{the parents of Julia Hills Johnson}
Research by Patsy Hendrickson
Joseph Hills was born in Wrentham, Massachusetts. Joseph’s parents, Jabez Hills and Margaret Fisher Hills, made the move from Wrentham to Pawtucket, Rhode Island, shortly after Joseph, who was their third child, was born on 16 May 1758.1, 2
Jabez was a builder, mechanic, and chaise maker - that is, someone who made and assembled carts and carriages. He bought land from Samuel Smith in Pawtucket, and the land records there document his 1762 agreement to let the town build Wing Lane across his property.
Margaret’s grandfather, Samuel Mann, was the first minister of Wrentham, and their family ties to Wrentham were strong enough that they returned to Wrentham to have each of their children born in Pawtucket christened/baptized in Wrentham, even though they had to wait from 6 month to up to 2 years to be able to do that.
Jabez Hills died in 1768 when Joseph was 10 years old, and his mother, Margaret Fisher Hills, returned to Wrentham with her children, the youngest of whom was only a year old.
Margaret died in Wrentham three years later in 1771. After the deaths of their parents, Joseph and his brothers and sisters were probably raised by one or more of their aunts and uncles in Wrentham.
Some of our family records had the designation "Rev." before the name of Joseph Hills, which we assumed to mean "Reverend" as it did in the case of Samuel Mann, but we could find no evidence that Joseph was the minister or ruling elder of a church congregation. We did, however, find Revolutionary War records for two men named "Joseph Hills" from Wrentham in Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors.
The first is the service record of Joseph’s uncle, Capt. Joseph Hills, who responded to the alarm of 19 April 1775 at the beginning of the Revolutionary War, when British troops attacked Lexington and Concord.
We believe the second record, that of a Joseph Hills, Jr., is the military record of our Joseph Hills, who would have been 16 years old in April 1775. There were no Joseph Hills of the appropriate age in Wrentham at this time who had a father named Joseph, but he may have been designated "Joseph Jr." if he had been living with his uncle, Joseph, and marched with him in response to the alarm. His military service ended in October 1777. The record says:
Hills, Joseph (also given Joseph, Jr.), Wrentham.
Private, Capt. Asa Fairbanks’s co., which marched in response to the alarm of April 19, 1775; service from April 30, 1775, to May 2, 1775, 3 days; also, Capt. Silas Wild’s co., 36th regt; company return dated Fort No.2, Oct. 6, 1775; enlisted Aug. 18, 1775; also Capt. Silas Wild’s co., Col. John Greaton’s regt.; order for bounty coat or its equivalent in money dated Cambridge, Dec. 12, 1775; also, Corporal, Capt. Samuel Fisher’s co., Col. Ephraim Wheelock’s (Suffolk Co.) regt.; service, 12 days; company marched to Rhode Island on the alarm April 21, 1777; also, Capt. Samuel Fisher’s co., Col. Jonathan Titcomb’s regt.; service 2 mos. 3 days; company drafted for 2 months service and marched to Rhode Island May 3, 1777; also, Capt. Asa Fairbanks’s co., Col. Benjamin Hawes’s regt.; service from Sept 30, 1777, to Oct 31, 1777, 1 mo. 2 days, at Rhode Island [name appears twice on the roll].4
Joseph’s older brothers, Jabez and Timothy, also fought in the Revolutionary War. Jabez died in 1776. He was 23 years old.4
Three years later, Joseph was living and working in Upton, Massachusetts. Both Upton and Uxbridge are in the Blackstone River Valley, which was the home of the Industrial Revolution in North America. On 18 August 1780 in Upton, Joseph filed his intentions of marrying Esther Ellis.5
Esther Ellis was born 8 April 1758 in Wrentham, Massachusetts. She was the eighth child and the fifth of seven daughters of Joseph Ellis and Melatiah Metcalf of Wrentham. Two of her older sisters had died in 1756, and Esther was born just a few months before Elizabeth, the 4th daughter, died. Elizabeth’s death in 1858 created a 10-year gap between Esther and her next youngest sibling, Henry. 1
Esther and Joseph were second cousins and grew up together in Wrentham. In December of 1780, Joseph went home (now subdivided from Wrentham into the new town of Franklin) for the wedding. Joseph Hills and Esther Ellis were married on 7 December 1780 in Franklin, Massachusetts,6 and Joseph brought his new bride back to Upton with him. They had three children before he died in 1787, less than seven years later.
