryland, 1995. 3. Documents received from the Maryland Hall of Records, Annapolis, and the Charles County Historical Society, 1998, including Record of Inventory, Estate of Robert Hill, by Mrs. Mary Watson.

    4. Early Settlers of Maryland, Peter Wilson Coldham, Volumes I and II, Genealogy Publishing Company, Baltimore, Maryland, 1992, The State Library of Ohio, Genealogy Section, Columbus, Ohio, 1998; Notes on Henry Hill and Family.

    5. Lutheran Marriages and Burials, Frederick, Maryland, (1743-1811), Frederick Sheely Weiser, National Genealogical Society, Special Publication No. 38, 1972, Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 72-79448, ISBN 0-915156-38-5, page 20. Also, four additional volumes with the same title from different year spans, from the same source.

    Other Genealogies

    6. The Ancestors of Charles Louis Weidinger, by the author, Third Reissue, June 2000 (the basis for this book). Includes a vast array of notes by Charles Hill Weidinger (father), Ann W. Wilderness (sister), Coral Stinson Hill (great uncle), and many others.

    7. Henry Hill of Frederick, Maryland, Page 1, Lycurgus Perry Hill, Jr., Harrisonburg, Virginia, undated.

    Court Documents

    8. Docket, Orphans Court, Charles County, Maryland, August 1701, Maryland Genealogical Society, 1998.

    Landowner Records

    9. Prince Georges (Frederick) County Land Records, BB #1, (1743-1746), pages 185-186, researched by Lycurgus Perry Hill, Jr.

    10. Ross County Index of Deeds prior to 1900, Ross County Engineers Archives, Chillicothe, Ohio, received in 1998.

    Last Will and Testament Records

    11. Will of Henry Hill, Frederick, Maryland, Volume 39, page 84, probated 24 March 1773, Hall of Records, Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, Maryland.

    Cemetery Records and Related Sources

    12. Records of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), Genealogy Section, Fairfield County Public Library, Lancaster, Ohio.

    13. Photograph, Gravestone, Benjamin S. Hill, McNamee-Hite Cemetery, Thurston, Ohio, taken by Ralph Emmons of Michigan, sent to the author in 1999.

    Federal Censuses of the United States of America

    14. Various Sources for all years from 1790 through 1870.

    Certificates

    15. Extract, Death Certificate, Hill, John F., 556 N. 5th Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona, received by the author in 2000.

    16. Marriage Certificate, John F. Hill and Mrs. Hattie E. Drury, Phoenix, Arizona, 3 July 1898.

    17. Death Certificate, Hill, Harriet E., Index 249, No. 2019, Phoenix, Arizona, 14 January 1917.