My Great Grandfather, Andrew Hill, was born in Scotland about the year 1808. In his early manhood, he was a sailor. After he married, he pursued the weavers trade. As modern machinery was installed in the mills, the weavers were no longer needed and he then became a coal miner.
My Great Grandmother, Elizabeth (Cherry) Hill, was born in Soctland about 1813. She heard the Mormon Missionaries talking at a street meeting and became interested in the gospel. She became a member of the Church.
They had a family of at least seven children who were all born in Airdire, Innockshire, Scotland. Elizabeth born 30 July 1834 (Baptized 21 Sept. 1852) – Andrew Jr. born 5 Jan. 1836 (Baptized 21 Sept. 1851) – Margaret born 27 July 1838 (Baptized 26 June 1859) – Florence (no information) – Matthew, my grandfather, born 22 May 1844 (Baptized 12 May 1861) – George born 1848 and William born 1851.
Grandfather (Matthew) Hill at the age of seven started working along with his father and brother in the coal mines, It was the custom in those days for the boys to work with their fathers at a very early age. This custom is still followed in some of the European countries today. His first job was to open and close a door in the mine. Then he drove a mile, as mules were used to pull the loaded coal cars from the mine workings to the bottom of a shaft where the coal was hoisted to the surface. When he was old enough, he worked side by side with his father digging coal. I remember grandfather saying that he seldom saw the sunshine because he went to work early in the morning before the sun came up and did not return home from the mine until after dark. Grandfather was rather short in stature and he used to say that he had not grown tall because he was never out in the sunshine. As a boy, he liked to walk a lot and see new places, and at one time he thought he would go to sea as a sailor like his father. Whenever he had the opportunity, he would go down to the docks and watch the ships going and coming. It is said that at the age of thirteen years he went to Sligow, a sea port town on the coast of Ireland. There he lived with a large Irish family and learned many priceless Irish folk songs. As children, we enjoyed hearing him sing these songs to us.
When Grandfather (Matthew) was about sixteen years old, he became very interested in America, and his mother, who had been converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by the Mormon missionaries, was very anxious for him to come to Zion. In order for him to come to America, he had to save up enough money to pay his way. Up to this time he had given all his wages to his mother and father; however, to fill this desire to come to America he agreed to pay them board and room, and then save all he could in order to get to America. He obtained permission to do extra work in the mine. He would work all day, that night and the next day, then he would sleep one night and work a day, night and another day. He continued to work in this manner until he had saved enough money to pay his way, second class, to come to America.
The voyage across the Atlantic Ocean was made in a sailing vessel, the “John J. Boyd’, (George Q. Cannon – Agent). The ship left Liverpool, England, April 30, 1863. (Emigration File, Room 310 Church Office Building) The ship arrived in New York, June 1, 1863. (John J. Boyd Ships Record – Gen. Library)
It is said that he, with a group of Saints, went up the St. Lawrence River and then overland in cattle cars to Council Bluffs, Iowa. From there they crossed the plains to Salt Lake City, Utah – and Zion at last.
On the ship, a widow by the name of Mrs. Lawson, who had two sons, befriended him and when they reached Council Bluffs, she helped him get a job of driving one of the freight wagons across the plains. The wagons were loaded with freight for the Z.C.M. I. Store in Salt Lake. He walked most of the way along with the others in the party, as only the old people, the sick and the very young were allowed to ride. Sometimes he would let some of the pretty young girls ride in his wagon when the leaders were not looking. He was reprimanded for doing this, however. He arrived in Salt Lake City in the early fall of 1863.
He spent the first winter in Salt Lake City. The Salt Lake Temple was under construction and he worked on it an other church buildings, receiving his wages in script, which was turned back to the Church Storehouse for his rations of flour, bacon and whatever else was available. He used his rations to pay for his board and room. The first winter he spent in Utah, he was practically without shoes, his toes being exposed to the weather a good part of the time. He had an order in for shoes, but did not receive them until spring. As spring approached, he bought himself a spade and axe and went about spading gardens wherever he could get a job. In the summer of 1864, he walked to Logan, Utah and found employment with John W. Nelson on his farm. While working for Mr. Nelson, Grandfather expressed his desire to send for his father and mother who were still in Scotland. Mr. Nelson told him that if that was his desire, he would pay him in gold dust, which he did, and when he had saved enough gold to pay his parents way to America, he walked from Logan to Salt Lake City, carrying the gold dust with him, to make arrangements for them to come to Zion. However, more of the family came than he had planned for, and there was only enough money to bring them as far as New York.
