Genealogical and family history of the state of New Hampshire : a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Vol. IV, Part 122

Author: Stearns, Ezra S; Whitcher, William F. (William Frederick), 1845-1918; Parker, Edward E. (Edward Everett), 1842-1923
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 878

USA > New Hampshire > Genealogical and family history of the state of New Hampshire : a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Vol. IV > Part 122

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(VII) Governor Isaac (2), eldest child of Isaac (I) and Hannah (Russell) Hill, was born at the home of his maternal grandfather at Menotomy, now Arlington, Massachusetts, April 6, 1788. His early educational opportunities were exceedingly limited, even for those times. Being the oldest of a large family, who were practically deprived of a father's support, he was his mother's chief assistant, and was early inured to constant labor. Although of weak constitution he did hard work on the farm at Ashburnham, Massachusetts, where the family moved when he was ten years of age. He had such limited schooling as the place afforded, and was an inveterate reader of everything that came in his

way. Before the age of eight he had read the Bible ›entirely through in course, and even a few tattered leaves of Baxter's "Call to the Unconverted" were devoured with eagerness. Ashburnham at that time was twelve miles from the nearest post- town, but some of the inhabitants had formed a sort of club for the purpose of taking a small weekly paper, then published in Leominster. It was this sheet that probably determined Mr. Hill's sub- sequent career. Meanwhile he extracted all the information that he could from the neighboring dis- trict schools, sometimes walking four or five miles during the storms of winter in the daily pursuit of knowledge. He was a good speaker, even at the age of seven, and a ready debater. His thirst for knowl- edge led him to look upon the printer's trade as the ideal occupation, and at the age of fourteen the longed-for opportunity came. Joseph Cushing had just established the Amherst Cabinet at Amherst, New Hampshire, and was in need of an apprentice. Hearing good accounts of young Hill, he went to see him, and was somewhat surprised to find the future governor in ragged working clothes, laboring on the farm. But Mr. Cushing was sensible enough to see the bright mind and sterling qualities that lay beneath the unprepossessing exterior, and a bargain was soon concluded. On December 3, 1802, Isaac (2) Hill as an apprentice began his residence in the state of which he was subsequently to be- come the most influential citizen of his time. Mr. Hill remained in the office of the Amherst Cabinet for seven years, thoroughly mastering the details of the printing and newspaper business, ever faith- ful to the interests of his employer, and educating himself by hard study after his day's work was over. During his stay in Amherst he became a member of the Young Men's Debating Club, and the record of this society in his elegant and clerky hand- writing are still preserved. On April 5, 1809, the day before he was twenty-one, he set out for Con- cord. which was to be his future home. About the same time his employer, Mr. Cushing, removed to Baltimore, Maryland, where he conducted a printing and book-selling establishment for many

years. Six months before young Hill went to Concord, William Hoit had started a struggling sheet called the American Patriot. Prominent mem- bers of the Republican (Democratic) party advised Mr. Hill to purchase the newspaper and become the editor and publisher. Two weeks later, April 18, 1809, he issued the first number of the New Hamp- shire Patriot. My Hill's incisive style and able utterances soon attracted attention, and the paper, in spite of the bitter opposition, began to increase in circulation, till in a few short years it exceeded that of any other in the state, and the influence of the young editor had become unbounded. This result was not accomplished without a desperate struggle with rival sheets, some of which poured out vials of abuse, which would not be tolerated in these days. As illustrating the style of calumny that influenced the public mind, one opponent, thought he had made a strong point by getting some astute antiquary to discover that Mr. Hill was a lineal descendant on both sides of the first witches who were hung in Salem! The personal power that Mr. Hill afterwards exercised and that keeps his name a household word in the state, even to this day, might well be attributed to something more than human.

