John Arthur Hillier II (1911 - 2011)

Born 25 Aug 1911 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States

Husband of June Charles (Smith) Hillier — married 15 Apr 1937 in Waldorf-Astoria, Manhattan, New York, New York, United States

Died 2011 at about age 99 in Vermont, USA [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Marion Ceruti [send private message]

Biography

Jack Hillier II is a Military Veteran.
Served in the United States Navy 1943-1946
Served overseas and in Newark, New Jersey in World War II.

Jack Hillier II was a New Jerseyan.

Jack was a Gardner

Jack Hillier II was a Vermonter.

Jack was born in 1911 and died in 2011. His father and grandfather also had the same name. His father was a salesman who was born in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. His mother's name is Dorothea Adelaide Folsom Hillier, who was born in Cambridge. Jack was the oldest of three children.

The 1920 Federal U.S. Census records show that Jack's maternal grandmother, Louise A. Folson, age 65, was living with the family. Louise was born in New Hampshire. In 1920, Jack's father was the manager of a printing goods company.

The 1930 Federal U.S. Census records show the following data regarding Jack's family. The Census was conducted in Braintree, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States.

Household Role Sex Age Birthplace

John A Hillier, Jr. Head Male 42 Massachusetts

Dorothea A Hillier Wife Female 42 Massachusetts

John A Hillier, III Son Male 18 Massachusetts

Frederick F Hillier Son Male 15 Massachusetts

Margery Hillier Daughter Female 10 Massachusetts

Louise Hanson Servant Female 49 Sweden

Jack graduated from William and Mary College in Virginia in 1935.

Jack and June met at a biology class. They married and had "Four Fine Sons," as their cousin Bird Dawson recalls.

He was a salesman for a curtain company (Sprague & Carlton?) and the couple moved to Chicago, Illinois. When they lived in Chicago, Jack and June traveled to Ohio, Indiana, West Verginia and Pennsylvania. Later, Jack got a job with the company headquarters in New York City.

After living in various places in New Jersey, they bought (or built) a house on the SE corner of Woodland Drive and Pine Tree Lane, Fair Haven, New Jersey, United States. (The record shows they bought, then built a house patterned after one they saw at the world's fair, but this point is rather ambiguous - Did the Hilliers buy an existing custom home that was built for someone else or was their home built especially for them? ) Their house was built by Allen Bros. and was likely built as a custom home because all of the houses in the entire block were different. The Hilliers planted fruit trees, a vegetable garden, and a flower garden. (After all, New Jersey is called the "Garden State.")

Six months after they moved into their new house, came the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawai'i on 7 Dec. 1941. Jack enlisted in the United States Navy, leaving his new home in New Jersey in Feb. 1943. His family had commissary privileges and the family moved in with Jack's in-laws during the war. When the war was over in 1945, Jack was stationed in Newark, New Jersey, commuting distance to the family home. (Most Naval enlistments are for four years, so from circumstantial evidence, we can assume the Jack stayed in the Navy until at least 1946.)

After the war, he returned to work for the curtain company. When the company went out of business, Jack joined a furniture company in 1965 in Bennington, Vermont. The family bought a house on Newfound Lake. Jack and his family lived in a number of beautiful and scenic locations. Their sons went to college in the northeastern USA.

John "Jack" Hillier passed away in 2011. His remains are buried in the Blue Hill Cemetery, Braintree, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, USA.

Sources

• Genealogy of the Smith Family" by Bird Smith Dawson, b. 13 May 1890, Private historical and genealogical document in the archive of Bird's descendants and cousins. The part about Jack was written by his wife between June 1976 and June 1977. June and her sister, Doris wrote their own sections in the Genealogy document. June's contribution to the document was written between 26 June 1976 and June 1977.
• "New York, New York City Marriage Records, 1829-1940," database, FamilySearch [1] entered 10 February 2018, John Arthur Hillier Jr and June Charles Smith, 15 Apr 1937; citing Marriage, Manhattan, New York, New York, United States, New York City Municipal Archives, New York; FHL microfilm 1,674,793.
• "Massachusetts Deaths, 1841-1915, 1921-1924", database with images, FamilySearch [2] entered 27 October 2020, John Arthur Hillier, 1911. N.B. This "death" record doesn't make any sense. It is a birth record.
• "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch [3] entered 6 April 2020, John Arthur Hillier, 25 Aug 1911; citing Birth, , Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007604808.
• "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch [4] entered 6 April 2020, John Arthur Hillier, 25 Aug 1911; citing Birth, , Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007604808.
• "United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch [5] entered 1 February 2021, John A Hilliard in entry for John A Hilliard, 1920. Note misspelling of the last name.
• "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch [6] accessed 2 May 2021, John A Hillier in household of John A Hillier, Braintree, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 3, sheet 17A, line 8, family 335, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 932; FHL microfilm 2,340,667.
• Find a Grave, database and images [7] accessed 01 January 2022), memorial page for John Arthur Hillier Jr. (25 Aug 1911–2011, Find a Grave Memorial ID 228614463, citing Blue Hill Cemetery, Braintree, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, USA ; Maintained by Michelle Starr (contributor 50828598) .
• Private communication from friend of the family who supplied the obituary of John II's son, John Hillier, III [8]