The Family of Jacob Hill, the elder, fisherman of Kensington
Jacob Hill, the elder, fisherman of Kensington was born before 1738 and died in 1792. His will was written 22 Aug 1792 and probated the same year (Will #165 of 1792). His will states that his son-in-law, George Hoffman, should have nothing to do with his estate proceedings.
Jacob Hill is called the "elder" to distinguish him from his son, "the younger." He was at least twenty-one on 16 July 1759, when he purchased for 50 Pounds from Henry Dennis, executor of the last will of John Baker, deceased, a property described in Deed Book H-10, page 68, as beginning at the low water mark of the River Delaware upon a square with Bishop (Berks) Street, extending 102’ to a corner stake on the south side of Queen (Richmond) Street with 20’ frontage on that road. He was married Mary ? and fathered three children by 1760. It is stated that the children were (through marriage) related to the Rice, Norris, Hoffman, Vaughan, and Gosser families of old Kensington.
On 8 Aug 1772, Jacob Hill purchased a fifty foot lot on the southside of Queen (Richmond) Street that included riverfrontage from John G. Kramp and Dorothy, his wife, as noted in Deed Book MR #18, Page 533. In 1774, Jacob purchased from John Chevalier a property on the northside of Queen Street 100’ south of Wood Street (Susquehanna Avenue) for 125 Pounds and yearly ground rent of 2 Pounds 10 Shillings. Deed Book IC-5, Page 676 describes it as containing “houses, stables, barns, gardens, etc.” Evan's Palmer Estate map shows this property sitting between property of Eleanor Berkeley and the V. Baker estate (Valentine Baker). Jacob Hill, the elder married a woman by the name of Mary.
+ Mary ?,
Together Jacob & Mary Hill had the following
1. Jacob Hill, Sr. born before 1765, fisherman of Kensington; both of his father’s properties, the Bishop Street property and the Chevalier-Queen Street property, were conveyed to him in 1809, described as son of Jacob Hill, the elder (Deed Book IC-19, Page 578-580). He is stated to have been one of the trustees of the Kensington Burial Ground (a.k.a. Palmer Cemetery).
+ Elizabeth ?, she died before 1809; she may be the Elizabeth Hill, wife of Jacob, who is the person responsible for the spread of the Yellow Fever in 1793 (see my Rest is History column on this topic).
2. Jacob Hill, Jr., born c1785; he was still alive in 1860; he was a singleman in 1810 at the time of the indenture recorded in Deed Book IC-17, Page 241. His first wife, Mary Sheetz, allegedly deserted him, after seven years he remarried, only to have his wife surface. He was “read out” of his church (Summerfield Methodist Church).
+1st Mary Sheetz, the presumed daughter of Daniel Sheetz and Catharine Gosser, his wife. A property of the deceased Daniel Sheetz was conveyed by his son Samuel Sheetz, on 10 April 1820, to Jacob Hill, Jr. and Mary. The headstone in the Palmer Cemetery inscribed “Mary, wife of Jacob Hill, Our Mother, Aged 41 years, b. 1793 (?) died June 20, 1834,” may be Mary (Sheetz) Hill. When the Sheetz property was finally sold off in July, 1849, parties to the transactions as listed in Deed Book GWC-24, Page 89, probably were the other children of Jacob and Mary S. Hill; listed therein with their respective spourses:
3. Daniel Hill, glassblower
+ Mary,
3. Elizabeth Hill,
+ John Kessler, wheelwright,
3. Jacob Hill, born 7 Aug 1821; died 9 Oct 1913; buried at North Cedar Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, PA.
+ Lydia
4. Henry Hill
4. Ann E. Hill
4. Daniel Hill
4. Frank Hill
4. Emma Hill
+2nd Elizabeth C. ?, born c1834, in NJ; died 22 April 1908; buried North Cedar Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, PA
4. Sidney (Siddie) Hill, born 1868; died 1951
+ Howard T. Gosser, born 1867; died 1941
3. John Hill, born 1824; died 1862?
+ Catharine C.?
3. Adam P. Hill, born 1825; died 1912, caulker
+ Amanda ?, she predeceased her husband
3. Mary Hill
+ John McKenny
3. Sarah Hill, singlewoman in 1849
2. Mary Hill, born before 1810, married by 1810
+ Isaac Faunce
2. John Hill, born bef. 1784; died abt 1816; shipwright of Kensington; Philadelphia City Directories show him living at Queen Street (1804), Queen near Bishop (1813-1816).
+ Rebecca [Miller?], born bef. 1784, she is possibly Rebecca Miller, daughter of Henry & Rebecca Miller, who was born 17 Dec 1746. Rebecca is shown in the Philadelphia City Directories as a widow of John Hill, living at Queen nr. Bishop (1817), in 1818 as a widow, working as a net maker, still at the same Queen Street address. Her School and Poor Taxes for 1833 as the estate of Mrs. Rebecca Hill were paid by John P. Hill. Paving assessments in 1849 were marked as 20’ frontage on the east side of Queen Street, 171’ northeast of Cherry Street. The property was finally forfeited at Sheriff’s Sale in 1871 to Alfred Horner, Jr.