Governor Hill edited the Patriot for twenty years, and during that time was twice chosen clerk of the state senate, once representative from Concord, and was four times elected to the state senate, 1820, 1821, 1822 and 1827. In 1829, soon after Jackson became president, he appointed Mr. Hill to the office of second comptroller of the Treasury Depart- ment, and he assumed his duties at Washington on March 21 of that year. The strong friendship be- tween these notable men dates from this time, and was destined to continue unbroken till death. Mr. Hill held the office till April, 1830, and performed its duties in an eminently satisfactory manner, but the Senate, owing to the bitter personal animosities of the day, refused to confirm the appointment, and the future governor was forced to retire. He returned to his own state where his popularity was unbounded, and two months later the New Hampshire legislature triumphantly elected him to the United States senate, where he took his seat March 4, 1831. He remained there five years, and was one of Jackson's most intimate advisers, but in 1836, having been elected governor of the state by the unprecedented majority of nearly nine thou- sand votes, he resigned his seat to become chief executive of New Hampshire. He was re-elected governor in 1837 and 1838, and during all this time he was the popular idol, and had a personal follow- ing which has probably never been equalled in the state before or since. In 1810 Governor Hill was appointed by President Van Buren to the office of sub-treasurer at Boston, which place he held till March, 1841, when he was removed by the incoming administration. From that time till his death, ten years later, he was without public office; but in 1840, in connection with his two oldest sons, he established Hill's New Hampshire Patriot, which they published till 1847, when it was united with the original Patriot, which had been under different management. Governor Hill also edited and pub- lished the Farmer's Monthly Visitor for about ten years, and during the last fifteen years of his life he was extensively engaged in agriculture on his own account.

On February 2, 1814, Isaac (2) Hill married Susanna Ayer, eldest daughter and sixth child of Richard and Susanna ( Sargent) Ayer, members of prominent Concord families. Mrs. Hill was a

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woman of strong character, marked personality and a notable housekeeper. She was born February 24, 1789, and lived till June 17, 1880, dying at her home on School street, in Concord, at the age of ninety-one years, three months and twenty-four days. Mr. and Mrs. Hill were active in establish- ing the Episcopal Church in Concord, of which they were ever after interested and influential supporters. Isaac (2) and Susana (Ayer) Hill had four chil- dren: William Pickering, born October 19, 1819; John McClary, November 5, 1821; Georgiana Tos- can, October 1, 1824, died September 12, 1825; and Isaac Andrew, September 10, 1827.

William P. Hill graduated from Dartmouth Col- lege in 1839, was for several years editor and pro- prietor of the Portsmouth (New Hampshire) Gasette, and was afterwards associated with his father and brother on the New Hampshire Patriot. He subsequently held a position in the Boston custom house, and died, February 17, 1901, at the home of his eldest daughter, Mrs. Robert Williams, at Denver, Colorado. On October 26, 1843, William P. Hill married Clara Ann West, daughter of John and Nancy ( Montgomery) West and a sister of the wife of Senator Edward H. Rollins. The chil- dren of William P. and Clara (West) Hill were : Isaac William, born March 19, 1846, died December 22. 1903; Anna Montgomery, April 27, 1851; Susan Ayer, August 7, 1854; Ellen Russell, October 19, 1857, died in infancy ; and Clara Turner, July 23, 1860, died June 26, 1872. Anna Montgomery Hill married Robert R. Williams, of Denver, Colorado, February 14, 1880. Their children were: Clara Turner Williams, born July 28, 1882, at Concord, New Hampshire, died at Denver, Colorado, Febru- ary 15, 1889; and Edward Rollins Williams, born at Pitkin, Colorado, November 30, 1884. Susan Ayer Hill married, in April, 1882, Honorable James O. Lyford, at the present time naval officer of the port of Boston. Their children were: Agnes McLean Lyford, born April 6, 1884, at Concord, dicd at Denver, Colorado, January 21, 1891; Katharine Batchelder Lyford, born at Concord, November II, 1888, died at Denver, February 1, 1903; and Richard Taylor Lyford, born January 6, 1896.

