Ralph Hill III
Ralph Hill III
| Born | 1707-09-16 Billerica, MA |
| Died | 1789-02-13 Billerica, MA |
| Select Board | |
| In Office | 1747 - 1750 1755 - 1757 |
| Deacon of the First Parish | |
| In Office | 1755 - 1789 |
| Father | Samuel Hill |
| Children | Solomon (b. 1755-04-08) |
Ralph Hill was born in Billerica on September 16, 1707, the son of Deacon Samuel Hill and his wife Deborah. He grew up on the Hill farm on the west side of the road to Concord, above the Concord River, which his grandfather Ralph Hill had bought in 1656. While older men of the name were living he was Ralph Hill Jr. in the town records. On February 1, 1732/3 he married Mehitable Patten, daughter of Deacon William Patten, and that winter, by a deed of January 3, 1732/3, his father gave him the southerly part of the homestead. Their children were Ralph (1733/4, died 1758), Mehitable (1735/6, died 1753), Hannah (1737), Patty (1740), Bathsheba (1742), Naomi (1744), Timothy (1746), William (1748), Sarah (1752) and Solomon (1755).
He served as a selectman in 1747, 1749 and from 1755 to 1757. When his father died in August 1755, "Ralph Hill Gentleman" was appointed administrator of the estate on September 22, and by December, when he returned the inventory, he was "Capt. Ralph Hill"; the tax list of that year rates "Capt. Ralph" on the west side of the town. Like his father he became a deacon of the church, and the town records of 1775 and the record of his death call him Deacon Hill.
He was one of the men who led Billerica into the Revolution. At the town meeting of June 6, 1774, called on the Boston Port Bill, Capt. Ralph Hill sat with Ebenezer Bridge and Capt. Josiah Bowers on the committee that reported the town's resolves, among them that "the act for Blocking up Boston Harbour is Hostile, Arbitrary & Cruel," and he was chosen to the town's first Committee of Correspondence. In May 1775, a month after Lexington and Concord, "Deacon Hill was excused from the Committee of Correspondence" and younger men took his place.
Mehitable (Patten) Hill died on January 24, 1780. On November 11, 1784 he married Abigail Sanders, widow of David Sanders, and the next day he made his will. By then there were two dwelling houses on the farm: the old one, now known as the Deacon Samuel Hill House (formerly 239 Concord Road, moved in 1973 to 33 Riverhurst Road), and a newer one, later called the Solomon Hill House, on what became Meadow Lane. He left his son William "the Southerly part of my homestead containing about sixty acres," the land "that I had of my Hond Father," and to Solomon "all the rest of my Lands in Billerica including the small Island in the River with all the Buildings thereon standing." Abigail was to have "the Easterly end of my now dwelling House to the middle of the Chimney," and his unmarried daughters Naomi and Sarah a room "in either of my Dwelling Houses." Deacon Ralph Hill died on February 13, 1789, aged 82, and his heirs assented to the will that month.
References
- Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), Genealogical Register p. 69, HILL 6 and 11: Ralph, son of Deacon Samuel, b. 1707, m. Mehitable Patten 1732/3 and Abigail Sanders 1784, "Deacon Hill d. 1789"
- Hazen, Genealogical Register p. 70, HILL 11 (children of Ralph Hill, to Solomon b. 1755)
- Hazen, p. 306: list of selectmen, Ralph Hill 1747, 1749, 1755-57
- Hazen, p. 229: town meeting of June 6, 1774; committee of Ebenezer Bridge, Capt. Josiah Bowers and Capt. Ralph Hill reports the resolves
- Hazen, p. 230: the 1774 resolves concluded; Ralph Hill chosen to the Committee of Correspondence
- Hazen, p. 236: May 1775, "Deacon Hill was excused from the Committee of Correspondence"
- Vital Records of Billerica (1908), births p. 101: Ralph, son of Samuel and Deborah, Sept. 16, 1707, and his children by Mehitable
- Vital Records of Billerica, deaths p. 368: Deacon Ralph Hill, Feb. 13, 1789, aged 82; Mehitable, wife of Deacon Ralph, Jan. 24, 1780
- Middlesex probate case 11510 (1755): estate of his father Samuel Hill; Ralph Hill, gentleman, administrator, "Capt. Ralph Hill" Dec. 1755
- Middlesex probate case 11505: will of Capt. Ralph Hill, Nov. 12, 1784, the homestead to his sons William and Solomon
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Property | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1789 | Will | Capt. Ralph Hill of Billerica, gentleman | His sons William Hill and Solomon Hill; his widow Abigail; daughters Hannah Miller, Bathsheba French, Naomi Hill and Sarah Hill | Details | Solomon Hill House Deacon Samuel Hill House |
Probate #11505 |
Will dated Nov. 12, 1784, witnessed by Isaac Stearns, Samuel Kidder and Peter Hill: to his wife Abigail for life "the improvement of the Easterly end of my now dwelling House to the middle of the Chimney," with the cellar, well and door yard; to "my son William Hill ... the Southerly part of my homestead containing about sixty acres," beginning "at a Bunch of Maples near the River a little above the Island in the river," east by a ditch across the plow land to a white oak and "to a stonewall at the south end of a Hopyard and running by the wall to the Highway leading to Concord," being "the Land that I had of my Hond Father by a Deed dated January 3d 1732/3," with his lands on the southeast side of the highway; to "my son Solomon Hill ... all the rest of my Lands in Billerica including the small Island in the River with all the Buildings thereon standing"; money legacies to his daughters, with Naomi and Sarah to have "liberty of convenient room in either of my Dwelling Houses" while unmarried, and William to have a right of way across Solomon's land. William and Solomon executors. The heirs certified their assent to the will in February 1789. Middlesex probate case 11505.
Title passed to:
|
||||||
Recorded is Book/Page at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds unless noted; Probate # is a Middlesex probate case, Ctf a Land Court certificate of title.