Alexander Hill, Sr. the son of Daniel and Mary Hill, was a Scotchman, having been born at Skipness, Argyllshire, Scotland on the first day of October 1779. He was a large in stature and grew to be over six feet tall, was slender and very athletic. He was apprenticed as sailor boy at age ten, and in later years rose to the dignity of first mate. He once fell from the top mast to the deck below, and a shipmate remarked, He is like a cat, always lights on his feet. It has not hurt him.
Alexander spent many years as a seaman, mariner and navigator on British ships, and served in the British wars against France and Spain. He sailed many times around the world.
He served in the historical battle of the Nile in 1798, under Lord Admiral Nelson. He was also in the battle of Trafalgar, fought October 21st, 1805 at Cape Trafalgar, off the coast of Spain. He was wounded by a grape-shot to the leg. Lord Admiral Nelson was shot and died in that same battle.
When Alexander gave up his life on the sea, he went to live in a little town called Johnston, as small town about ten miles from Glasgow, Scotland, the area where he was raised. He met and married Elizabeth Currie in Johnston, Renfrewshire, Abbey Parish, Scotland in 1806. While living in Scotland, they had seven children, four sons, and three daughters: Daniel, Agnes, Alexander, Mary, John, Archibald Newell, and Elizabeth. Alexander was a very interesting story teller, and he told his children and grandchildren of the many thrilling adventures during his sea-faring life.
In June 1821, Alexander and his family decided that there was a great opportunity for a better life, if they went to the new country of North America. They spent six weeks crossing the Atlantic Ocean, being tossed about on billows of tumultuous water, arriving in Canada at the mouth of the St. Lawrence river. They sailed to Montreal, then settled in a little township called Lanark. Here the land was all forest, with maple trees growing there. Alexander Hill and his boys engaged in clearing some of the forest, to build a house. While they lived here they learned to use the sap from the trees to make maple syrup, and they also worked a farm.
In 1833, they left this area, and went to the Township Tosoronto, in Upper Canada, and engaged in the same pursuits. Upper Canada, was later named Ontario. Tosoronto is a little township just north of Toronto, Canada.
In Toronto there was a religious group called "The John Taylor Society," which were dissenters from the Methodist Church. The Hill family joined with this group to study religion. At this time, all of the Hill children had married there in Canada with the exception of Elizabeth.
The John Taylor Society and Hill Families are Introduced to a Missionary: There was also a new church in America, which was called, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." This new American church sent out missionaries to Canada. In April 1836, Elder Parley P. Pratt was given a special calling as a missionary to go teach the people living in and around Toronto. Mr. Pratt left a sick wife, who was expecting a baby. He was promised that all would be well at home if he went. He had no money. He went to a forest to pray for help. As he went home, a stranger on the street approached him and asked his name. When Parley gave his name, the man said he had been told in a dream to find a man who would be going to Toronto. He was told to give him $10.00 and to tell him the name of a man, John Taylor who lived in Toronto. He said that Mr. Taylor would help him. Parley thanked the man and soon departed for Toronto.
When Parley Pratt arrived in Toronto, Mrs. Taylor greeted him kindly. He found lodging and then went to several clergymen to see if he could preach to their congregations, which he was denied. Mrs. Taylor introduced him to a Mrs. Walton. Mrs. Taylor told her, This gentleman is here from the United States, who says the Lord sent him here to preach the Gospel. He has applied in vain, to the clergy and authorities for the opportunity to fulfill his mission, and is about to leave. He may be a man of God.
Mrs. Walton said she now understood why the Spirit had inspired her to come to the Taylor's home. Mrs. Walton then invited Parley to stay at her home. She sent him to see a widow who had gone blind. He laid his hands upon her head, and immediately she was healed.
The lady told the members of the John Taylor society about her miraculous healing. Soon, Mrs. Walton and John Taylor were taught the gospel by Elder Pratt, as well as the members of the society. They were soon baptized. Mr. Taylor allowed him to preach to all the members of the society. They were gentlemen of refinement and education, and they met often to search the scriptures. Later, John Taylor left Toronto and went to Kirkland, Ohio to be with the main group of Latter-day Saints.
