Descendants of George
W. Hill
Generation No. 1
1.
GEORGE W. HILL
was born September
04, 1834 in Stark County, Ohio, and died
March 18, 1899 in Bethel, Michigan
(Branch County). He married
(1) SARAH
LEWIS
in Little Cooley, Pennsylvania. He
married (2) MALINDA SWIHART
July 04,
1860 in Little Cooley, Pennsylvania.
GEORGE W.
HILL: When a young man, he
moved with his family to Little Cooley,
PA. There , he married Sarah Lewis to
which two daughters were born. Polly
died at birth and Marian, who later
married Loren Bidwell of Little Cooley
and later moved to Bronson, Michigan
when her father moved to Michigan. Three
years after the death of first wife, he
married Malinda Swihart, the union to
which Arden was born along with George
M. and Dora, who died giving birth in
1918. He was converted when but 14 years
of age, first uniting with the M.E.
Church, later with the United .Brethren
Church. George entered the ministry as a
young man in Pennsylvania. When he moved
to Michigan he served as Pastor of the
United Brethren Church in Bethel until
he died in 1889. He died of chronic
Cystitis at 74 years, 6 months and 14
days. He is buried in East Gilead
Cemetery.
Children of
GEORGE HILL and
SARAH
LEWIS are:
i.
POLLY HILL.
ii. MARIAN
HILL.
Children of
GEORGE HILL and
MALINDA
SWIHART are:
2.
ARDEN
SPENCER
HILL,
born June 28, 1870, Little Cooley,
Pennsylvania; died September 15, 1915,
Coldwater, Michigan.
iv.
GEORGE M.
HILL.
v. DORA A.
HILL,
born January 25, 1878, Bethel, Michigan;
married DUANE
A. TAYLOR
January 25, 1908 in Coldwater, Michigan;
died January 17, 1910 in Coldwater,
Michigan.
Generation No. 2
2.
ARDEN
SPENCER
HILL (GEORGE W.1) was born June 28, 1870
in Little Cooley, Pennsylvania, and died
September 15, 1915 in Coldwater,
Michigan. He married MAUDE MAE GRAVES
February 23, 1897 in Bethel, Michigan,
daughter of WILLIAM GRAVES and
MARIAM
BURGHDUFF.
ARDEN spent the first 10 years or so
of his life in Little Cooley, then moved
with the family to Bethel, Michigan in
Branch County. After meeting and
marrying Maude, they moved to Windsor,
Ohio where Arden worked for Levi Hill in
his cheese box business. While not
substantiated, there is a belief that
Levi may have been an Uncle or second
cousin of Arden. Their son, LLOYD was
born in Windsor Corners during this
time. After 3 years they moved back to
Coldwater, Michigan, to work for Pratt
Manufacturing Company painting sled
boards. He became the chief artist for
Pratt designing many new patterns for
sleds. His most famous design was a
combination of roses and streping
flowers. He did all the sled designs
free hand. Unfortunately, the lead in
the paint took its toll over the years
and he died of a lung condition at the
age of 45. When he became ill, the
family rented a farm around 1911 on
Jonesville Road so he could get fresh
air. In 1915 they moved back to
Coldwater to the home on Green St. where
he died. He is buried in Batavia
Cemetery.
MAUDE MAE
GRAVES: As a young lady she
was an elocutionist, and recited poems
at entertainment events all over the
immediate Branch County area. She became
well known for her talents. Married to
Arden in her parents home in Bethel.
After moving back to Coldwater from
Windsor, Ohio, she and Arden bought the
home at 78 Green St. for $1800.00. She
lived at 78 Green St. until 1948 when
she bought the home on 25 Whitten Ave.
and lived there until her death. She was
in apparent good health until a stroke
left her paralyzed for six months. Her
daughter FERNE lived with her most of
Maude's life at both locations. She
lived 71 years. She is buried in Batavia
Cemetery.
Children of
ARDEN HILL and
MAUDE
GRAVES are:
3.
