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Major Harry Craig Hill

MAJOR HARRY CRAIG HILL, of San Francisco, California, though not a native of Bucks county, spent his youthful day just over its borders at Hatboro, and has always taken a deep interest in the county as the home of his maternal ancestors.  He is a son of Dr. John HOWARD and Cynthia (CRAIG) HILL, who were married in 1835, and was born in Philadelphia .

      His paternal ancestors, William and Mary (HUNTER) HILL, came to America from Ireland about 1720 and settled in Middletown , Chester county, where the former died in 1747, leaving six children:Alexander, Mary, John, Peter, Christiana, and another whose name is unknown, being an infant when the father died.  John HUNTER, the father of Mary  (HUNTER) HILL, was a native of Durham, England, and a descendant of the HUNTERS of Meadowsley Hall, Gateshead, Durham, where are buried many of this noble family who trace their descent from William, the Hunter, who in 1185 married a lady of Whittenstall and founded the family of Meadowsley Hall.  John HUNTER was a strong churchman, and having made himself obnoxious to the Catholic party, was forced to flee from Durham on the accession to the throne of James II, and took refuge in Rathdrum, county Wicklow, Ireland, where he married in 1693 Margaret ALBIN.  He was captain of a troop of horse under William of Orange at the battle of the Boyne , July 1, 1690 , and was wounded in the left hip, from which he suffered a slight lameness during the remainder of his life.  His superior officer in the battle of the Boyne was Anthony WAYNE (the grandfather of "Mad Anthony WAYNE," of the Revolution), with whom he came to America in 1722, settling for a short time near Downingtown.  Chester county, but removing the following year to a one thousand acre tract of land in Newtown township, now Delaware county, purchased March 17, 1723, where he died in 1734 at the age of seventy years, and is buried in the churchyard at St. David's Episcopal Church, Radnor, of which he was a member of the first vestry.  His children were John, William, Mary Margaret, George, Peter, Martha, Ann, Elizabeth and James, the first and last named being also members of the vestry of St. David's. 

      John HILL, son of William and Mary (HUNTER) HILL, was born in Middletown , Chester county, in 1736, and died there in February, 1814.   He married at Christ Church, July 22, 1760, Mary GIBBONS, daughter of Joseph and Hannah (Marshall) Gibbons, and granddaughter of James and Ann (PEARCE) GIBBONS, great-granddaughter of John and Margery GIBBONS, who came from Warminster, Wiltshire, England, in 1681, and settled in Newtown, Chester county.  Mary (GIBBONS) HILL was born 2 mo. 15, 1743.  Her father, Joseph GIBBONS, was a member of colonial assembly 1748-63, and her grandfather, George PEARCE of Thornbury, was also a member of assembly 1717-19.  Her mother, Hannah MARSHALL, was a daughter of Abraham MARSHALL, who came from Gratton, Derbyshire, in 1700, and a sister to Humphrey MARSHALL the famous botanist.  John and Mary (GIBBONS) HILL were the parents of thirteen children, eleven of whom lived to maturity and left descendants.

      Humphrey HILL, the grandfather of Major HILL, was the third son of John and Mary, and was born in October, 1763, and died in December, 1811.  He married at Christ Church , March 3, 1791 , Alice HOWARD, born January, 1762, daughter of John and Sarah (BUNTING) HOWARD, and granddaughter of Thomas and Grace (BEAKES) HOWARD.  Sarah (BUNTING) HOWARD was a daughter of John and Alice Lord (NICHOLSON) BUNTING, of Burlington county, New Jersey, and granddaughter of Samuel and Mary (FOULKE) BUNTING, the former of whom was a son of Anthony and Ellen BUNTING, of Matlock, Derbyshire, and the latter a daughter of Thomas FOULKE, one of the nine commissioners of New Jersey who settled at Crosswicks in 1677.  Job BUNTING, another son of Anthony, was a large landholder in Bucks county.  Grace (BEAKES) HOWARD was a daughter of Stephen BEAKES and Elizabeth BILES, of Bucks county, both natives of England, their respective parents (William BEAKES, of Barkwell, Somersetshire, and William BILES, of Dorchester, Dorsetshire) being among the earliest English settler on the Delaware in Bucks county, the latter being an officer of the court at Upland prior to the arrival of Penn, and a member of the first provincial council from Bucks.

      Dr. John Howard HILL, the father of Major HILL, was the only child of Humphrey and Alice (HOWARD) HILL.  He was for many years an eminent physician at Hatboro, Montgomery county, and had a large practice in adjoining parts of Bucks county.  He was twice married, having married in December, 1813, Eliza Louisa DAVIS, and (second) in October, 1835.  Cynthia CRAIG, born October, 1804, daughter of Daniel and Jean (JAMISON) CRAIG, both natives of Warrington, Bucks county, the former being a son of Thomas and Jean (JAMISON) CRAIG, also natives of Warrington, and grandson of Daniel CRAIG, who came from the north of Ireland and settled in Warrington about 1735, and died there in 1775.Thomas CRAIG, grandfather of Mrs. HILL, was a captain in the "Flying Camp" during the Revolution, and the command of the Bucks county regiment devolved upon him on the death of Colonel William BAXTER, during the battle of Fort Washington, November 16, 1776.  His brother John and his cousins Thomas, John and William CRAIG, of Northampton , were also distinguished officers in the Revolution.  His sister Sarah, who married John BARNHILL, was the ancestress of President ROOSEVELT.  The CRAIG and JAMISON families were among the earliest Scotch-Irish settlers in Bucks county.  The former consisted of four brothers: Thomas, Daniel, William and James: and three sisters: Sarah, wife of Richard WALKER, of Warrington, a prominent justice and member of the colonial assembly; Margaret, wife of John GRAY, an early elder of Neshaminy church, and the wife of John BOYD, of the Irish settlement.  The CRAIG brothers, with the exception of Daniel, all eventually settled at Craig's or the Irish Settlement.  The JAMISON family consisted of Henry JAMISON and his sons, Henry, Robert and Alexander, who all settled in Warrington, Bucks county, about 1720, where they became large landholders and prominent citizens.  Henry JAMISON, Jr., married Mary STEWART, and their daughter Jean, born in 1738, became the wife of Captain Thomas CRAIG.  Robert JAMISON married Jean BLACKBURN and their second son, Robert, born in 1739 and married in 1767 to Hannah BAIRD, was the father of Jean JAMISON, who became the wife of Daniel CRAIG, Jr., who was born in Warrington in 1794, and died in Montgomery county in 1836.  Dr. John Howard HILL removed to California in 1851, his two sons Harry and Horace going there in1852- three older sons going with their father and one preceding him.

      Major Harry Craig HILL, has a distinguished war record, having served throughout the civil war as a cavalry officer, and will carry to his grave many mementoes of that heroic service, among them a sabre scar extending diagonally across the forehead, the result of a wound received in a cavalry charge.  He served on the staff of General Benjamin F. BUTLER during most of the war.  Returning to California after the close of the war, he became interested in silver mines in New Mexico , Colorado and Utah , and made his home in Utah for several years.  He takes special pride in his descent from his Scotch-Irish ancestors in Bucks county, and has paid several visits to their former homes.  He has retired from business, and now resides in San Francisco , California .

Test taken from page 469-470 of:

Davis, William W. H., A.M., History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania [New York-Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1905] Volume III

Transcribed November 2003 by Joan Lollis as part of the Bucks Co., Pa., Early Family Project, www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/bucksindex.html

Published December 2003 on the Bucks County, Pa., USGenWeb pages at www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/