Alexander Hill and his wife Elizabeth and all their married children and families were all converted to the faith through the teachings of Parley P. Pratt. Later on, Elder Samuel Lake came to preach and with his enthusiasm, all thirty of the Hill family were baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ. This was unusual for an extended family group to become members all at once. This baptism took place on the 12th day of April 1840. The Essex branch of the church was formed in Tosoronto, and Alexander Hill Jr. was ordained a Presiding Priest, and John Richards, husband of Agnes Hill was appointed clerk of the branch.
Joining the Latter-Day-Saints in Nauvoo: In the Spring of 1841 some of the Hill family men decided to cross over into the United States and went to Nauvoo, Illinois. When they came back, they brought good reports about the area. So in 1842, they sold their properties at sacrifice prices, and by September they bade farewell to the British possessions. The whole of Alexander Hill's family consisting of himself, his wife, and daughter Elizabeth, and his six married children, with their spouses and families came to the United States. They traveled with horse teams and covered wagons. Every member of this little colony, with all of their earthly belongings, arrived safe and sound at the village of Nauvoo on the 30th day of September 1842.
The first winter was very cold and had extreme weather. At first they lived in board shanties. Later they built better places to live. All the men of these families labored in hauling bricks for the Nauvoo House, stones for the Temple, and timber and fire-wood from the islands of the Mississippi River, and helped to build this village into a beautiful city.
They were here to help build the temple. They were here when the Prophet Joseph and Hyrum were martyred. They were here when the mob's kept coming and harassing them. Three of the men in the Hill family were beaten by mobs with hickory rods while harvesting wheat.
Leaving Nauvoo for a Land Free of Persecution: After much persecution, the Saints left Nauvoo and crossed the Mississippi River to Lee County, Iowa. Many of them were sick, and without ample food and provisions. Agnes Hill Richards was driven out of her home in Nauvoo, Illinois, with an axe wielded in the hands of a vile German woman. On July 27th, 1846 Agnes Hill Richards gave birth in Iowa to a baby girl whom they named Rachel. She was sheltered only by the canopy of heaven, and while couched under the sweltering rays of the noonday sun she gave birth to her baby. In their hasty retreat, many of the Saints died and were buried by the wayside; and many of the wives gave premature birth to their children. A miracle took place, when the weary and hungry pioneers were delivered from the death of starvation by some unseen hand of providence. There appeared a showering of numerous plump, healthy, living quail in the adjoining woods surrounding the camped refugees. So tame were these birds that they could be entrapped without difficulty and even caught by hand. The Hill families were part of these church members that experienced these many hardships, and they were thankful for the relief from hunger. They knew that their Father in Heaven was providing for them.
All of the Hill family members had now abandoned Nauvoo. They endured many hardships as they journeyed hundreds of miles across the Iowa plains by foot and oxen teams. By autumn of 1846, they arrived at the banks of the Missouri River with many other pioneers. They hastened to build log cabins, and they called this new place Winter Quarters. Grandfather and Grandmother Hill made this journey, and with them, their son Archie and wife Isabella and three children, Samuel, Hannah and Rebecca. Isabella sickened and died March 12th, 1847, at Winter Quarters, leaving three little children under age six. Mary Hill Bullock took Rebecca, and Elizabeth Hill Swapp took Hannah, and Samuel, the eldest remained with his grandparents.
Orson Spencer and family were in the group that were going west as Mormon pioneers. Mary Hill Bullock and her husband James took care of the six Orson Spencer children after their mother, Catherine Curtis Spencer died on the Iowa plains. At Winter Quarters, by the Missouri River they built side by side cabins. James and Mary took care of the Spencer children there when their father Orson Spencer was sent on a mission. While living in this primitive country, James and Mary Bullock were very saddened at the death of two of their children at Winter Quarters. There was much sickness with these pioneers.
Later, when the group left to go further west, the Bullock's helped the motherless Spencer children in crossing the plains to the Salt Lake Valley. Their father, Orson Spencer was still on a mission to Great Britain at the time.