LLOYD
GRAVES
HILL,
born
December 25, 1898, Windsor Corners, Ohio
(Ashtabula County); died March 15, 1983,
Coldwater, Michigan.
ii.
MARIAM FERNE
HILL,
born December 22, 1901, Bethel,
Michigan (Branch County); died January 05,
1975, Coldwater, Michigan. Ferne, as everyone
knew her, was a very pretty girl, with
long auburn hair curls. She was very
popular in school, always the teachers
"pet". She worked for many
years as a receptionist for Dr. Walter
Bein, Optometrist. She never married.
She was in poor health much of her life,
but always a cheerful, upbeat person.
She paid a lot of attention to her many
nephews and nieces. In later life, she
worked in a rest home in Arlington
Heights, Illinois, near Chicago. She
retired from there and came back to
Coldwater until her death on January 5,
1975. She lived 74 years.
iii.
WILMA
GRACE HILL, born June 18,
1907, Coldwater, Michigan; died December 23, 2007, Dayton, Ohio; she lived for
100 years, 6 months, 5 days.
HER 100TH BIRTHDAY
CELEBRATION WAS HELD IN JUNE 2007 IN COLDWATER, MICHIGAN. THE ONLY KNOWN
CENTENARIAN IN THE MULTI-GENERATIONAL, MULTIPLE SURNAME CONNECTED FAMILIES OF
ABBOTT, BURGHDUFF, GRAVES, HILL, HYLAND, & SWIHART.
iv.
JESSIE VIOLA
HILL,
born
November 07, 1909, Coldwater, Michigan;
died June 26, 1991, Coldwater, Michigan.
2.
GEORGE
M. HILL (GEORGE W.1).
Children of GEORGE M. HILL are:
3.
DON HILL.
ii.
DANE
HILL,
married
VIVA.
iii.
LEONA
HILL
iv.
GERTRUDE
HILL,
married
AVON LUSE.
Generation No. 3
3. LLOYD
GRAVES
HILL (ARDEN SPENCER2, GEORGE W.1) was
born December 25, 1898 in Windsor
Corners, Ohio (Ashtabula County), and
died March 15, 1983 in Coldwater,
Michigan. He married HELEN LAFLER June
17, 1928 in Kinderhook, Michigan,
daughter of HARRY LAFLER and
NELLIE
JONES.
LLOYD
HILL: Lloyd had to leave school
in 10th grade because of his father's
death and to help take care of his
mother and three younger sisters. He
went to work for Flour Milling Company
driving a truck at the age of 15. He
never finished school but later in life
went to night school where he was a whiz
in mathematics - up through Advanced
Calculus and Trigonometry. During this
time, he became a skilled carpenter and
cabinet maker. This led to another
latent talent - architectural renderings
of kitchens. He then began to design
kitchens and build them for many of
Coldwater's more prominent citizens.
Some of his reputation led him out of
town - for instance, he designed and
built a new kitchen for the President of
Hillsdale College, Dr. J. Donald
Phillips. This had a later implication
in the decision of his son, Richard, to
attend Hillsdale College. After many
years designing and building kitchens,
Lloyd decided to work with Kerr Hardware
as a clerk and tool buyer. His knowledge
of power tools was surpassed by no one.
A few years later he joined Moore
Hardware as a buyer and stayed there
until he retired at age 70. When he was
in his twenties, he showed an artistic
flair, probably inherited from his
father, Arden. Lloyd became well known
in Coldwater for his ability to design
the window displays in all of the retail
stores. Many years later, one can see
this same innate talent in the work of
his granddaughter, Sarah, as an
accomplished Interior Designer in Ann
Arbor. From Arden to Lloyd to Sarah. A
case could be made that this lineage
moved through his son, Richard, Sarah's
father, who is an accomplished
photographer, especially from a
composition standpoint. Perhaps then
from Arden to Lloyd to Richard to Sarah.
