William Hill (1739-04-27 – 1802-12-07) and Rebecca Clements (1738 – 1813-09-07) were my 5th-great-grandparents, being the parents of James Hill. William and Rebecca’s marriage intention in Boston, Massachusetts was dated 1760-08-20. They were Loyalists during the American Revolution and moved to Nova Scotia, forfeiting their valuable American property, although Rebecca returned to Massachusetts late in life.
For evidence connecting this marriage to the couple in Nova Scotia, see Loyalists below.
A William Hill is recorded born in Boston in 1739⟮1⟯FamilySearch, the son of John Hill and Mary Wormall. Many genealogists, going back a long time⟮2⟯Clipping from 1911: FamilySearch, identify this as our William. Supporting this is the blurb below stating he was indeed born in Boston, and also providing a relevant clue that he was a baker: A 1766 deed shows William Hill of Boston, baker, buying part of the estate of the deceased John Hill from Sarah (née Hill) Oliver; evidently William bought out his sister’s share of their inherited land.⟮3⟯FamilySearch This ties this family together.
Rebecca was the daughter of James Clements and Anna White. The best source for this is family notes written by Anna’s grand-nephew Timothy Pickering in 1813. See their entry for discussion and details about this source.
The Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution has this entry for William:⟮4⟯
Hill, William. Of Massachusetts. Embarked with his family of sixteen persons at Boston for Halifax, with the Royal Army. At the peace, accompanied by his family of eighteen persons, and by five servants, he went from New York to Shelburne, Nova Scotia, where the Crown granted him fifty acres of land, one town and one water lot. His losses in consequence of his loyalty were estimated at £330.
I can only assume this is an extended family, as (see below) he probably did not have sixteen children. The mention of servants is a clue to his social class.
The Loyalists of Massachusetts by E. Alfred Jones says in his entry,⟮5⟯FamilySearch
WILLIAM HILL was born at Boston, and was a baker there. He offered his free services as a baker for the garrison, and acted as such for that 14th Regiment. At the trial of Captain Preston in 1774 he was chosen as a juryman, and thereafter incurred the resentment of the people; was threatened with death, frequently insulted, and his house tarred…. He claimed £300, and was allowed £150. He sought refuge at Shelburne, Nova Scotia, and was coroner there.
The reference to being born in Boston and a baker are helpful details; see above. Most details are derived from his claims at court dated 1784-12-06.⟮6⟯
A great-granddaughter Emily (née Hill) Cossitt of William and Rebecca supplied the Cossitt genealogists with this information:⟮7⟯
William and Rebecca Hill, American branch of Hill family, parents of James Hill, husband of Phoebe Cossitt, forfeited property valued at 7,000 pounds, left Boston for New York with the British troops to Shelbourne, N. S.
This property estimate is surely inflated, but the family details are more likely correct.
The 1878 minutes of the Nova Scotia Loyalist society includes this:⟮8⟯
The President handed to the Archivist a photograph from an old Silhouette, of Mrs. Rebecca Clements Hill, wife of William Hill, Loyalist. The picture bears the date 1738–1813.
The use of the name Clements, in combination with the previous references to Boston and Massachusetts, rather definitively ties the 1760 Boston marriage to the William Hill of Nova Scotia. This excerpt also suggests that a likeness of Rebecca may still exist in archives.
An unsourced online tree gives William’s 1802 death date as above. Since this is three days before his known burial date, I am provisionally treating it as correct.
The above Emily Cossitt letter continues,
His commission, signed by Gov. John Parr of Nova Scotia, entered by Recorder Bulkley, Aug. 8, 1784, constituting William Hill as coroner of Queens County, Nova Scotia, is still extant. He subsequently removed to Cape Breton. His commission as Comptroller of H. M. Customs for the Port of Sidney is dated Dec. 1793.
On the same page is a transcription of a parish register, the first sentence of which is in the 1802 town burial record⟮9⟯FamilySearch (possibly its source?):
Dec. 10th, buried William Hill Esquire, The Comptroller, who exercised himself in every Christian grace and virtue. He left three sons and four daughters. James Hill, his eldest son, married Phoebe Cossitt.
He may have had more children who perhaps died young than these seven who he “left”. Still, I would remain surprised if the 16 family members accompanying him were all his children, especially given the short time between his 1760 marriage and his flight to Canada. He may have also had children born after his emigration.
These are their identified children:
The above passage says they he left three sons and four daughters, so presumably there are more to be found.
The death of a Rebecca Hill, aged 75, is recorded in Boston in 1813. The correspondence of the dates to Rebecca’s lifespan from the picture above, and her roots in Boston, make a good case that this is the same person. We can add to this that her daughter Anna is known to have lived and died in Boston.
The most likely theory is that after the death of her husband, Rebecca returned to Boston to be with her daughter and perhaps other family members.