John McClary, second son of Governor Isaac (2) and Susannah (Ayer) Hill, was educated at the academy at South . Berwick, Maine. He was for many years connected with the New Hampshire Patriot, served as treasurer of the Concord Gas Company for a long period, was Democratic candi- date for governor in 1884, and died March 4, 1900. He was one of the most prominent and respected citizens of Concord, and a gentleman of the old school. John M. Hill married (first) Elizabeth Lord Chase, whose youth was spent in South Ber- wick, Maine. They were married November 15, 1843, and there were two children : Howard Fre- mont born July 21, 1846; and Robert Waterston, June 20, 1852, died January 15, 1854. Reverend Howard Fremont Hill, Ph. D., D. D., a clergyman of the Episcopal Church, was graduated from Dart- mouth College in 1867, and is now living in Concord. Dr. Howard F. Hill married, October 17, 1870, Laura Sophia Tebbetts, daughter of Dr. Hiram B. and Laura S. (Watson) Tebbetts, who was born in Carroll parish, Louisiana, October 17, 1847. Their children were: John McClary Hill, born October 30, 1871, died December 4, 1872; Maria Dix Hill, December 11, 1873; and Grace Watson Hill, June 21, 1876. Maria D. Hill was married, February II, 1907, to John Archibald Campbell, an electrical engineer, and they are now living in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Grace W. Hill was married,

November 28, 1899, to Zoheth Sparrow Freeman, vice-president of the Merchants' National Bank, New York City. Mr. and Mrs. Freeman have two daughters: Laura, born February 9. 1901; and Mary, December 5, 1902.

Governor Isaac (2) Hill died in his sixty-third year at Washington, D. C., March 22, 1851, after an illness of five weeks, and is buried in the family lot at Blossom Hill cemetery, Concord, New Hamp- shire.

(VIII) Isaac Andrew, third son and fourth and youngest child of Governor Isaac and Susanna (Ayer) Hill, was born at Concord, New Hampshire, September 16, 1827. and died there February 28, 1903. He was educated in the public schools of his native town, in the Concord Literary Institution and at Phillips Andover Academy. During vacations he learned the printer's trade in his father's office where The New Hampshire Patriot was published. After leaving school he went to Boston, and was in the employ of Sayles, Merriam & Brewer, whole- sale commission merchants, where he remained about five years. During this period Mr. Hill dwelt in the same house with John A. Andrew, after- ward the distinguished war governor of Massachu- setts, with whom he formed a pleasant friendship. Returning to Concord in 1849 he entered the Patriot office, where he remained till 1856. In that year he was appointed register of probate for Mer- rimack county, which office he held for eighteen years, or until 1874, when a change in politics caused a turn-over in appointive positions. In 1876 he was appointed deputy collector of internal revenue, which place he held till 1883. During the remainder of his life he was an active promoter of various enter- prises connected with the upbuilding of Concord. The Board of Trade and the building which bears its name were the outgrowth of his foresight and energy. The incorporation of the Merrimack County Savings Bank, of which he was a trustee and the first depositor, the extension of Pleasant street, and the projection of the "New History of Concord" are some of the enterprises which should be credited to his public spirit and active endeavor. More petitions of a civic nature, looking toward the betterment of Concord, were presented to the city government through his instrumentality than came from any other source.

In politics Mr. Hill departed from the traditions of his family and became a strong Republican, though he did not care to hold office. In church associations he always kept to the faith in which he had been reared, although his religious sympathies were broad and inclusive. When an infant he was baptized in Saint Andrew's Church, Hopkinton, there being no Episcopal Church in Concord at the time. His parents helped to found Saint Paul's Church at the capital. and his constant services and best efforts during his mature years were given to the development of that parish. Mr. Hill not only did things himself, but he incited others to do them, and some of the most valuable gifts that Saint Paul's Church has received in recent ycars, may be traced to his suggestion. He was a member of Blazing Star Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Mr. Hill was an ardent lover of nature, and in his early life was skilled with the rod and gun, but he was no hunter merely. It was the out-door life and the poetry of the woods that appealed to him.

