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 (1773-08-27 – 1829-10), father of Mary Eliza Gesner. 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, the son of John Hill and Mary Wormall. There is no proof that this is the same William, but the correspondence is good. Various online trees claim this identity⟮1⟯, and may have additional evidence, but I have not seen it. Mary Wormall was the daughter of William and Sarah Wormall.⟮2⟯ There should be more information on these colonial settlers, but I have not been able to find it.
Rebecca is often claimed to be the daughter of James Clements and Anna White, but there appears to be no birth record for her. James and Anna’s marriage intention in Boston was dated 1736-05-20, which would fit Rebecca’s birth, but this is well short of proof. For example, an Edward Clements and Mary Javet married in Boston on 1724⟮3⟯, and could plausibly have had a child in 1738. Nor do we even know that Rebecca was native to Boston. However, William and Rebecca named a son James, who in turn named a son James Clement Hill, which supports the claimed parents. Anna was likely the daughter of Isaac White and Rebecca Green born 1717-04-09 in Boston, which would hook me into much colonial ancestry.
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.
A great-granddaughter Emily (née Hill) Cossitt of William and Rebecca supplied the Cossitt genealogists with this information:⟮5⟯
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 much higher than the other, although perhaps the first figure was discounted by the land grants.
The 1878 minutes of the Nova Scotia Loyalist society includes this:⟮6⟯
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, which is also (partly?) quoted in the 1802 town burial record:⟮7⟯
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.
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 (née Hill) Homer (1774-09-16 – 1853-09-06)⟮8⟯ is recorded as having married (in 1797⟮9⟯) 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.
James and Anna are the only children I have established of this family, although the above record asserts seven children, and others an even larger extended family.
James married Phebe Cossitt in Sydney, Nova Scotia on 1798-10-23, and they were my 4th-great-grandparents.