Due to lack of funds, it was necessary for them to work for approximately two years in New Jersey, or New York, to earn enough money to enable them to come to Salt Lake City. Andrew Hill, Sr., his wife and two children arrived in Salt Lake City, August 29, 1868, in Capt. William S. Seeley’s Ox Train. (Emigration file, Room 310 Church Office Building) The son, Andrew Jr., must have stayed in New Jersey. The following is taken from the Church Emigration Records 1858 – 1869, Vol. 3, Capt. William S. Seeley’s Ox Train of 39 wagons, left Laramie August 1, 1868 with 272 passengers who had come from Williamsburg, New York. Some of these Williamsburg Saints undoubtedly included some Saints from Europe who had crossed the Atlantic the year before and had stopped in New York and vicinity to earn means to take them to the Valley”. Capt. Seeley’s Train arrived in Salt Lake City August 29, 1868.
Grandfather had a house awaiting his parents when they arrived in Logan. They stayed in Logan for some time, and then, because they were dissatisfied with some of the conditions that prevailed, they returned to Newark, New Jersey where they lived until their death.
After working for John W. Nelson a number of years, and admiring his young daughter, Catherine, equally as long, Matthew Hill and Catherine Nelson were married in the Old Endowment House on the 14th day of December, 1867. Catherine was sixteen years of age at the time they were married.
Great Grandfather Nelson, John W. Nelson (Born 7 June 1819, Walford, Madlatham,
Scotland), his wife Catherine Williamson (born 13 May 1816, Dumfarmline, Fife, Scotland) with their family of five children came to America for the Gospel. Catherine and two other children were born in St. Louis, Missouri. Catherine was born 4 June 1851. A brother, Thomas, was born in Logan, Utah in 1854.
Great Grandfather Nelson was chosen by the Church Leaders and sent with his family to colonize Logan. His name is on a monument located on the tabernacle grounds in Logan. Grandmother (Nelson) Hill grew up in Logan, and was baptized in the Logan River in 1860.
In those days the girls helped to spin the yarn to be woven into cloth and then made into clothes. Catherine spoon the yarn to make the cloth which was used to make the trousers for Grandfather Hill to be married in. She worked very hard; milked cows, made butter and cheese, and carried the household supply of water from the river. Sunday was her day off, and after Sunday School her father saw to it that she had a horse to ride if she wished to go and visit friends. She only attended school through fourth grade, but learned her reading and arithmetic very well. This helped her to increase her learning through the years.
In 1868, Matthew Hill and his young bride, Catherine, moved from Logan and settled about five miles west of Malad, Idaho. The place where they settled was afterwards called “Saint John”. They built their first home on what was known as the Dan Kent Ranch, but the Indians were numerous and they later moved closer to the other settlers in the vicinity. Chief Pocatello was a frequent visitor in their home. Generally speaking, the Indians were quite friendly and would carry messages to their relatives in Logan for them. Soon after they settled in Saint John some of the young men, including Grandfather, took a trip as far northwest as Spokane, Washington to see if the land was any better there than where they had settled. I remember Grandfather tell that they stood on the spot where the city of Spokane is now located and nearly decided to homestead the ground. In front of them was the falls of the Spokane River, located in the center of what is now the downtown business district. This property is now worth millions of dollars.
When there were enough settlers in the area where they lived, they laid out the townsite of Saint John. Matthew Hill and his family lived in Saint John for many years.