On October 5, 1858, Isaac Andrew Hill married Sarah Anne Sanderson, second daughter and child of Charles and Hannah Amanda (Stevens) Sanderson, who was born at Pittsfield, New Hampshire, Sep-

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tember 19, 1839. She was educated at Pittsfield Academy and graduated from the high school at Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1857. She taught school a year in Concord, giving up the occupation upon her marriage at the early age of nineteen. Mrs. Hill was a member of the Congregational Church in Pittsfield during youth, but became a communi- cant of St. Paul's Church (Episcopal) in Concord soon after her marriage. She has been active in the parish work of that church, and has been especially interested in the Orphans' Home at Millville, serv- ing at one time as chairman of the Building Com- mittee and also as one of the committee appointed by Bishop Niles to decide on admissions to the home. Mrs. Hill was one of the directresses of the Concord Female Charitable Society from 1883 to 1886. A member of the Concord Woman's Club, she served as chairman of the committee on science from 1899 to 1902; and from 1901 to 1904 she was president of the Wild Flower Club.

Mr. and Mrs. Hill have had six children: Wal- ter Bertram, born March 23, 1860: Josiah French, July 25, 1863; Charles Sanderson, July 4, 1867; Isaac, September 3, 1869; Andrew, April 8, and died August 8. 1872; Lawrence, February 3, 1878. Wal- ter B. Hill studied civil engineering, and followed the profession for several years. In 1888 he went to Colorado and in 1892 to Montana, where he be- came superintendent of irrigation for the Crow Reservation. He is now government inspector of irrigation in all the Indian reservations. Josiah F. Hill was graduated from the Concord high school in 1880, and from Dartmouth College in 1884. He began railroad life in the auditing de- partment of the Union Pacific at Omaha, advancing to assistant to the vice-president; then went to Washington D. C., where he was assistant to the vice-president of the Southern railway; finally be- coming secretary of that railway in New York City. In 1900 he removed to Boston to become statistican of the firm of Lee Higginson and Com- pany, bankers, with whom he has since remained. On December 28, 1887, he married Blanche Theo- clora Ford, of Concord, and they have two children : Gerald Ford, born December 29, 1892, and Blanche Theodora, February 21, 1903. Charles Sanderson Hill was appointed to the Naval Academy at An- napolis in 1883, and remained there over three years. At the beginning of the Spanish war he volunteered for service in the United States Marine Corps, and was appointed second lieutenant. He was assigned to immediate duty at Annapolis, and was placed in charge of the Spanish officers, who had been taken prisoners. He was subsequently appointed first lieu- tenant and went immediately to the Philippines, where he was stationed three and one-half years. He was made a captain in 1900, and is now in Cuba. Isaac Hill was educated in the public schools of his native city, and is now cashier of the Na- tional State Capital Bank at Concord, having been in the employ of that institution since 1887. He is a member of the Wonolancet Club, the Canoe Club, the Sons of the American Revolution, also of Blazing Star Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Lawrence Richardson Hill was graduated from the Concord high school in 1898, from Dart- mouth College in 1902, and from Harvard Medical School in 1907. He is now assistant surgeon in the Massachusetts Soldiers' Home at Chelsea, Massachu- setts.

(Third Family.)

An examination of the records relative

HILL to the carly history of the Hills in America discloses the fact that there were several immigrants of this name who arrived from

England prior to 1650, namely : John Hill, of Dor- chester, Massachusetts; John Hill, of Dover, New Hampshire, who was accompanied by at least one brother and perhaps more; and Peter Hill, of Saco, Maine. There are some slight indications that Dr. Gardner C. Hill, of Keene, is a descendant of Peter Hill, through the latter's son Roger, although conclusive evidence to that effect is lacking.

