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From the Bible records of Alexander and Martha (Hill) Haynes family (daughter of William and Jane (Cole) Hill), we know that William Hill was born 4 Apr. 1792. Per the same records, Jane Cole was born 10 Dec., 1791. [These Bible records graciously provided by Betty Hill Blackburn and Kathy Peacock]. The 1850 census of Cass County, TX indicates that William was born in South Carolina. He married about 1814-1815 to Jane Cole, daughter of William Cole and Martha Bounds who died in Robertson County, TN. I presume that William and Jane Hill were married there, but there are no marriage records there from that time. Jane was born 10 Dec. 1791 according to the Bible of Margaret Stark, another descendant of William and Martha Cole.
Betty Hill Blackburn, wrote in History of Cass County People, Cass Co. Gen. Soc., 1982, �According to family tradition, he was an early freighter who traveled through the open country hauling supplies for this early civilization.�
From 1835 � 1840, Wm. Hill purchased land and was living in Claiborne Parish, LA. He was listed in the 1840 census as living near his son-in-law Steven Pate and a Dial family (possibly another son-in-law). But, he also sold land in Nov. 1841, Lafayette Co. (now Miller Co.), AR. This is confusing, but perhaps this is land he owned earlier and went back to sell? One account said that he settled in Arkansas and hauled freight into Texas.
According to �Law�s Chapel, a History & Records, 1853-1976�, compiled by Charles Steger, William arrived in Texas by 1836; it is possible that he was only making cargo runs into Texas that early, but living elsewhere. However, in the book Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Turner Publishing, it is written that he �entered Texas just after the Battle of San Jacinto, waiting over the border to learn of the outcome of the battle.� That battle was in 1837. So we have conflicting accounts of his whereabouts from 1835-1840. More research is needed here.
His documented arrival in Texas appears to have been in December 1841, per General Land Office Records in Texas. According to Kathy Peacock, premier researcher of this family, William�s first land grant was in Smith County, TX. He received a 4th class land grant in December, 1841 indicating he was a married man. Also according to Kathy, in 1846, William Hill paid taxes in both Smith and Cass Counties, TX.
William disappeared 1850-1856 while driving a team of oxen to Jefferson, TX to purchase supplies. It is believed he was scalped by Indians. The family found his wagon, but the supplies were gone�and so apparently was his body. There is a War of 1812 gravestone marker in the Old Liberty Cemetery, Cass County, TX, but it was placed later by a descendant. Some early researchers have said that Wm. served as a Private, Mtd. Tenn. Rangers in the War of 1812, a statement that I and others have been unable to verify (The said soldier appears to be a different man).
After his disappearance, Jane purchased 640 acres of land in Cass Co., south of Antioch, where the Antioch church is now located. Also on this property is their hand-hewed log house that is still standing. Jane died in 1857 and is buried in the Old Liberty Cemetery, Cass Co., TX; there is no marker.
The children of William and Jane Hill were:
- Caroline Hill (1815 TN � aft. 1883 Gibson Co., TN) married about 1828 in TN to James Baird (ca. 1810 Richmond Co., NC � 1883 Gibson Co., TN). He was the son of Wilson and Sarah (Bostick) Baird.
- Elizabeth Jane Hill (1819 TN � ca. 1855 LA) married about 1837 to Stephen Pate (ca. 1815 � ca. 1856).
- John Cole Hill (1822 TN � unk)
- William Thomas Hill (1824 TN � unk) was a twin to Mary Isabella.
- Mary Isabella Hill (1824 TN � unk) was a twin to William Thomas. Married about 1840 to Hastings Dial. One story claims that Hastings was stabbed to death by a Negro (perhaps a slave?), and that Hastings� brother Dr. William Harrison Dial killed the Negro. They had 4 known children.
- Benjamin Franklin Hill (1826 TN � 1901, Johnson Co., TX) was a twin to Joseph. He married 1st in Cass Co., TX, 1850 to Jane E. Miles. He served as Sheriff in Cass Co. 1864. In 1849, he was living in Port Caddo (Harrison) TX. Jane died in 1860 and is buried in Old Liberty Cem., Cass Co., TX. They had 5 children together. Benjamin married 2nd on 11 Oct. 1860, Cass Co., TX to Margaret Emily Dobbs. She was the daughter of Cyrus and Rachel Dobbs. They moved to Johnson Co., TX, near Grandview where they died. Benjamin and Margaret are both buried in Grandview Cem. They had 10 children.
