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Note: OV 0455 3M <24; 1M 55-100; 1F <10; 1F 10-24; 6 persons working inagricultu6 rox'd Age 65 b. N (S?)C.Aside from the genealogical interest, I was intrigued by the story ofthe founding of Free Hills. There was what appeared to be a matriarchalfoundation, common to both African and Native American culturaltraditions, over-laid by patriarchal �dominant' culture. This amongstother things, like the persistence of first names, suggested acompression of generations over time. Then there was the mysteriousVirginia Hill. If someone named "Virginia" had freed her slaves sobeneficially, why was did the name Virginia not appear frequently insucceeding generations of free Colored persons in Free Hills TN? From what I found in the Clay Cty library, the brief history of FreeHills is: The White daughter of wealthy North Carolina rich North Carolinaplanter named VIRGINIA HILL, came to Overton County sometime before theCivil War. She purchased between 400 and 2,000 acres of remote ruggedmountainous land between the Obey and Cumberland Rivers, from SAMPSONWILLIAMS. The oldest Black woman to come with Virginia Hill was a freewoman named BETSY, BETSY MANNY or BETTY. (Since both names are generallyinterchangeable forms of "Elizabeth", I'll stick with just use "Betsy".)VIRGINIA HILL brought her slaves with her, all of them younger thanBETSY, among whom was BETSY's son RUBEN. This REUBEN eventually, at theage of 31, became infatuated with fifteen year old SARAH, who washousekeeper for BYE and BETSY STONE. REUBEN and SARAH married and hadTOM POLK HILL and JOSHUA POLK HILL. After settling her slaves on theland she had bought, VIRGINIA HILL freed them, divided her land amongstthem, left and never returned. When Virginia had gone BETSY married afreed slave named BYE STONE who took her surname of HILL becoming BYEHILL. Among her seven children was REUBEN (Jean Hill's grandfather).According to a branch tradition, when Virginia Hill left she left behindher mulatto children: RUBEN, JOSH, BETSY and MARIA.Starting with the notarized statements of my great-great aunts anduncles (my great-grandmother's brothers and sisters)that: Their father THOMAS HILL was born (according to census records in1824)in TN; THOMAS HILL's parents were ZEKE(Ezekiel) andMILLY(Permelia?) HILL; and that THOMAS HILL's sisters wereBETSY(Elizabeth) and MARIAH, his brothers JOSHUA and REUBEN, and hishalf brothers were WILLIAM, MOSES and JOHN. On the basis of my research so far, I think that I may have made a starton documenting the traditional history of Free Hills.(1) MILLY HILL, whose proper name was probably PERMELIA, was the oldestBlack woman who, according the History of Free Hills, to came from NorthCarolina with Virginia Hill and who is variously called "Betsy Manny","Betty", or "Betsy". MILLY HILL, a Free Colored Person (which then almost certainly meantat least partially Indian) whose proper name was probably PERMELIA,appears in the area of Free Hills in the 1820 census. Two boys and twogirls, between the ages of 14 and 26 were also counted as part of thatFree Colored household. The entire household was most likelypredominately Indian. In 1830 MILLY HILL's household contained fivemales and one female, and a MARY HILL nearby, also a Free Person ofColor, had a household containing an infant. MILLY HILL may, like the STONES, have come from VA but have been anative of NC, like most of the early settlers of the area. Only threeother Free Colored Persons appear on the 1820 census anywhere nearby,two in the William Barkedale household and one relatively near in theHugh Roberts household. She may have been either related to, orassociated with, the THOMAS DAVIS and/or the EUSIBIAS/MICAJAH/WILLIAMSTONE families. EZEKIEL HILL, who so far first shows up in the 1840census, was almost certainly affiliated with the STONE family. In 1814 MICAJAH STONE purchased 400 acres from SAMPSON WILLIAMS ofJackson Cty. Today we would probably call Sampson Williams a developer.An educated man and surveyor, he had been collecting land Grants in TNsince at least 1807, and apparently obtained a lot of land following theceding of Indian lands early in the 1800s. One of his cronies, witnessto several of SAMPSON WILLIAMS deeds, was ABSALON HOLEMMAN. Like mostmen who explored and settled on the frontier, Sampson Williams wouldalmost certainly have had full or part Indian guides and "friends", andtherefor part Indian relatives. Moreover, he and his associates werelikely to have trusted a Black slave or freedman only if that personwas "born to the family". (2) MILLY's mulatto children JOSHUA, REUBEN, BETSY and MARIAH (who mayhave been named after MILLY's siblings or aunts and uncles) wereprobably the same persons said to have been the mulatto children of"Virginia Hill". MARIAH (who may have also been known as MARY) was still (or again)around in 1855 and 1860, where she made land transactions witnessed by(probably the grandson or nephew of the original) MICAJAH STONE. By the1860 census, some enumerators tended to just assign the last name of theoldest male to the women and children in (especially Colored) householdsand to "eyeball" or guess at race, so that MARIAH may have been eitherthe mulatto MARIAH "BAILEY" or the Black MARIAH ARMSTRONG. BETSY(officially ELIZABETH) HILL was probably enumerated with her children,as STONE, in 1870 STONE for the