Local history enthusiasts gathered at the Warsaw Historical Society Museum on June 15 for Martha Zumwalt’s Mondays at the Museum presentation on the Hill Family and corresponding 40- to 60-year community history. Zumwalt’s individual stories about Harriet and John Hill and their family meant the Hills were alive that morning.
Zumwalt guided attendees in envisioning the economic situation in England and parts of Europe that prompted the Hills to leave England for America. “In England and parts of Europe there were more outstanding people than outstanding jobs so a lot of very capable people came to America seeking employment, opportunity,” she said.
Arriving in New Orleans in 1830 with six (some records report seven) sons, Harriet and John moved to Warsaw, a “backwoods town” of 400, including the surrounding area, in 1836; it is noteworthy that Fort Edwards was still standing and in use as a trading post and as “a lot of other things other than a military fort.”
In support of America as a land of opportunity, Zumwalt noted that Warsaw was platted in 1834, and within the next 30-40 years, residents paid more taxes than St. Louis. The diverse community was comprised of people of German, French, Irish, and English descent and with varying beverage preferences: “The Germans brought beer, the French, wine, the English drank tea, and the Irish drank about anything.”
By 1860, Warsaw was flourishing with 45 cooper shops, 12 tailors, foundries, packing houses, flour mills, distilleries, nine lawyers, seven doctors, a dentist, seven general stores, three groceries and 14 other businesses. The town’s numerous brickyards produced the soft bricks used to construct most of the buildings on Main Street, “the reason it’s crumbling now.”
Harriet and John, a contractor and builder, opted initially to live on a farm in Walker Township even though their sons preferred Warsaw’s urban environment. The family later moved to Clark Street in town. Two children, including Emily, their only daughter, were born while they lived on the farm.
Born in 1825, Thomas, the Hills’ oldest child, sought adventure working on packet boats at the age of 16. The “kindly, warmhearted man” retired from river life in 1878 and, with two other brothers and George Knox, took over the woolen mill, located in what is now the battery factory, to sustain it “in difficult times because it employed a number of people in the area.” Thomas founded the more profitable Warsaw Milling and Warsaw Pickle factories and used the profits from these businesses to maintain the woolen mill.
Thomas married Katherine Stewart and the couple had seven children, losing two in infancy. Of their surviving children – William, Thomas, Elmer, Andrew and Adelle – Adelle is the most connected to that generation because she married a Dodge, forging the Hill-Dodge Bank connection. Adelle and her father were on a buggy ride in Crystal Glen when they were robbed by two men who demanded that Thomas part with a cherished gift from Katherine, a $50 dollar bill.
The last of the second generation of Hills, Adelle was well known by prominent people in the area and Keokuk who attended her funeral. She is buried in Oakland Cemetery.
Adelle’s daughter Catherine married Cyrus Eastman Phillips; Zumwalt noted that the third or fourth Cyrus Eastman Phillips was in her class.
John Hill, who married Julie Hawkins and farmed 800 acres near Sutter, also managed the Hill Orchard, which “shipped fruit all over.”
Henry Hill, one of the original investors of $15,000 in the Hill-Dodge Bank, also partnered in the milling company. He lived in the Spencer House before moving to Minnesota.
Walter Hill, most likely Henry’s twin and an adventurer like Thomas, rode with the Pony Express. Making his home in Piedmont, California, he “raised top quality horses and had a livery for quite some time.”
Living in a 27-room home on Clark Street that was built for $35,000 on the land where the Roosevelt residence once stood, which was known as Forest Hill, William and his wife Laura (nee Finch) had three daughters and one son. Hosting numerous parties and galas in the third-floor ballroom, and entertaining in rooms that boasted five stone fireplaces and two carved wooden ones from Italy, the Hills were “more in the public eye” than William’s siblings.
Despite his success as “the big name behind a lot of the things the family invested in,” William suffered an uninsured $100,000 loss when the Warsaw Distillery burned, and passed away from a protracted, painful stomach ailment in 1890 at the age of 57.
The home was destroyed in a fire in the 1930s with the brick used to build the Courtois, Rehahn and Baldwin residences. Zumwalt commented on the remnants of a formal garden across the street and a large barn that she had assumed were part of the Roosevelt estate but learned that they were part of the Hill estate.
James B. Hill was educated in Warsaw, married Charlotte Ellis, and had nine children with two passing away in infancy. A seven-year-old child died as a result of being kicked by a horse. James was involved in founding the bank and worked on the river at times. His compassion for children was well known as he and Charlotte provided a home and care for seven orphaned children in addition to their own.
Harriet and John’s only daughter, Emily, married George Knox — whose family was among the early settlers — and had two children, John and Clara. John died in childhood, while Clara became the wife of A. E. Johnston of Keokuk. The Johnstons were connected to Hill-Dodge Bank and A. E. “gave the museum a lot of nice donations.” A descendant, Edward Johnston, managed the Bott Millar funds when he lived in Warsaw.
Although Emily was never robust, she was a “practical, sensible,” involved woman who quietly served individuals and extensively contributed to her local community and the public during the war; she heavily invested in liberty and victory bonds.
She sold the woolen mill building to the city for a pittance — less than the cost of the smokestack — making it possible for the city to sell it “as is” to the Huiskamp family to convert into a shoe factory.
Being the last representative of the Hill and Knox family, when Emily passed away at the age of 81, a large number of businessmen issued a proclamation suspending all business from two to five o’clock that day to allow people to attend the funeral. At her passing, she left the largest estate in Hancock County.
Attendees enjoyed Zumwalt’s presentation on this “interesting, very well-rounded” family that “accomplished the most amazing things in Warsaw.” Warsaw would not have been the same without them.