David Reuben Hill ~ Index
David Reuben Hill was born February 14th, 1875 at Mill Creek, Salt Lake County, Utah, to William Hood and Elizabeth Hamilton Hill. David spent his early boyhood in Mill Creek He attended the old adobe Mill Creek school as much as he could. Grandfather Hill farmed a great many acres of land and in the fall harvesting had to be done. In the spring the planting of these many acres of land was done. Dave, as he was called, had to do his share of the work, therefore, he could only attend school during the winter months. He read from the old McGuffy Readers and learned his arithmetic sums along with some spelling and writing. The old Mill Creek school went to the eighth grade and this was the extent of Dave's schooling. When Dave was a young man he was sent to Wyoming to herd sheep. Grandfather Hill had large herds of sheep and some of his boys also had sheep there. Dave and his younger brother Lewis spent quite a few years herding sheep. The Hill family visited in Mendon, Cache County, Utah with the Sorensen family as grandfather Hill's first wife was Mary (Sorensen), grandpa Sorensen's sister. The Sorensen family returned the visits, especially at April and October conferences. Many parties were held at Saltair and at the Hill residence during the summer. The visits sometimes lasted a week or two. Dave met Malena (known as Minnie) Sorensen, daughter of Isaac Sorensen and they later became engaged. The date for the marriage was set and then what a busy time for the Sorensen household. The women cooked and baked for a week while Minnie, who was an excellent dressmaker made new dresses for her mother, six sisters and herself.
On October 11th, 1900 the marriage was solemnized in the Logan Temple. Minnie and Dave did not want a wedding, but at that time such a thing was unheard of, so a full course hot dinner was served to all the wedding guests who were relatives and friends. In the evening a dance was held in the amusement hall of the Mendon Ward house. The whole town was invited as well as many friends from all over Cache Valley, Bear Lake and Pocatello, Idaho.
Minnie and Dave made their home in part of uncle Jim Hill's (James H. Hill) rock house in Mendon. About a month later Dave fell very ill with pneumonia. For a while there was deep concern for his life, but with careful nursing from his wife, her mother and her sisters he was soon well again. He left Mendon for Opal and Big Piney, Wyoming and the sheep. Minnie remained in Mendon. On April 8th, 1902, a son was born to them, whom they named David Alma. Minnie spent the summers in Wyoming and the winters in Mendon. On June 10th, 1905, another son Carl Hood was born to them. One day in the summer when Carl was about a year old and they were at the sheep camp, Minnie put the baby to sleep on a blanket in the shade of some trees. She went to the camp wagon, which was close by, for something. When she returned there was a big rattlesnake on the blanket by the sleeping baby. Her blood went cold, but remembering what her husband had told her, to be very quiet and the snake would go away, she stood where she was. The baby went on sleeping and the snake crawled away, Minnie could never like the sheep camp. My father told about the good sour dough biscuits he could make, but when my mother got there he never made a biscuit while she was there.
The next year grandfather Hill gave Dave some land not far from the old Hill residence. A house was built on it at 4327 South 5th East, Salt Lake County, by a Mr. Green. Dave and Minnie with their two sons moved to this home. Here four more children were born to them. They were: Eva Mary, September 8th, 1907; Olive, February 10th, 1909; Anna Mae, August 26th, 1910; and Isaac William, May 18th, 1912. Dave gave up sheep herding and came home to enter the fish hatchery business with his half brothers. He worked at this business for a few years, leaving it for work at the brickyard for Utah Fire Clay Company. He worked here until his death at the age of forty-five on November 26th, 1919. He is buried in the Elysian Burial Gardens in the Hill family plot.
I can remember my father as a gentle, good father. He worked nights for so many years and had to sleep days, that his children seldom saw very much of him. I remember on the 24th of July one year he borrowed a wagon and horse, drove to Murray to the pool hall, the only place you could buy any soft drinks and purchased a whole case of soda water. I think it was the first commercially made soda pop I had ever tasted, as we always made our own root beer. He took me with him in the wagon but I had to wait outside, as ladies were not allowed in such a place. I remember also many of our friends saying how my father liked to dance and what a good dancer he was. He was a hard working man whose first concern was to provide a good home and living for his wife and family. He was sick much of his life with stomach ulcers, yet he never missed going to work.