- Joseph Russell Hill (1826 TN � 1892 Cass Co., TX) was a twin to Benjamin Franklin. He married in 1853, Cass Co., to Nancy Burkhalter, daughter of Michael and Eliza Jane (Griffin) Burkhalter. Joseph served CSA, Texas Cav. Co. F, 30th Regt, per his gravestone in Liberty Cem., Cass Co. TX. They had 7 children.
- Martha Ann Hill (1828 TN � 1906 Cass Co., TX) married 1st in 1843 to John Varner. He died before 1849. She married 2nd in 1849 to Samuel John Smith who died 1852-1855. They had 2 children. She married 3rd in 1856, Harrison Co., TX to Alexander Haynes, a charter member of Law�s Chapel Church of Cass County, and a Judge in Cleburne (Johnson) TX. They had 6 children.
- Daniel Goulden Hill (1830 TN � 1907 Cass Co., TX) married 1st in 1854, Cass Co. to Mary Teresa Mullins. They had 10 children. He served CSA, Co. G and Co. B, Morgan�s Battalion, Cav., enlisting in 1862. Mary Teresa died in 1894. He married 2nd before 1900 to Temperance Louella (Cole) Wood. They had one daughter.
- Holden Lafayette Hill (1834 TN � 1865 MO) married 1854, Cass Co., to Martha Elizabeth Dobbs, sister to his brother Benjamin�s wife. They had 5 children. He served CSA and was killed in the war in MO. His gravestone is in the Antioch Cem., Cass Co., TX, but it is said his remains are in an unmarked grave in MO.
Please check my World Connect Tree for more specific dates, etc. (link at bottom of page).
WHO WAS THE FATHER OF WILLIAM HILL and
FROM WHERE IN TENNESSEE DID HE COME TO TEXAS?
For this discussion, please read this research narrative.
WILLIAM & MARTHA (BOUNDS) COLE
of Robertson County, Tennessee - parents of Jane (Cole) Hill
William Cole was born 2 Mar. 1767 in Anson Co., NC to John and Jane (Bounds) Cole. He married 19 Dec., 1790 to Martha Bounds, daughter of John Bounds and Mary Allen. Martha was the niece of Jane (Bounds) Cole, making William and Martha first cousins. Martha was born 7 June 1771. At least by 1824, William and Martha had migrated to Robertson County, TN. He purchased 40 acres of land there at that time (see Survey Book 1, Page 42).
William Cole wrote his will in September of 1820 and it was proved in court in February, 1827. In it, he names his wife, Martha, and nine children, Jane Hill, Elizabeth Seal, Holden W., John R., Martha H., Richmond, Reuben, Nannie, and William. Birth and marriage dates for William and Martha are shown in the Bible of Margaret Stark. One other child, Polly, is also mentioned in these Bible records�she may have died young.
In GOODSPEED�S HISTORY OF TENNESSEE, The History of Robertson County, originally published in 1886, this is written about a grandson of William and Martha:
�J. B. Cole was born in Robertson County, Tenn., in 1836, and is a son of Reuben Cole, who came from North Carolina to Tennessee in 1806; his grandfather was William Cole, also of North Carolina. The Cole family came originally from Scotland. The subject�s mother was of German descent. His father was a school-teacher and died December 6, 1851. Our subject was reared on a farm and received his education at the country schools. When he arrived at the proper age he began learning the miller�s trade in Logan County, Ky., and this trade he has followed for a number of years. In 1856 he was married to Miss Jonella Conner, daughter of Arthur Conner, and to this union one child, John R., has been born. Mr. Cole has followed his trade for some time and is now running the old Murphy & Hendley Mill, built in 1868, and which has the capacity of grinding 150 bushels of grain per day. Mr. Cole is a good industrious citizen and is respected by all."
There are a number of on-line family trees with information about the parents of William Cole, but as yet, I haven�t done the research, so I will defer to them.
Check out the graves of some of these people on my virtual "White Cemetery" with Whites, Bairds, Lavenders, Hills, Coles and others on www.findagrave.com
Click here to view an ancestor chart of this family
Click here to view a migration map of this and related families
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