(I) Peter Hill probably settled near the mouth of the Saco river prior to 1648, in which year he joined the assembly in Liconia or Ligonia. He was accompanied from England by his son Roger, and both took the freeman's oath in 1653. Peter was one of the dissatisfied planters of York county who petitioned to have that territory admitted to the colony of Massachusetts. He died in 1667. The maiden name of his wife and the christian name of his other children (if there were others) are want- ing.

(II) Roger, son of Peter Hill, was identified with his father in the settlement of Saco, and served as constable in 1661. It is supposed that he, with others, went to Salem, Massachusetts, in 1678, in order to escape Indian hostilities, but he returned to Saco later, and his death occurred there in 1696. In 1658 he married Sarah Cross, of Wells, Maine, and was the father of John, Samuel, Joseph, Benja- min, who died young; Ebenezer, Sarah, Hannah and Mercy. His son Samuel, who commanded a packet, engaged in transporting supplies from Bos- ton to the ports eastward during the Indian wars, was, with his wife, captured by the French and Indians about the year 1701, and taken to Canada, where both were held as prisoners for a number of years. Ebenezer was betrayed by supposed friendly savages into captivity, but eventually se- cured his freedom, and died at Saco in 1745, aged seventy-nine years. John Hill, son of Roger, was commissioned an ensign in King William's war and rose to the rank of captain. The latter's brother Joseph resided in Wells and died there in 1743. He married Sarah Bowles, daughter of Joseph Bowles, of Wells (see Bowles), and a sister of Mary, wife of Major Charles Frost, of Kittery. Roger Hill's daughter Sarah married (first) Pendleton Fletcher, a prominent resident of Saco, who died a prisoner in Canada, and she married for her second husband William Priest. Her sister Hannah married Lieu- tenant Joseph Stover, at one time commander of the garrison at Wells, and was the ancestor of men of distinction, including Hon. Joseph Stover, Commodore Stover, United States navy, and Pro- fessor D. H. Stover, of Boston. Mercy Hill mar- ried Daniel Littlefield, and was the ancestor of many of that name in Wells and Kennebunk, Maine (see Littlefield). It is impossible to determine with accuracy the two succeeding generations in this line of descent. Information forwarded to the writer from Keene states that Roger Hill, great- grandfather of Dr. Hill, was born (perhaps) in 1750, but fails to mention his birthplace. There is, however, sufficient evidence to prove that his birth must have taken place several years prior to that date. It is reasonable to suppose that this Roger was a descendant of Peter in the fifth generation. Roger is known to have resided in Winchester, New Hampshire, but as the history of that town is yet to be written, no further information relative to him or his family is obtainable in the Boston genea- logical collections.

(VI) Jonathan Hill, son of Roger Hill, was a native of Winchester, and when a young man re- moved from that town to Swanzey. At the break-

Gardner Grill

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ing out of the American Revolution he enlisted in the Continental army and participated in the battle of Bunker Hill. He afterward returned to Winchester and resided there for the remainder of his life. He married Rusella Combs, of Win- chester, and his children were: George, born inl 1777; Reuben, the date of whose birth is not given ; Joseph, born in October, 1781: Sally, born April 2, 1787, married Seth Leonard; Barney, whose birth date is also wanting; Jonathan, born October 14, 1792; David, born February 14, 1794; Caleb, who will be again referred to; Elisha, born April 12, 1800; Betsey, who became the wife of John Sander- son; Massa, who married George Darling; and Mary, who married Seth Pomroy, of Swanzey.

(VII) Caleb Hill, seventh son and eighth child of Jonathan and Rusella (Combs) Hill, was born in 1798. For a period of forty years he cultivated a farm in Winchester with prosperous results, and he died in that town at the age of fifty-eight years. He married Polly Howard, of Winchester, who bore him eight children, namely: Maria, Mary So- phia, Gardner C., Jonathan, Elmina D., Maria H. ( died young), Elvira L. and Laura A.