3. John Hill, born 3 March 18xx
3. Jacob Hill, born 9 Feb 1804, 8 at night
3. Michael Hill, born 12 Sept 1806, 2 at afternoon
3. Adam Hill, born 6 Feb 1810; married by the Rev. Samuel Helffenstein at the German Reformed Church, 4th & Race Streets, 1 April 1832; died 3 February 1888, at 78 years of age and buried at Palmer Cemetery; he was fisherman and a member of Siloam Church, living his entire life in Fishtown, from 1829-1837 at Beach Street near Palmer; 1844-1852 at Queen Street near Vienna; 1863-1875 the family lived at 616 Richmond Street. In 1880, Adam Hill’s family lived at 642 Richmond Street where they remained until shortly after his death.
+ Catharine Hoffman, born 14 April 1814 (“in shad-fishing time”); died 9 Dec 1905 and buried at Palmer Cemetery with her husband; she was probably a daughter of Mary Ann (Wolf) Hoffman, who was born 15 October 1791. Family tradition stated that the Hoffman family lived in the 600 block of Richmond Street during the Revolutionary War where fighting went on outside their door. They, too, were fishermen who had a retail stand where their catches were sold. The Hoffman property, it was said, extended down to the sandy beaches of the Delaware. In 1836, Catharine (Hoffman) Hill leased stand #5 in the Franklin Market on Franklin (Girard Avenue) Street.
4. Mary Ann Hill, born 1 May 1839
+ John Mock, a boilmaker
5. They had 9 known children: Adam, Kate, John, Thomas, George, Margaret (Maggie), Mary Ann, Harry, and Martha Mock.
4. Rebecca (Becky) Hill, born 13 July 1841
+ George Scott, served in Co. “G” 1st Regiment PA Heavy Artillery, he worked with his brother-in-law, Henry V. Vaughan, as a wharfbuilder for William W. Taxis.
5. They had one son John who died early, then they adopted one son, John, who married, fathered a child, and died early from alcoholism, his wife and baby returned to MA.
4. Thomas J. Hill, born 3 January 1843; died 8 Nov 1930, buried at Fernwood Cemetery, Yeadon, PA; He was a fisherman, enrolled in Company “B” 106th Regiment of PA Volunteers on 28 Aug 1861. Erroneously declared missing in action. He lived with his parents in the 1880 Census at 642 Richmond Street. He later separated from his wife after the death of his children.
+ Susan Fitzinger, born 4 March 1850
5. Martha B. Hill, born 7 April; died 27 April 1870
5.George Fitzinger Hill, born 11 April 1872; died 6 March 1877.
4. Catharine Hill, born 23 August 1844; married 1864; died 11 December 1909;
+Henry Van Hook Vaughan, wharfbuilder
5. They had eight children
4. Margaret (Maggie) Hill, born 1 March 1846; married 3 Sept 1867 by Rev. Pennell Coombs; died 26 March 1899; buried at Greenwood Cemetery, Philadelphia, PA.
+ Lewis H. Simons, teamster.
The Simons made their home in Camden, NJ, where they had six children.
4. Eleanor (Ellie) Hill, born 14 March 1854; married 16 Nov 1869; died 24 Aug 1934; the couple had six children, four of whom lived to maturity.
+ Joseph R. Ellis, born 2 Feb 1849, steamfitter.
4. John Christian Hill, born c1856; died 11 Jan 1861; buried at Palmer Cemetery; he was said to have been run over by a horsedrawn street car outside the house on Richmond Street, on Christmas Day, 1860.
1. Elizabeth Hill, married before 1809
+ John Rice
2. Catharine Rice, born 16 Dec 1800; 16 Oct 1819; d. ?
+ Rev. George Chandler, born 29 April 1790; died 15 Feb 1860; Student in Yale College, class of 1814; Pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Kensington, 1814-1860.
2. Mary Hill, married and died before 1790 Census was taken
+ George Hoffman
2. Mary Hoffman, born aft. 1774, married before 1809
+ John Bakeoven
2. Jacob Hoffman, born aft. 1774, he was successful high bidder when the family decided to sell the Queen Street property that Jacob Hill, the elder, purchased from Kramp in 1772. This Jacob Hoffman deed the property in 1843 to his son-in-law, Samuel Vaughan, husband of Susan Hoffman. This property became known as 716 Richmond Street and was razed in 1922.
2. Elizabeth Hoffman, born aft. 1774, still single in 1809
2. George Hoffman, born after 1774
2. Adam Hoffman, born aft. 1774, still alive in 1809
The majority of this research is taken from David W. Gauer's "Vaughan Shipwrights of Kensington," Decorah: Iowa, 1982. Pages: 170-176. I have also added some notes of my own.