In his late twenties, Lloyd became
associated with a local jewelry firm and
by 1928, he bought the former owners
interest and the store became the Lloyd
G. Hill Jewelry Store. Unfortunately,
when the Great Depression hit in 1929,
he was not yet established enough to
sustain the business and lost it. During
this same period of time, he was a
member of the Michigan National Guard,
where he started as a Bugler and worked
his way through the ranks until he
became a 1st Lieutenant in the 126th
Infantry Division. A hard working man
and a good provider for his family,
Lloyd worked many different jobs during
the lean years of the depression: a
Timekeeper-State Road Commission in the
construction of US 12; a coal truck
driver for Pollack's Lumber; a truck
driver for the Coldwater Diary and then
a bus driver for Short Way Lines.
Although Lloyd lived to age 84, he
suffered for 7 long years with
Alzheimer's and spent the final 2 years
of his life in a nursing home when his
wife could no longer care for him.
Children of
LLOYD HILL and
HELEN
LAFLER are:
4.
RICHARD
LEE
HILL
ii.
PATRICIA JOANN HILL,
born February 18,
1943, Coldwater, Michigan; d. August 03,
1987 Coldwater, Michigan
3.
WILMA
GRACE HILL
(ARDEN SPENCER2,
GEORGE W.1) married WEIR G.
HYLAND in Coldwater,
Michigan, son of DELBERT HYLAND
and MINA
CAIN.
WILMA GRACE
HILL: Wilma was the first
Hill child born in the home at 78 Green
St. in Coldwater, Michigan. She has many
fond memories of growing up there as she
related in a book she wrote at the
tender age of 89 about the Hill and
Hyland families. The book is entitled
" Wilma and Weir and Family"
and is registered in the Genealogy room
at the Branch County Library. She graduated from Coldwater High School and prior to
marriage, she worked for George Austin,
a building contractor. After raising her
family, she worked in the office at
Federal Mogul where she retired in 1972.
Over the years, Weir and Wilma and four
children lived in many different homes
and another of Wilma's many talents
emerged. She was an accomplished Interior
Decorator. Undoubtedly, this attribute
flowed from her artistic father, Arden. Wilma was also recognized for her
culinary skills and in fact, it has been said that she made the best lemon pie
in the state of Michigan. She made a recipe book of special dishes
as a gift to her grandchildren. Wilma was known as an extremely active and
vibrant person right up to the end. She was still driving at the age of
97, albeit only making right turns so she wouldn't have to cross traffic. She was a
60 year devoted member of the First
Presbyterian Church of Coldwater and
deeply engaged with her family of four
children, six grandchildren and twelve
great grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren.
Children of
WILMA HILL and
WEIR
HYLAND are:
4.
NANCY
LOU HYLAND
ii. MARYJO
HYLAND
iii.THOMAS SPENCER
HYLAND (WILMA GRACE HILL,
ARDEN SPENCER, GEORGE W.) was born July 14, 1937 in Coldwater, Michigan, and
died April 20, 2003 in Sturgis, Michigan. He is buried at the Fort Custer
National Veterans Cemetery. He
married PHYLIS
FENNO in Coldwater, Michigan
on December 6, 1969. Tom graduated from Coldwater High School and is a
veteran of the U.S. Army during the Cold War. Tom and Phylis moved to
Sturgis in 1972 were he worked many years as a fork-lift operator as well as
employed in shipping and receiving. An avid fisherman, he also enjoyed
garage sales and auctions and was an avid fan of MSU.
iv.TERRY LEE
HYLAND
v.
RICHARD WEIR
HYLAND,
born
1940, Coldwater, Michigan; died 1940,
Coldwater, Michigan.
3.
JESSIE
VIOLA HILL (ARDEN
SPENCER2, GEORGE W.1) was born November
07, 1909 in Coldwater, Michigan, and
died June 26, 1991 in Coldwater,
Michigan. She married (1) HARRY CLAAR
1930 in Coldwater, Michigan. She married
(2) BRUCE MERRIS
1978 in Coldwater,
Michigan.