(VIII) Gardner Caleb Hill, M. D., third of the children of Caleb and Polly ( Howard) Hill, was born in Winchester, March 20, 1829. From the pub- lic schools of his native town he went to the Mount Caesar Seminary, Swanzey, and thence to the Semi- mary in Saxton's River, Vermont, where he was graduated in 1853. He subsequently taught school in Swanzey, Keene and Winchester. His prelimi- nary professional preparations were pursued under the preceptorship of Dr. D. L. Comings, of West Swanzey, and he took his degree at the Castleton (Vermont) Medical College in 1856. These studies were augmented with a course at the Harvard Medi- cal School. The first nine years of his professional career were spent in Warwick, Massachusetts, and during the whole of that period he served as a mem- ber of the board of education. From 1867 to the present time (1906) he has practiced medicine in Keene, and has attained a high reputation as a skill- ful and reliable physician. For seven years he served as city physician, and held the post of county physi- cian for nearly that length of time; is a member of the board of United States penson examiners ; of the staff of the Elliott City Hospital, and is medical examiner for the Aetna Life Insurance Com- pany. For the past thirty-one years he has served upon the board of education of Keene, has also served as county treasurer two years, county com- missioner three years, and in the city council three years. Aside from his professional and political services, which have proved exceedingly beneficial to the community, he devotes considerable time to other fields of usefulness, and as president of the Keene Savings Bank his integrity and sound judg- ment in financial matters are heartily appreciated. Dr. Hill affiliates with the New Hampshire State and Cheshire County Medical societies, and the Connecticut Valley Medical Association and the American Medical Association.

For his first wife he married, in 1856, Frances R. Howard, of Walpole, New Hampshire, who died varly in 18644. A year later he married Caroline R. Hutchins, of Keene, daughter of Benjamin Hutchins. He has an adopted son, William H. Hill

(Fourth Family.)

Among the earliest New Hampshire names

HILL this has baffled genealogists in the effort to trace direct descent to persons now living in the state. Its bearers were evidently much

inore intent upon conquering the wilderness, pre- paring farms and providing for themselves and their families than they were in recording their achievements. That they bore their share in the struggle with the savage foe in the forbidding wil- derness there can be no doubt. In the days when the ancestors of this family were making their way in New Hampshire every man was compelled to fight the savage foe as well as to labor industriously and unceasingly to clear the forest and make a home for himself and his posterity.

(I) John Hill, no doubt of English birth, was in Dover, New Hampshire, as early as 1649, for we find him on the list of those taxed in that year. It is probable that he was the same John Hill who was married in Boston, January. 16, 1656, to Eliza- beth Strong, for John Hill, whose wife was Eliza- beth, received a grant of land at Oyster River (now Durham) in 1656 and three subsequent grants. He was a grand juryman from Dover in 1668 and 1671, and in 1683 he was defendant in one of the many suits brought by John Mason, which proves that he was a land owner. Evidently he was an- noyed by the suits for about this time he was sum- moned to court at Great Island for saying "he did not judge that neither the king nor Mason had anything to do here." He was taxed in Dover as late as 1684. In 1659 he gave a deposition, saying he was about thirty-five years of age, from which it would seem that he was born about 1624. He had sons : Joseph, Samuel, John and Benjamin. (Men- tion of John and descendants appears in this article.)

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Genealogical and family history of the state of New Hampshire : a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Vol. IV, Part 122

Author: Stearns, Ezra S; Whitcher, William F. (William Frederick), 1845-1918; Parker, Edward E. (Edward Everett), 1842-1923 Publication date: 1908 Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 878

Author: Stearns, Ezra S; Whitcher, William F. (William Frederick), 1845-1918; Parker, Edward E. (Edward Everett), 1842-1923
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 878