The settlers in this little community provided their own entertainment, and in the winter they would have dances in the different homes which they enjoyed very much. When they decided to have a dance, one of the men would drag a log from door to door through the snow to make a path for all to get to the dance. They took their children with them to the dances. At first each couple had two children, with the exception of one, who had three. The parents would carry a child to the dance, and their find one bachelor in the group, it was always arranged for him to carry the third child of the couple with three children. They would dance until the babies awakened, then the mothers would nurse them and visit until they went back to sleep, after which the dance would continue.
The townsite broke up when Tom Stevens homesteaded the ground. Grandfather finally took up a farm under the homestead act south of Saint John. (The present Lawrence Hess Farm) It consisted of 160 acres of sagebrush as tall as a man. This is where the rest of the family of eleven sons and one daughter were born. My father, Andrew N. Hill, was the oldest in the family, and also the first white child to be born in Saint John. The sagebrush was cleared off the land by chopping each brush with an axe, piling it up and burning it. AGrandbout four acres of brush was cleared each year. They were very industrious people, Grandmother did spinning for other people as well as to make clothes for her own family. Grandfather would walk to Malad in the winter and work with the carpenters. He helped to build the Court House and the first Grist Mill. The Grist Mill was built by Grandmothers Father, John W. Nelson. Grandfather had one of the best water-rights for his farm in that part of the country. When the farm was cleared, it was planted into alfalfa, grain and oats. He had cattle, and, at one time bought a herd of sheep. The boys took care of the sheep for several years. When he bought the sheep he did not mortgage his farm, but merely signed a note for the money. He was respected for his honesty, and his word was considered as good as his bond.
Grandmother took up a homestead at the north end of Malad Valley on what is called Kents Bench. This was a dry farm where they raised wheat. Grandfather surveyed a ditch and brought the water out of Kents Canyon for the farm. Later he piped water from a spring in Co-op Canyon for household use. Those were the days of the horse-power threshing machine, the scythe, and the sickle. Grandfather used to cut wild hay wherever it could be found and feed it to the livestock in the winter. This was before the farmland was cleared and planted into crops. It was a long time before the land could be fenced against livestock because the fence materials had to be cut and brought from the canyons. There was no wire for fencing in the early days of homesteading. The few cultivated acres had to be watched night and day to keep the crops from being eaten up by the grazing livestock. They raised their own pork, honey, eggs, milk and butter. They made their own cheese and all of the clothing was hand made. What little money they could get hold of had to be saved to pay taxes, so there was barter and trade among the settlers.
Grandfather was mechanically inclined, and built a water wheel in the ditch which was used to drive the grind-stone. He surveyed ditches for himself and the Water Company with a homemade tripod and a spirit level. He had a work shop where he did most of the repair work himself.
He said he never stayed lon in one place without planting trees and digging a well. A good many of the trees he planted in Saint John are still standing today. He planted two orchards which supplied fruit for the family for many years.
Grandfather was a great walker, and used to walk from Saint John to Logan in one day, and leave a team of horses in the stable for Grandmother to feed and take care of. They tell a story of him riding to town on business and when the business was completed he forgot the horse and walked all the way home and then had to send one of the boys back to town for the horse.
In later years, when the family was all grown and in homes of their own, they sold the old homestead for $10,000. 00. Everyone said, my what a price. The same place was sold last year (1955) for $40,000.00. They kept a corner of the old homestead and built a house on it. This corner was the home of one of his sons, Matthew Hill, Jr. They had planned to return to Logan to live in their declining years, which they did, but only stayed one winter. They came back to Saint John and lived there until their death. Grandmother died September 26, 1925, at the age of 74, and Grandfather died May 2, 1928, at the age of 85.
Their lives were a fine example of integrity to leave to their posterity. They lived in a wonderful age of our country – they drove the oxen and lived to drive the automobile. Grandfather rode several times in an aeroplane. They used the candle and lived to turn on the electric lights. They marveled at their radio, which brought them voices from across the sea. They had a telephone. We take all of these things for granted. They were thankful every day of their lives for the blessings they received.
I, too, am thankful to have had the privilege of living near them from my birth until their death. For the fine example of character and right living that was theirs. Although they were not Church going people, their lives were good examples for everyone who know them to follow.
The Matthew Hill Family