JESSIE VIOLA
HILL: Jessie was always
very athletic and played on the
Coldwater High School girls basketball
team. She graduated with the class of
1928 and enrolled in Nurse's Training at
Nichol's Hospital in Battle Creek were
she received her RN. She practiced in
the Obstetrics Ward in the Branch County
Health Center for 37 years where for
several of those years she was Head
Nurse. She is fondly remembered by
thousands of Branch County mothers. She
married Harry Claar in 1930. To this
union were born 2 children: Larry Dee
Claar and Shirley Mae Claar. Larry was
tragically killed July 4, 1968 in an
Auto Race at Butler Speedway. Harry died
in 1958. In July 1973, Jessie married
Bruce Merris in Detroit. They moved to
Jensen Beach, Florida where they lived
for several years. Bruce died in
September 1985. As her health began to
fail, Jessie moved back to Michigan to
be near her daughter, Shirley. Jessie
died in Coldwater on June 26, 1991 and
is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in
Coldwater. She lived 81 years.
Children of
JESSIE HILL and
HARRY
CLAAR are:
4.
LARRY DEE
CLAAR,
born
December 05, 1934, Coldwater, Michigan;
died July 04, 1968, Butler, Michigan; married
COLEEN GRINNELL, May 20, 1956, Girard,
Michigan.
ii.
SHIRLEY MAE CLAAR
3.
DON HILL (GEORGE M.2, GEORGE
W.1). He married ALVA. Children of
DON
HILL and
ALVA are:
4.
MARY
ELLEN HILL.
ii.
ELOISE HILL.
3.
LEONA HILL (GEORGE M.2, GEORGE
W.1). She married HARRY
SMITH. Children
of LEONA HILL and
HARRY SMITH are:
4.
EDNA SMITH
ii.
VIRGINIA SMITH
iii.
WADE
SMITH.
Generation No. 4
4.
RICHARD
LEE HILL
(LLOYD GRAVES3, ARDEN SPENCER2, GEORGE
W.1) married (1) MARY
ELIZABETH WAY in
Coldwater, Michigan, daughter of WAYNE
WAY and
DOROTHY
LOCKWOOD. He married (2)
MONICA LOUISE HELLNER in
Ann Arbor, Michigan, daughter of ROBERT
HELLNER and
ELIZABETH WHEATON.
Children of
RICHARD HILL and
MARY WAY
are:
i.
DAVID STEPHEN HILL.
David is
the adopted son of Richard. David & Bryce May
were partners for well over 20 years. Bryce, born on June 26, 1948 in
Exira, Iowa, passed away on August 12,
2006.
5.
MARTHA
LOUISE HILL married JEFFERY
HURLEY in Coldwater, Michigan.
iii.
REBECCA SUSAN HILL married MICHAEL
REED in Jonesville, Michigan.
iv.
SARAH ANNE HILL married JAMES
SETA in
Gross Pointe Farms, Michigan.
Child of
RICHARD HILL and
MONICA
HELLNER is:
v.
JENNIFER ANN
MILLER. Richard's
Stepdaughter married PATRICK
QUIGLEY in Ann Arbor,
Michigan
4.
NANCY
LOU HYLAND
(WILMA GRACE3
HILL, ARDEN SPENCER2, GEORGE W.1) married JOHN W. BURTCH
in Coldwater, Michigan.
Children of
NANCY HYLAND and
JOHN
BURTCH are:
5.
GARY
WILLIAM BURTCH
married FAYE
HOFFER in Xenia,
Ohio.
ii.
STEVEN WEIR
BURTCH married TAMMY
FULLER in Xenia, Ohio.
iii.
LYNN RENE' BURTCH married DONALD
WELTY in Xenia, Ohio.
4.
MARYJO HYLAND (WILMA GRACE3
HILL, ARDEN SPENCER2, GEORGE W.1) married DARYL E. ALLEN
in Coldwater, Michigan.
Children of
MARYJO HYLAND and
DARYL
ALLEN are:
5.
