William Spaulding Hill Sr.

  General Notes:

It appears that William Spaulding Hill, born in 1784, and his wife, Sarah Anna Walton, born in 1786, came from England, then to Nova Scotia, and thence to Poughkeepsie, New York before moving to Leaksville, Rockingham Co., NC in the early 1800's. William did not stay long in any one place. He stayed about 10 years in North Carolina before moving to South Carolina. From there he moved to Alabama and then on to Texas where he died in 1851.

The 1850 Federal Census for Harrison Co., Texas, page 88A records Wm Hill (65 - NY) with wife C. Hill (48 - NC) and children H. [Harriet who had married Leroy Barnes] (20 - SC), U. [Zachariah] (17 - SC), M. [Mariah] (12 - AL), J. [John] (10 - AL), G. [George] (8 - AL), C. [Charlotte] (4 - AL), and W. Barnes (2 - Louis [Loisiana]). Next door is D. M. Jones (26 - SC) with his wife M. (21 - SC) and daughter A. (2 - Louis). This is William and Catherine's daughter, Mary, who is now married.

The 1860 Federal Census for Harrison Co., Texas, Beat 2, page 448B records D. W. (31 - SC) and Mary (31 - SC) Jones with children M. A. (8 - La), Ann (11 - Texas) and Sarah (11 - Texas). Next door is a Wm Barnes (12 - La) living with Harriet (26 - SC) and Stephen Terry (40 - Ala). William Barnes is listed in the 1850 census and is the son of Harriet Hill and Leroy Barnes. Harriet is the former Harriet Hill, daughter of William and Catherine, widow of Leroy Barnes. Nearby is another sister, Mariah [Hill] Surles. Also nearby is the Alexander family whose son, Robert, will marry Charlotte Elizabeth Hill in 1865.


HISTORY OF SOME OLD ROCKINGHAM HOMES AND FAMILIES
In 1950, my grandmother, Anne Pearl Pratt Van Noppen, published a series of articles in The Messenger on historic homes along the Dan River in Rockingham County, North Carolina. She followed this series with an additional series of articles about other historic homes of Rockingham County. In addition to details about the homes themselves, she included genealogical facts about the families who lived in these homes. I am typing these articles to place on the NC GENWEB archives in the hope that they will be useful to those researching some of these families. GREEN VALLEY THREE OAKS FARM THE OAKS WRIGHT-REID HOUSE WALL-CARDWELL HOME MEBANE-SHAFFER HOUSE WALL-REYNOLDS HOME THE CEDARS GOVERNOR REID'S PLANTATION MOUNT PLEASANT

