Edward Hill
EDWARD HILL, of Leechburg, Pa., was born in Allegheny township, Westmoreland county, April 19, 1861, and is a son of John Hill, who died Jan. 18,1900, and is buried in the Evergreen cemetery, near that town.
Among the daring frontiersmen who settled southwestern Pennsylvania was the Hill family, who located near the site of Salem, in Westmoreland county. Here the father of the family was captured by Indians and carried to Hickory Flats, above Oil City, where he was tortured to death. He left three children, John, Jacob, and Hannah.
John Hill, the eldest son, was born in 1772, and died Jan. 9, 1848. He erected a grist and saw mill on Beaver Run, the grist mill doing the grinding for the settlers within a radius of twenty miles, and during low water it was often run even on Sunday, to accommodate those who had camped with their grists to await their turn. Afterward he built gristmills on the Allegheny and Kiskiminetas rivers, and in 1812 he settled in Gilpin township, Armstrong county, where he planted a large apple orchard, one thousand trees. He was a successful farmer, and also manufactured wooden moldboard plows. He was appointed a commissioner to clear out the Kiskiminetas river. In religion he was a Lutheran, and he was an honest and upright citizen. His first wife, Elizabeth (Waltz), died Oct. 13, 1817, leaving ten children: Mary, Elizabeth, John, Jacob, Levi, Eli, Daniel, Hiram, Israel and Deborah. For his second wife he married Susan Ammon, who lived to the advanced age of ninety years, and to this union were born nine children: Hetty, Leah, John, Ammon, Charlotte, Philip, Sarah, Noah and Salem.
Eli Hill, son of John and Elizabeth (Waltz) Hill, became a prominent salt manufacturer, and was also engaged in the mercantile business at Leechburg for four years, with his brothers Levi, Daniel and Hiram. His wife, Susan (Ashbaugh), died in 1878, aged sixty-two years, and left four children: John, Eveline, Margaret (Mrs. Barr) and Priscilla (Mrs. Lytle).
John Hill, son of Eli Hill, was born Dec. 6, 1832, in Allegheny township, Westmoreland county, and received the educational advantages afforded in the district schools of the day. He learned the trade of carpenter and in time built up an extensive business as a contractor and builder. In 1872 he embarked in the lumber business at Leechburg, and in 1879 admitted his son Charles as a partner, the firm being known as John Hill & Son. Mr. Hill was one of the originators of the Leechburg Banking Company and served as a director until 1878, when he became cashier. Though he commenced life with no fortune but his own hands, energy and industry, he achieved honorable success and a competency. In politics he was a Republican, and he served as school director. On Jan. 8, 1857, he married Mary Jane McCauley, who was born April 20, 1833, daughter of Charles and Anna (Mears) McCauley, and two children were born to them, Charles A. (Dec. 8, 1857) and Edward.
Edward Hill became owner of the Advance in 1887 and conducted it with success until 1898, when he disposed of same. He entered the Leechburg Banking Company as cashier in 1900 and held the position until it ceased to exist, in 1908.
On March 13, 1894, Mr. Hill was united in marriage to Emma J., daughter of Milton and Catherine (McKinstry) Bash, and they have had the following children: John M., Charles L., Mary Catherine, Mildred M., Esther and Edma G. Mr. Hill and his wife are members of the Hebron Lutheran Church. He is a Republican and is a member of the I.O.O.F., Royal Arcanum and Masonic fraternities.
Source: Pages 575-576, Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and Present, J.H. Beers & Co., 1914
Transcribed January 1999 by Connie Mateer for the Armstrong County Beers Project
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