Biography of Israel Hill of Oakland township, Illinois

Israel Hill, one of the pioneer farmers of Oakland township, was born in Indiana, in 1827, a son of Ishmael Hill, a native of North Carolina, born in October, 1808; when the latter was a child of seven years he was taken to Tennessee, where he lived until a youth of seventeen. The paternal grandfather, Ephraim Hill, was a prosperous farmer and distiller in Tennessee. He removed to Indiana about 1825, and here his son, Ishmael, was married to Miss Elizabeth Wright, a native of Kentucky and a daughter of William and Catherine (Rusher) Wright. This young couple emigrated to Illinois in 1828 with their infant son, Israel; they made the journey overland in the early spring, and came directly to Rushville where they settled on a squatter’s claim of 160 acres, eight miles north of the village. Some years later Mr. Hill bought a farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Oakland township. It was wild and heavily timbered, but he went to work with a will, and, assisted by his son, succeeded in making one of the most desirable farms in this section. He resided here until 1878, when he sold the farm to his son, and bought another tract south of Macomb in McDonough county, where he spent the last years of his life. His wife died in 1875, leaving him with a family of eight children; they buried two infant sons; the names of the other children are as follows: Rhoda, Mary, Sarah, Martha, Margaret, Millie A. and Nancy; all are married and have families. Mr. Hill is the only son.

He was married April 4, 1850, to Miss Louisiana Pemberton, a daughter of Thomas Pemberton of Kentucky; the mother’s maiden name was Deborah Moore, and she was a daughter of Ephraim Moore, also of Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Hill have had a family of ten children, two of whom died in infancy; Minerva J., wife of Thomas Schroder, died at the age of twenty-one years, leaving one daughter; Amanda is now the wife of Thomas Schroder; Eliza married A. J. Heaton; Columbia A. is at home; Deborah, wife of George W. Young; Cora and John are at home; J. N. married a Miss Smith, and they have three children, Wilmar, aged six years, Myrtle, aged four, and Roscoe, aged thirteen months. Mr. Hill bought 120 acres in 1858, to which he added 80 acres in 1871; in 1878 he purchased his father’s farm and later added eighty-six acres to the original purchase of 120 acres. In November, 1891, he bought a home in Vermont, where he lives retired from active life. He has served his town as Supervisor several terms, and has held other minor offices. He was in his early days a Whig, but now affiliates with the Democratic party. He has been very successful in business, and from a small beginning he has accumulated a large estate; he owns 415 acres of good and, well improved, and by a life of honor and integrity has attracted to himself a large number of warm friends, and has won the confidence of the entire community. ^[1]Biographical Review of Cass, Schuyler and Brown Counties, Illinois, Biographical Review Publishing Co., Chicago, 1892, Page 359.

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