same reasons. JOSHUA HILL may also stillhave been in the area, but there may have been at least two Joshua Hills(one of whom may have been MILLY's brother). So far I have found norecord of a REUBEN HILL, in the area until decades latter. If he was aslave there would not have been any, but there may not be any where Ihave looked if he was a slave, indentured, or apprenticed. If he was ariverman (although it was said to have been JOSHUA son of BETSY who wasthe master pilot with his team that included "Bailey") it is doubtful hewould have been counted. There were also "white" Reubens with differentlast names of the right general age. (3) MILLY was BETSY's "mommy" or "mammy", rather than "Betsy Manny".Over time this became confused with her daughter BETSY/ELIZABETH. whowas really the non-slave Black woman whose children started Free Hills. MILLY HILL died, left the area, or took another last name between1830 and 1840. Although she probably died, several things suggest thatshe might have left. First, "Virginia Hill" was said to have left afterfreeing her slaves. MILLY may have either inherited slaves during that period, or been theowner of some held by "White" relatives. The Cherokee constitution of1824 had disenfranchised Indians having Negro blood (but TN allowed themto vote)and made mixed relationships criminal. It also forbid Blackslaves of Cherokee's owning livestock. In 1835 Cherokee's living in TNowned 480 Black slaves according to the official records. Only fouryears later, following the exodus ("Trail of Tears") very few Indians ofany kind and those mostly full blood, remained in TN officially.Actually a great many did remain and/or returned from the exile butofficially, unless already established as "Mulatto" (which about thattime changed in meaning from Indian and Other to Black and Other) theybecame either "Black" or "White". It is also in the (probably the late) 1830s that Free Colored familiesstart establishing in the area, but is noticeable in the 1850 census.That may be purely due to the aging of the original tiny Free Coloredpopulation. They had to get their spouses from someplace, and the slavepopulation was a close source. However, Colored HILLs shown in thecensuses do not indicate a large number of freed slaves who took thename of "Hill". In 1840 EZEKIEL HILL (aged between 55 and 100) is one of threehouseholds of Free Colored Persons listed in the area. The householdincluded three males age 10-24 and two females one under 10 and theother 10 to 24.That household was listed seven after Thomas Davis closeto EUSABIAS STONE, WILLIAM STONE and ABSOLONE HOLEMAN, SR. The otherFree Colored person is JOSHUA HILL (age 24-36), whose householdcontained a boy and girl under 10 and female 10-24, was listed nearTHOMAS POINDEXTER and next to JAMES NIVINS who counted two childrenunder ten and one female 10-24 as Free Colored Persons and no slaves aspart of his household. GILLERBERT BLAKELY, age 55-100, was the thirdFree Colored household and contained a woman between 34 to 36 years ofage. EZEKIEL HILL have had in his old age children WILLIAM (1854),MOSES (1856) and JOHN (1857) by MARTHA (1830). These are probably thehalf brothers of THOMAS. They would also have been about the same age asTHOMAS's oldest children, and living "next" to them would have beenimpressed with having uncles about their same age. Or MILLY may havehad, going by her estimated age almost definitely had, other childrenearlier. The half-brothers may also have been some the male childrenappearing in MILLY's household in the 1820 and 1830 census. Given herestimated age, it is almost definite she had had other children. As amatriarch, possibly infirm, it would be the custom for her to go to anelder child's household. Finally, MILLY HILL had arrived in the area around the start of theCreek War. Prior to the start of that war there was a strong prophecymovement among the Creeks, and to a lesser extent the Cherokees. Is itonly coincidence that obscure Old Testament names associated with exileand prophecy seem concentrated in not only MILLY's family, but alsothose of other settlers in the area at that time? Was the first HILL'sinsistence, according to Jean Hill, on land on that side of the rivernot the other, related spiritual reasons as much as or instead offamily ones? (4) BETSY/ELIZABETH, daughter of MILLY and EZEKIEL HILL, was thenon-slave Black woman whose children started Free Hills. ELIZABETH HILL in 1860 lived next to the elderly EZEKIEL and hadliving with her a Thomas b. 1845, a Permelia b. 1840 and a Mary (a formof Mariah) b. 1842, and a REUBEN (b. 1849). ELIZABETH and LEVI STONEhad in their household in 1870 a REUBEN b. 1849. I have yet to find a"Bye Stone", I suspect that "Bye" is an adaptation of the "LEVI". AREUBEN HILL b. 1849 appears in the 1880 Clay Cty census married to awoman named SARAH age 15. Interestingly, there was a six year old SarahI.Hill who was a neighbor of Levi and ELIZABETH STONE in 1870. She mayalso have been related to the mulatto household next to ELIZABETHHILL's household in 1860. This may well have been the girl that thehistorical thirty-one year old REUBEN HILL, son of BETSY, becameinfatuated with and married.(5) REUBEN HILL, son of ELIZABETH/BETSY HILL/STONE, is JEAN HILL'sgrandfather, the same REUBEN HILL who died in 1914 and is buried in theFree Hills cemetery.
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