Albert Hill
As an energetic and successful business man Albert R. Hill, of Denison, is entitled to a place in a work treating of the substantial citizens of Crawford county.
He was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, August 31, 1869, a son of Rufus L. and Margaret E. Hill, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. He came with his parents to Tama, Iowa, at the age of five years and lived there two and one-half years, the family moving to a farm in Harlan county, near Alma, Nebraska, in 1878. He received his education in the district schools and in the public schools of Orleans, Nebraska, later coming to Jefferson, Iowa, where he learned the marble cutter's trade.
After acquiring his trade he went to Holdrege, Nebraska, and engaged in business with his father. In 1896 he settled at Denison, Iowa, and he and his father bought out his brother, Walter L., who was at the head of a successful marble business. In June, 1908, the two sons purchased the father's interest and are now carrying on a prosperous marble, granite and monument business, which each year gives gratifying evidence of the ability and progressiveness of its managers.
On the 15th of February, 1899, Mr. Hill was united in marriage to Miss Birdie Ewall, a native of Denison and daughter of Nils A. and Christine (Starr) Ewall. Her father was born in Sweden and came to America with his parents when he was twelve years of age. He grew to manhood in Crawford county, where his parents died and were buried in Oakland cemetery at Denison. Nils A. Ewall died in 1896 at the age of thirty-eight, his wife having been called away in 1889 at the age of thirty-one years. Mrs. Hill's grandfather, Elias Ewall, was a soldier in Sweden.
There were three children in his family: Nils A.; John, now living Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Orlando, of Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Charles Starr, the maternal grandfather, was also a native of Sweden. He came to America and served as a soldier in the Civil war. He died in middle life, but his wife lived to be over eighty years of age. There were four children in their family, namely: Albert, now of Boone county, Iowa; Mrs. Fred Beck, deceased; Mrs. Charles Erickson, of El Reno, Oklahoma; and Mrs. Peter Nord, also of El Reno.
Three children, all of whom are sons, came to bless the union of Mr. and Mrs. Hill, namely: Ray Ewall, Howard Bliss and Robert Leon.
Religiously Mr. Hill is identified with the Methodist church, but his wife is a member of the Baptist church. Politically, he gives his support to the democratic party, believing that by so doing he is best advancing the permanent welfare of the nation. By an honorable and upright life he has commanded the good-will of all who know him. He represents a class of men whose records are always interesting-the men who win success by wisely directed effort and whose ambition it is not only to advance their own interests, but the interests of all with whom they are associated.
Source: History of Crawford County, Iowa. Vol. II. Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1911.