R. B. Hill, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of R. B. Hill
R. B. HILL, son of Samuel and Rhoda (Evans) Hill, was born in Cicero, Onondaga Co., N. Y., August 1, 1829; his parents were born in East Hartford, Conn., his father May 31, 1785, and his mother March 23, 1787. After marriage they moved to Onondaga County, N. Y.; thence to Niagara County, and thence to Porter County, Ind., in 1856, settling in this township and living here until they died - the father in 1867, the mother in 1871. R. B. Hill received an ordinary education, and at the age of fourteen began work on the Erie Canal, and afterward worked at farming. On July 4, 1853, he was married, at Niagara Falls, to Lydia A. Taylor, daughter of Oliver and Samantha Taylor. She was born January 18, 1833; her father was a native of Virginia, her mother of Canada. Mr. and Mrs. Hill have had seven children, six of whom survived - Harriet, James M., Emma, Schuyler C., Edward C. and Frank. Mr. Hill came to this county in 1857, when, as he says, "it was a wild looking place." His prospects were discouraging, and, but for the support and encouragement of J. P. Noble and others, he would have gone away; his first crop, from cleared ground, was eighty-two bushels of wheat, and favorable ever after; he now has a fine farm of 107 acres, being in comfortable circumstances. In the beginning, he was greatly assisted by his wife, who drove the ox (for they had no horse) while Mr. Hill held the plow.
Source: Goodspeed, Weston A., and Charles Blanchard. 1882. Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana: Historical and Biographical, Illustrated. Chicago, Illinois: F. A. Battey & Company. 771 p.
Page(s) in Source: 358-359
This biography has been transcribed exactly as it was originally published in the source. Please note that we do not provide photocopies or digital scans of biographies appearing on this website.
Biography transcribed by Steven R. Shook