Alexander, at the advanced age of 72, and Elizabeth Curry Hill and some members of their extended families left Winter Quarters (Florence, Nebraska) about May 1st, 1851 in a company of about one-hundred and fifty wagons pulled by ox teams. This was under the direction of Captian John G. Smith, with Abraham Day being the captain of the second fifty wagons. Along the way they were accosted and robbed by Indians. Their daughter Elizabeth Hill Swapp gave birth to a baby boy, on the 25th of June 1851 in Nebraska. They named him Archibald Hill Swapp. James and Mary Hill Bullock continued to care for the six Spencer children, and their niece Rebecca, and their own remaining four children. When the time came to go further west, Orson Spencer was still on a mission to Great Britain. So they joined with the other's with four wagons pulled by ox teams. James Bullock drove one team, his ten year old son the second one, and the Spencer children drove the other two oxen teams. They arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on September 9th, 1851. Later, Orson Spencer after completing his mission, arrived in the Salt Lake Valley and found his children well cared for.
The Hill family first settled in Mill Creek and took up farming. Some of the married Hill families later went to Cache County, Utah and settled at Maughan's Fort, (Later called Wellsville,) and Mendon. "Archi" (Archibald) describes the Salt Lake Valley when he arrived. He wrote, It being a barren looking country, with naked Indians, and antelope, deer, wolf and millions of black crickets, but we were thankful to God for such a home, where it appeared our persecutors never would come to trouble us more.
Grandmother Elizabeth Currie Hill passed away in Salt Lake City, Utah, about the 25th of December 1854 at the age of 73 years and was buried in the Salt Lake City cemetery. After her death, Grandfather Alexander Hill, Sr. went to live with his son "Sandy" (Alexander, JR.) at Mill Creek where he lived for several years. Later he went to Wellsville, Utah and stayed with his son John, where he remained till the death of his son John, August 30th, 1863. He then stayed with his son Daniel at Wellsville, and his daughter Agnes Richards at Mendon, Utah about six miles north.
Grandfather Hill was a little lame, and walked with a cane. If he knew of some wagon going between these towns, he was always a welcome rider. If not he would set out on foot and with his cane walk the six miles. His lameness was the result of exposure and an attack of the ague in crossing the Iowa frontiers from Mississippi River to Winter Quarters. He also suffered with cholera and scurvy or "blackleg," during the trek to the Salt Lake Valley. The original source of his lameness was a result of the grape-shot, which he received at the Battle of Trafalgar in the year 1805, while a seaman.
Alexander Hill, Sr. was a devout Christian and faithful Latter-day Saint. His integrity was unquestioned; his devotion to God was unsurpassed; his temperance frugality, brotherly affection and honesty were some of his best qualities. He passed peacefully away on May 16th, 1867 in his 90th year near Wellsville, Utah. He was buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.
A small boy of seven or eight sat on a big rock by the River Clyde dreamily looking westward where the River Clyde emptied into the Firth of Clyde. He was Alexander Hill, son of Daniel and Mary Hill born in Skipness, Argyllshire, Scotland, October 15th, 1779. He now lived in a small town called Johnston near Paisley, Renfrewshire about ten miles southwest of Glasgow. His father had taken him once to Glasgow to see the big sailing ships being built in the shipyards there. He had been so excited about it. This warm sunny afternoon he sat dreamily thinking of those giant sailing ships with their tall masts and wide sails. He wondered to what far lands the new ships being built would sail to. He longingly wished he could be sailing on one far across the ocean to some distant adventurous land.
When he was ten years of age he was apprenticed as a sailor boy on one of these sailing ships. Here he learned the duties of a sailor and his dreams came true. He sailed to many an exotic island, even around the world many times. Alexander grew to be tall, over six feet, slender and athletic. He once fell from the topmast to the deck below, landing on his feet and was not hurt. He saw many houses built of different materials and of different styles, shapes and sizes. He saw people of different colored skins come and go. He saw how other people dressed and lived. He lived through many a bad storm when his ship rolled and tossed about on the waves. Sometimes he was very frightened, especially when on his first voyages. Once he thought they would surely run aground on hidden rocks or a sandbar but always they came back to Glasgow and his bonny Scotland, to one of the best harbors in the world.
