Carroll County IAGenWeb

HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY IOWA

A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement

VOLUME II ILLUSTRATED

CHICAGO THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1912

Transcribed by Sharon Elijah August 20, 2020

Judging by his record no man in Carroll county deserves a more permanent place in the history of the county than George C. Hill, whose name stands at the head of this review. He was a valiant soldier for the Union when the flag was assailed, and for fifty years has been connected with the Chicago & Northwestern Railway, filling the position of locomotive engineer during the last thirty years. It is doubtful whether his record can be duplicated anywhere in the country.

He was born at Billerica, Massachusetts, October 31, 1844, a son of Josiah and Mary (Carter) Hill, both of whom were natives of Massachusetts. Joseph Hill, the paternal grandfather, was also born in Massachusetts. He died well advanced in years and his widow, Susan Hill, subsequently married Mr. Cole. There were three children in the family of the maternal grandfather, Mary, Harriet and George. The last named died a bachelor at the age of ninety-one years. The father of our subject, who was by trade a carpenter, came to Clinton, Iowa, in 1863, and died in September, 1883, at the age of seventy-six years. He was a member of the Methodist church. He was four times married, his first wife being Mary French, of Billerica, who died at the birth of her daughter, Mary, the wife of George Dustin, now living at 3422 Carroll avenue, Chicago. For his second wife he wedded Mary Carter, by whom he had three sons: George C., of this review; Joseph M., a resident of North Wilmington, Massachusetts; and John B., of Clinton, Iowa. Mr. Hill secured a divorce from this wife about 1854 in Massachusetts and about 1859 he married Emily Farr, of Manchester, New Hampshire, by whom he had three children: Dora Susan, now Mrs. B. B. Thornton, of Cheney, Washington; Harriet Sophronia, the wife of James McGinnis, of Sioux City, Iowa; and Willie J., deceased. The mother of these children died at Clinton, Iowa, in January, 1865, and the father married her sister Dorothy Farr in November, 1867. They had two children: Emily, now Mrs. John L. Burke, of Fremont, Nebraska; and Olin Edgar, a druggist of Clinton, Iowa. All are now living with the exception of Willie.

George C. Hill was reared in Massachusetts until thirteen years of age and then removed with his parents to Wisconsin and attended school at Fort Atkinson. After leaving school he went to work under his father in the water department of the Wisconsin division of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway. In December, 1863, being then nineteen years of age, he enlisted in Company M, First Wisconsin Cavalry, in which he served as private. He participated in the battles of Franklin, Tennessee, Pulaski, West Point, Georgia, and a number of movements and skirmishes, at all times responding to the call of duty. He was mustered out August 12, 1865, and came to Iowa, settling at Clinton, where he resumed work for the Northwestern Railway Company. In August, 1872, he became a fireman and in May, 1880, qualified as an engineer, having ever since served with the railway in that capacity. He has been a resident of Carroll for about fifteen years and is one of its most respected citizens.

On the 19th of June, 1876, Mr. Hill was united in marriage to Miss Mary Walkinshaw, a native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, daughter of Robert and Rosanna (Schoch) Walkinshaw. The father was born in Scotland and the mother in Baden Baden, Germany. They came to this country and made their home for a while at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and later removed to Fulton, Iowa, finally settling at Clinton. The father was a soldier of the Civil war and served in the Fifty-second Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He died at the Soldiers Home in Marshalltown, Iowa, at the age of seventy-eight years, his wife passing away at Carroll at the age of eighty-two. In their family were five children, of whom John died at the age of two years. The others are as follows; Mary, now the wife of our subject; Fanny; Margaret, now Mrs. J. H. Shaffer, living at Clinton, Iowa; and Elizabeth, the wife of A. Robert Woodbury, of Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Mr. Hill is an active member of the Masonic order and belongs to Signet Lodge, No. 264, A.F. & A.M., and to Copestone Chapter, No. 78, R.A.M., both of Carroll. Politically he gives his adherence to the republican party and socially is connected with Jeff C. Davis Post, G.A.R., of Carroll. Mr. Hill was a good soldier and not less faithful and true has he been when standing at the throttle of his engine. It is with pleasure that this sketch of this honorable gentleman is presented in a work which will be read long after the generation now living has passed from earthly scenes.

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