THREE OAKS FARM To be the home of Upton Wilson for more than fifty years is honor enough and to spare for any home. The world which beat a pathway to his door marveled at his tenacity, his courageous and independent spirit, his financial success, his love of life and his desire to serve humanity. All of this one can understand better when one knows his heredity and his immediate family. In his book "My Thirty-Three Years in Bed" Upton gave his family credit for his life, his endurance and his cheerfulness. No doubt he shared the credit with them. The Wilsons and the Hills were of sturdy pioneer stock, long lived and zestful. William Spaulding Hill, born in 1784, and his wife Anna, born in 1786, came from England to Nova Scotia, thence to Poughkeepsie, New York and then to Leaksville in the early 1800's. They had a hotel. One of their boarders was Andrew Johnson, who became 17th President of the United States. His tailor shop stood on the corner of Washington and Henry Streets, a small frame building owned by Madison Jenkins Hampton. It was later torn down to give place to a brick café building. While the Hills lived in Leaksville, Sarah Anne Hill, born in 1810, who came to Leaksville when a small child grew up and married Isaac Hand. Her sister Clarissa married Bolyn Garrett. Descendants of the latter couple are Joe Garrett, assistant commissioner of motor vehicles at Raleigh, Jim Sharp, Judge Susie Sharp, attorney Jesse Roberts, and many others. William Hill and his family next decided to try their fortune in Alabama. A son, William Hill and his wife had a little daughter, Sally Ann, born in 1856. When she was two years old, her mother died so her father brought the child to his sister, Sarah Ann Hand, to rear. At that time the Hands lived at a farm on the Reidsville road. In 1860 they sold this farm to the Garretts and moved to the home at "Three Oaks." Isaac built a large log factory near the house and manufactured tobacco. In 1873, Sally Ann Hill married John P. Wilson and they lived in the same house with the Hands. The Wilsons, coming from Caswell County, have a large connection and a good name in Rockingham County. Thomas Fenner Wilson in 1840 owned 1000 acres of land which joined the Price, Sharp, Field and Hays farms. His son, Basley Graves Wilson was also a farmer. John Wilson, son of Basley Graves, was a teacher for several years, then a warehouseman, but he liked farming best. He was the first in his community to terrace his land and he developed the strain of Wilson's seed corn which added thousands of dollars to the corn crops in his vicinity. He taught a Sunday School class for years. He died in 1940, being 87 years old. The lovely mistress of "Three Oaks" has lived there for 89 years. Now at 94 she has cheeks as round and rosy as a ripe apple, bright eyes that can read without glasses and a mind as alert as that of youth. Her cheerful spirit, interest in people and her surroundings and a love of nature help to keep her young. She was the mother of twelve children, all of whom became adults except one. She can hold her own with the best of them. Among her activities in the past weeks, she has attended the wedding of her great nephew Charles Cardwell and Peggy Minich in Madison and has enjoyed motor trips to Roanoke, Lynchburg, Danville and to Nashville, NC and has spoken over the radio. She is as modern as today's newspaper. The Wilson children have a family solidarity and loyalty and are also socially conscious servants of humanity. Dr. Newton Wilson, who graduated from medical school in 1914, served in the war with Spain, the Philippine Insurrection and in the first World War - in the last as a medical officer. In the 40 years of his practice he has brought health and strength to countless people. Mrs. Wilson is an ideal doctor's wife, cheerful, affable, dignified and a leader in her church and its societies. Pat Wilson, adventurous like the Hill family, went to Idaho and was teacher, salesman and rancher. After his wife's death, he brought his two little girls to "Three Oaks" farm. Sally remained for a few years and then returned to Idaho to make her home with an aunt and uncle. Lois was reared at "Three Oaks", graduated from Guilford College, and is now a librarian. Pat Wilson was the first adult member of the family to die. Walter went to Georgia to live, married Mabel Rooks, and they have two sons and a daughter. Their oldest son served in the Air Transport Command in the Pacific. He has a large farm and often send crates of fruit, pecans and other good things to "Three Oaks." Tom Wilson, who went to West Virginia to live, later married and bought a farm near "Three Oaks." Here his daughter Myrtle was born. Two years later, when her mother died, Myrtle came to "Three Oaks" to live until her marriage to Neal Payne. Tom and his second wife operate the post office at Fieldale, Virginia. John Wilson is a merchant and authority on antiques. His wife is the very able Superintendent of Welfare in Rockingham County. Their daughter, Beverly, married Richard Robertson, editor of the Leaksville News. They have two children, Martha and Richard, Jr. Shirley Wilson served as a pharmacists mate in the US Navy and is now a teacher of physical education. He has a lovely wife and a son Johnnie. Charles Wilson is a merchant and teacher of a Sunday School class, as well as Master of Pomona Grange. His wife, the former Karen Canady, is a much-loved teacher in Madison. Three of the Wilson daughters have been teachers - Carrie, Lizzie and Eunice. Carrie is Supervisor of Burlington City Schools. Mildred, gentle and hospitable, still lives in the home. Her flowers have long cheered all who come that way. There have been four marriages in "Three Oaks," that of Sally Anne Hill and John Wilson, their daughter Lizzie to Percy Baynes, Eunice to Herbert Theil and Myrtle to Neal Payne. Four generations have lived at "Three Oaks farm. The house, started by Isaac Hand before the Civil War, was not finished. The workmen went to way, never to return. It has had additions and improvements made several times and is attractive and homelike. A chest corner cupboard, candle stand and leather bound Bible belonged to the family before the house was built. It is no wonder that Wilson son Upton found life good. His heart was full of love and his mind was free to soar. He could say with the poet: If I have freedom in my mind [love], And in my soul am free, Angels alone, that soar above, Enjoy such liberty.

Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage;
Minds innocent and quiet take
That for an hermitage;
If I have freedom in my love,
And in my soul am free;
Angels alone, that soar above,
Enjoy such liberty
[Richard Lovelace (1618-1658)]

William married Sarah Anna (Sally) Walton on 31 May 1809 in 1st and 2nd Presbyterian Church, New York City, NY. (Sarah Anna (Sally) Walton was born on 1 Aug 1786 and died circa 1825.)

William next married Catherine Seegram. (Catherine Seegram was born circa 1812 in North Carolina and died in 1851 in Harrison Co., Texas.)