Their son, Joel Hills, was born in Upton on 1 September 1781,5 followed by Julia Hills, on 26 September 1783.5 We have not yet found documentation of the birth of their youngest daughter, Nancy Hills, but the Arizona Temple Records say that she was born 16 July 1785 in Upton,7 and submitter may have had access to information we don’t have.
At some point, the young Hills family apparently moved to the adjoining town of Grafton. Grafton is a beautiful town and it would have been a good place for Julia and her brother and sister to grow up.
Joseph died in Grafton, probably of consumption, on 21 October 1787,8 when he was 29 years old. He is buried in the Old Oak Street Burial Ground in Grafton, Massachusetts.9 His gravestone is still extant. At the time of his death, Joel was 6 years old, Julia was 4 years old, and Nancy was 2. His will, written on 17April 1787, includes "Joseph Hills being in a week (sic) and low condition of body but of perfect mind & memory. . . beloved wife Esther. . . beloved son, Joel, 1/3 of Estate. . . beloved daughter, Julia just half as much of my real & personal estate as I have heretofore willed to my son, Joel. . . with 1/3 part of all my household furniture. . . beloved daughter, Nancy (same) . . . signed Joseph Hills. 7 Nov 1878 will of Joseph Hills late of Worcester (crossed out) Grafton presented."10
One of Julia’s father‘s possessions was his dictionary, which implies that he was an educated man.11 Joseph’s will indicates that he was a blacksmith. He left his wife well enough provided for that she did not remarry for five and a half years, which is most unusual for this time period.
On 28 May 1793, Esther married Enoch Forbush in Grafton, Massachusetts. It was a second marriage for them both. Enoch Forbush of Upton was a widower with at least three children by his first wife, Mary Batchellor: Stephen, Chloe, and Enoch. Enoch, Sr., seems to have provided a good home for Esther and her children. Together, they added three more children to the family: Joseph, Seneca, and Diademia. Julia spoke lovingly in her letters of her mother, step-father, and sisters. When Julia and Ezekiel moved to Vermont at the invitation of Julia’s uncle and aunt, Amos and Meletiah Ellis Partridge, Esther came to visit them all there.
Esther died sometime between 1813 when Julia mentions in a letter that she had heard from her parents, and 11 November 1818 when Julia wrote a letter from Pomfret, to her half-sister, Diademia, mentioning their mother’s death. It said,
Dear Sister, I have another chance of writing to you, which I improve. I have written several times but received no answer. I have heard of the death of our mother which was very heavy news to me. We have lost a very kind, affectionate parent of which no doubt you are sensible but we have no right to murmur, God will do all things right. We must be submissive and prepare to follow our dear deceased mother. I wish you would write the particulars concerning her death and write me a long letter. I have been anxious to hear from you for a long time. Almera Woodward [Julia‘s cousin] wrote to me that you was keeping house for your father and made out very well, which I was glad to hear. I send this letter by Mr. Johnson; he will tell you the particulars of our affairs. I want your father to send me that Great Dictionary; that was my father‘s, and if Joel [Julia‘s brother] has a chance to get if from here he shall have it, for that was my mother‘s desire as she expressed it when she was up in Vermont. And I wish you would send me some straw braid for a bonnet and Mr. Johnson will pay you for it. Such things are very scarce here. Remember my love to your father and family and take a good share yourself.
Julia Johnson
Enoch died 16 Nov 1825 in Grafton.11
Massachusetts Vital Records, 1620 – 1850 – Wrentham Births, Marriages and Deaths.
Genealogical data relating to the ancestry and descendants of William Hills,...and of Joseph Hills, the English emigrant to New England in 1638 compiled by William Sanford Hills.
Annual Report of the Directors (of the Hills Family), Vol. 1-14 p. 6
Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, Volume 7, page 918 Image 917 (Transcribed by Joneen J Matsen, April, 2012 – Found at Ancestry.com)
Massachusetts Vital Records, 1620 – 1850-Upton Births, Marriages, and Deaths
Massachusetts Vital Records, 1620 – 1850 – Franklin Marriages
LDS: Arizona Temple Endowments for the Dead (FHL 170,680)
Massachusetts Vital Records, 1620 – 1850 - Grafton Deaths
Find A Grave Memorial# 27559821
Worcester County Probate Records, Massachusetts) (FHL 856,285) 21/193
Julia Hills Johnson’s letter to her half-sister, Diadamia Forbush, written 11 November 1818.