David Hill (1809 - 1850)

Born 1809 in Connecticut, United States

Husband of Lucinda H. (Carter) Simmons — married 4 Jun 1847 (to 9 May 1850) in Tuality, Oregon

Died 9 May 1850 at about age 41 in Hillsboro, Washington, Oregon, United States

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Biography

David Hill was born in 1809. Many believe that he was born in Connecticut, but some records show he was born in Virginia or Ohio.^[1]

He was an American pioneer and settler of what became Hillsboro, Oregon, United States.

David came across the Oregon Trail by wagon train to the Oregon Territory together with Isaiah Kelsey, Ralph Wilcox, Richard Williams and Michael Moore. Most records show that David arrived to Oregon in October 1841, and then wintered with Joseph Meek.^[2][3]

He served in the Provisional Government of Oregon in both the executive and legislative branches, and later as a legislator in the first Oregon Territorial Legislature. Hill made a transaction with the county court in 1850 that led to the renaming of Columbus, Oregon to Hillsborough, Oregon in honor of Hill.

He married Lucinda Carter (whose previous husband had died while on the journey to Oregon in The Dalles.) on June 4, 1846 and resided together on David's donation land claim until his death in 1850.

David passed away 9 May 1850 at his home of unknown causes. He was buried in what is now the Hillsboro Pioneer Cemetery in present day Hillsboro, Washington, Oregon.^[4] There was no headstone until Washington County school children did a fundraiser to have one made and placed at his place of burial.^[3] The county teachers' association came up with the idea to run the fundraiser. The fundraiser launched at the very end of November 1928. School children were encouraged to give a dime and teachers were asked to contribute a quarter, but no one was forced to give. A Hillsboro Argus newspaper editorial at the beginning of December 1928 supported the undertaking and the writers were confident the school kids' efforts would inspire other individuals and businesses throughout the county to add their own donations to the collection as well. The project was a success and the monument was placed on 30 May 1930.^[5]

After his death, what was known as the city of Columbus, or Columbia, was changed to Hillsborough in honor of David Hill. The USPS officially shortened the name to Hillsboro in 1892.^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 29 September 2019), memorial page for David Hill (1809–9 May 1850), Find A Grave: Memorial #6538710, citing Hillsboro Pioneer Cemetery, Hillsboro, Washington County, Oregon, USA ; Maintained by Nicole (contributor 46635797).
2. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "David Hill (Oregon politician)," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=David_Hill_(Oregon_politician)&oldid=832335277 (accessed June 11, 2018).
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Hillsboro Herald http://hillsboroherald.com/hillsboro-whats-in-a-name/ Accessed 2 January 2021.
4. ↑ The Oregon Encyclopedia https://oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/hillsboro (accessed July 30, 2019)
5. ↑ Facebook post https://www.facebook.com/share/p/uRZkK2LMca2i5EW6/ Accessed 5 May 2024.

• TriMet History https://trimet.org/history/hillscentralhist.htm (accessed August 19, 2018)