On May 6th, 1806 at the age of twenty-seven, Alexander Hill , Sr. married Elizabeth Currie in Johnston. At this time he thought he would settle down, perhaps be a farmer but the call of the sea was strong and he was soon off again on another voyage. There were adventures everywhere when he was sailing to some new and exotic south-sea island or far away place such as China. One time while in China he brought home to his good wife Elizabeth some green tea. She had never before seen anything like it and thinking it must be some kind of vegetable greens, she cooked it and served it for lunch.
Sometimes when the big storms came with high whistling winds and heavy downpours of rain Alexander began to wonder if he would ever see his home, wife and children again. None of the sailors had much time to think of things like that so Alexander had to put such things out of his mind and work hard with the other sailors to keep the ship afloat. He loved the sea, the ships and everything that went with it. He loved being on the ship and helping to guide it to its assigned destination.
There were many days of sunny warm weather with the bluest of blue skies above them. When it was like this the ocean was a deep blue. Alexander enjoyed his sailor friends as they told many stories of their sea sailing days. He came to be a very good storyteller himself and all the children in his neighborhood loved to hear such exciting, adventurous stories. He was always happy to get back to his homeport of Glasgow and to see his wife and their family in their home in Johnston. Yet, when it was time to go back to his ship again he was ready to go to his work.
Alexander had worked hard on the ships, learning quickly everything he could about the sea, sailing, ships and much about the men of the sea. Many of them had spent most of their lives on the ships as he had done. He worked up to the position of First Mate on his ship. He went to see his wife and family whenever in his homeport and then off again. The call of the sea was always strong and he could never resist it for very long at a time.
When England went to war he was now on a warship under the command of Lord Admiral Nelson. He fought in the Battle of the Nile against France. In 1798 winning a great victory in the Bay of Aboukir off the coast of Egypt. When Lord Admiral Nelson returned to Naples, honors were everywhere heaped upon him and his noble fleet. Alexander Hill shared in these honors.
Alexander participated in another famous and important battle. It was fought in 1805 off the coast of Spain at Cape Trafalgar. Lord Admiral Nelson and the British fleet defeated the combined fleets of France and Spain. Lord Admiral Nelson however, was mortally wounded and died a few hours later. Alexander also suffered a wound just above the knee from which he carried a limp the rest of his life. Soon after this, Alexander even through an ardent seaman, mariner and navigator gave up his seafaring life and returned to his home in Johnston. His wife and family were very relieved and happy to have him home. A monument stands in London's Trafalgar square, erected to the memory of Lord Admiral Nelson.
Alexander Hill now became a farmer and lived in the little town of Johnston, Scotland with his wife Elizabeth and their seven children, four sons and three daughters. They were, in the succession they were born: Daniel, Agnes, Alexander Jr., Mary, John, Archibald and Elizabeth.
Alexander and his wife Elizabeth and their family were very happy in Johnston. He often thought of the ships and the life at sea of a sailor but he remained at home with his family. He remembered his dreams when a small boy of the sailing ships and going to far distant lands especially if he went to Glasgow and saw the big sailing ships. He was content to stay at home until 1821 when a number of people in his hometown of Johnston and neighboring towns talked of going to the new land where he settled and engaged in clearing the forest, making maple sugar and farming. They stayed here in Quebec Province for twelve years then moved to Ontario Province. The Hill family lived in Ontario Province until they heard about and joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and made the journey to Nauvoo, Illinois and then in 1851 entered the Salt Lake Valley with other Mormon Saints.
The dreams of a small boy had come true and there had still been time to do other things in his life, thought Alexander Hill. He died May 16th, 1867 at the age of eighty-eight at Wellsville, Utah. His wife Elizabeth preceded him in death on 1 August 1855 at the age of eighty and was buried in Salt Lake City.