Joseph Lee Hill

HILL SIMMONS TURNER

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 9/21/2010 at 23:15:45

History of Woodbury County, Iowa 1984

Joseph Lee Hill
By Alma Hill Hennings

Joseph Lee Hill, son of William E and Hannah Simmons Hill, was born in Green County, Indiana, April 24, 1853. He moved with his parents, sisters, and brothers (William, Thompson, Caroline, and Allie) to Urbana, Illinois, in 1863. At the age of fourteen he became a farm laborer for Margaret Smith and alter married her granddaughter, Charlotte ‘Lottie’ Turner on December 25, 1883, in Hancock, Iowa.

Joseph and Lottie moved to Woodbury County in 1884 and in 1896 received a Timber Certificate signed by President Grover Cleveland for land ‘treed’ in Moville Township. Mrs Hill and the hired man planted the trees as they rode on a plank on the back of a two-row lister. Later they straightened the saplings and firmed the soil. At that time there were no trees in the area so firewood was bought and cut from Oto Timberland. Even the brush from the cuttings was hauled home for ‘kindling’.

Mr Hill hauled groceries from Sioux City to Midway and Peiro. Once he got stuck in the Whiskey Creek and had to move every package and box, by match light, to dry ground to lighten the load. He had to return to the spot, from home, for a sack of hams which he had missed. Fortunately, the wolves in the area had not discovered his oversight.

About 1900 Mr Hill sold his tree claim and purchased a farm at Giffordsville where a large apple orchard had been planted. Consequently, many gallons of apple cider were made, sealed with red sealing wax in bottles, and stored for winter. Large quantities of apple butter were made, poured in gallon jars, and covered with paraffin, a clean cloth, and heavy paper, to be stored in the cellar.

Mr and Mrs Hill were charter members of the Climbing Hill Baptist Church, which was founded in 1899. Mrs Hill taught Sunday school for many years and was a member of the Ladies Aid Society. She always made sure each child had a colored egg for Easter and a flower for Mother’s Day. She was known for growing beautiful flowers. She died January 3, 1949, in Hartley, Iowa.

Mr Hill was a well-known cattle feeder. He raised Purebread Shorthorn cattle and Percheron horses. He died at his home in 1941.

The Hill children were: Mabel, 1885-1911, Lloyd, 1891-1981, Clara, 1893-? Of Santa Anna, California; Frank, 1895-? of Storm Lake, Iowa; Alice, 1900-?, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Alma, 1906-?, of Moville, Iowa