LISA
LYNN
ALLEN married
PHILLIP WARNER.
ii.
TANIS ALLEN married STEPHEN
ROSOFF.
iii.
CRAIG
ALLEN
4.
SHIRLEY
MAE CLAAR (JESSIE VIOLA3
HILL, ARDEN SPENCER2, GEORGE W.1) married JOSEPH ALBERT
PALMATIER in Girard,
Michigan.
Children of
SHIRLEY CLAAR
and
JOSEPH
PALMATIER are:
5.
ERIC
RICHARD
PALMATIER married KELLY
VOGT in Union City, Michigan.
ii.
TAMRA SHAN
PALMATIER married JAMES
FOX in Coldwater, Michigan.
iii.
MICHELLE DENICE PALMATIER married MARK
OLMSTED in Kalmazoo,
Michigan.
iv.
RENEE' LYNET
PALMATIER
Generation No. 5
5.
MARTHA
LOUISE
HILL (RICHARD LEE4, LLOYD GRAVES3, ARDEN
SPENCER2, GEORGE W.1) married
JEFFERY HURLEY in
Coldwater, Michigan.
Children of
MARTHA HILL and
JEFFERY
HURLEY are:
6.
MICHAEL
CHRISTOPHER HURLEY
ii.
ERIC ANTHONY HURLEY
5.
REBECCA
SUSAN HILL (RICHARD
LEE4, LLOYD GRAVES3, ARDEN SPENCER2,
GEORGE W.1) married MICHAEL
REED in Jonesville,
Michigan.
Children of
REBECCA HILL and
MICHAEL
REED are:
6.
ADAM
MICHAEL
REED
ii.
JUSTIN LUCAS REED
5.
SARAH ANNE HILL (RICHARD LEE4,
LLOYD GRAVES3, ARDEN SPENCER2, GEORGE
W.1) married JAMES SETA
in Gross Pointe Farms,
Michigan.
Child of
SARAH HILL
and
JAMES SETA
is:
6.
OLIVIA CHRISTINE
SETA
ii. JAMES
VINCENT SETA
JENNIFER ANN MILLER
(Monica Hill,
Robert J. Hellner, Sr.) married PATRICK QUIGLEY
in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Divorced.
Married ANTHONY KOPACZ
in Brooklyn, Michigan.
Child of
JENNIFER MILLER and
PATRICK
QUIGLEY is:
i.
TRENTON MERRITT MILLER
QUIGLEY
JENNIFER ANN MILLER
(Monica Hill,
Robert J. Hellner, Sr.) married
ANTHONY KOPACZ
in Brooklyn, Michigan.
Child of JENNIFER
MILLER and ANTHONY
KOPACZ is:
ii. BLAKE
ANTHONY KOPACZ
5.
GARY
WILLIAM BURTCH (NANCY LOU4
HYLAND, WILMA GRACE3 HILL, ARDEN
SPENCER2, GEORGE W.1)
married FAYE HOFFER
in
Xenia, Ohio.
Children of
GARY BURTCH and
FAYE
HOFFER are:
6.
GARRETT
BURTCH
ii.
GRANT BURTCH
iii.
MARIA BURTCH
5.
LYNN
RENE' BURTCH
(NANCY LOU4
HYLAND, WILMA GRACE3 HILL, ARDEN
SPENCER2, GEORGE W.1) married DONALD
WELTY in Xenia, Ohio.
Children of LYNN BURTCH and
DONALD
WELTY are:
6.
SARAH
WELTY
ii.
RENE'
WELTY
5.
LISA
LYNN ALLEN
(MARYJO4 HYLAND,
WILMA GRACE3 HILL, ARDEN SPENCER2,
GEORGE W.1) married PHILLIP
WARNER.
Children of
LISA ALLEN and
PHILLIP
WARNER are:
6.
LINDSEY
JO
WARNER
ii.
KATLYN ANN WARNER
iii.
CURTIS ALLEN
WARNER
iv.
TY PHILLIP
WARNER
