John Hill (abt. 1745 - 1817)

1) "My" John Hill of Greene County, Georgia owned 862.5 acres of land on Richland Creek in Greene County. The earliest surviving tax digests show him paying taxes on this 862.5 acres of land in 1788-1789, although the official grant for the land wasn't made until 1791 (and for 860 acres). The grant stated the land lay in Washington County, but that goes back to the warrant on which the grant was based.

2) 6 June 1785 - John Hill was issued a warrant for 862.5 acres of land in Washington County, with the warrant signed by Gen. Samuel Elbert and Lt. Col. Elijah Clark, both officers in the Wilkes County Militia. I can't get beyond the very odd total of 862.5 acres, which happens to be the sum of:

575 acres - awarded men who served as "Captain in Militia"

287.5 acres - awarded men who were Georgia citizens

We know that "my" John Hill wasn't the man who served as commander of Fort Martin, but the Rev. War Pension application of Joseph Newton (R7635) details that he and his stepfather, Capt. John Hill, left Georgia after it was overrun by Indians and fled to North Carolina. He describes how Capt. John Hill formed a company that served there in action leading up to the Battle of Guilford Courthouse after which they made their way to South Carolina.

I'm trying to be careful to not assume too much based upon the land warrants issued in the 1780s for 287.5 acres. Those were issued to ordinary Georgia citizens, and from what I've studied, do not indicate military service. However, the 862.5 acres is carefully documented, and the only explanation seems to be the 575 (captain in militia) plus 287.5 (ordinary Georgia citizen).

I have not found more information.

Have you uncovered anything else on your John Hill?

Thanks,

Tim

It seems to make sense that the John Hill who was the stepfather of Joseph Newton was your Greene County, GA ancestor. His Washington County land grant does seem to indicate that he was a militia captain somewhere. It's almost impossible to "prove" our assumptions regarding the John Hills from that chaotic era so we do the best we can with the information available.

Of the references that I think are to my own ancestor, the John Hill of Warren County, the one item in which I have the least confidence is the 1777 Light Horse Cavalry account which I attributed to him primarily because of the presence of the Joshua Hill who I think was his son. But we know there was also another Joshua Hill who was probably the son of the Greene County John Hill. The question that I don't think I can answer is when did the Greene County John leave Georgia and return to NC. Was it before or after 1777?

I don't think I have much additional information since we last corresponded. I think my ancestral John Hill must have died soon after moving to Jackson County GA in 1801. In the 1802 tax list his son, John Hill, Jr. was listed separately in Jackson County with land in Warren County but was also listed as trustee for the land of John Hill, Sr. who must have died prior to that tax list.

I have summarized the information about that John Hill along with that about some others of my ancestors and there families in a document on my website at http://www.ibi-tn.com/farris/hill-shaddock-caldwell.html The same document is also on the Jefferson County Illinois genweb site at https://iljeffer.whalen-family.org

George

Thank you for the information and the link to your excellent and detailed work on the Hill, Shaddock, and other families. I look forward to studying it in more detail.

To answer your question about when the Greene County John Hill left Georgia for North Carolina: all I know is based upon the Revolutionary Pension application of Joseph Newton. Since his declaration was made after many years, the details aren't completely clear. From his recollection of the details, he describes their departure from Georgia as occurring when the region was overrun by Tories and Indians. From my study of how the Revolution progressed in Georgia, that would have been in late 1779 or early 1780. He describes them moving from Georgia to Randolph County, North Carolina which was formed in 1779. Based upon the timeline that Newton gave, it appears that John Hill recruited a company of men to serve in the Randolph County NC Militia beginning in about September 1780. So from everything I've studied, John Hill of Greene County left Georgia and moved to North Carolina AFTER 1777.

Thanks,

Tim

However, you are mistaken in your statement that the signature shown on this page for John Hill is from a 1782 letter. The signature I have shown is from a promissory note signed by the Greene County John Hill in 1813. It is today preserved in his original Greene County estate papers.

Thank you,