Daniel Hill, was a soldier of the revolution, (an American War of Independence Veteran). Born 1 May 1752, (birth year sometimes shown as 1748 in pension records), at Natick, (later renamed Sherborn), Middlesex, Massachusetts.
Son to William Hill (1715), and Joanna Sawin (1715), brother to Susanna (1741-42 died young), Miriam (1743-44 died young), Zedikiah (1746), Jesse (1749), Susanna (1756), and Joanna Hill (1760).
Husband to 1st wife Jane Whitney of Dedham, Norfolk, Massachusetts, (married 12 Apr 1777), and father to Miriam (1778), Sabry (1779), Sarah (1780), all children were born in the Massachusetts commonwealth.
Husband to 2nd wife Alice De Gross (1767), (aka the "French Woman") of an old Cape Cod family, (married 1 Jan 1785), and father to Stephen (1786), Alice Lerie (1787), Daniel (1789), Johannah (1791), Jabez (1794), Polly (1797), William (1799), John (1800), Elsie (1803), Betsey E. (1805), Abigail (1808), and Almira (1810), all children of the 2nd marriage were born in New York state.
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Daniel Hill assisted in establishing American Independence while acting in the capacity of a volunteer Minute Man, then as enlisted Militia, part of the Natick, Massachusetts company of men serving in the Massachusetts Continental Line. (see excerpts from pension deposition below).
Born in Sherborn, his service is credited to the town Natick, according to its offical rolls. As the births of some of his children were recorded in Natick, he must have lived there during the revolution. He took part in the Battle of Bunker Hill (Breed's Hill), and is said to have served several years in the revolution. He resided in Greenwich, Hampshire, Massachusetts after the revolution, and married his 2nd wife there.
Later, he removed to Sangerfield, and New Hartford, of Oneida County, New York, and then settled in Lennox, Smithfeild, and finally Fenner, of Madison County, New York. It is in this Peterboro/Smithfield/Fenner area of New York state, where he spent his last years, and where he died.
He was a farmer.
Further, we infer that he was a God fearing, church going man based on selected entries from the diary of Simeon Brownson, who was a resident of the Town of Fenner, and a member of the Peterboro Baptist Church.
The Peterboro Baptist Church stood next to the cemetery where Daniel Hill is buried, (see attached image).
- 1834 - Old Mr. Daniel Hill was buried Thurs. 23rd Jan. 1834.
- 1842 - Mrs. Orison Howe[s] [Daniel's daughter Abigail], died rather suddenly Jan. 31st 1842.
- Eve. of Feb. 2nd, 1842 - Attended the funeral of Mrs. Orion [sic Orison] Howes.
- 1843 - Self & Mrs. B.[Brownson] attend the funeral of Old Mrs. Daniel Hill [formerly Alice De Gross], at the Baptist Meetinghouse in P.[Peterboro] Wed. April 26, 1843.
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NOTE: Per the Smithfield Town Historian, Simeon kept his diary from 1830-1847.
- A typed copy of the entries is at the Peterboro Area Museum along with an index of all the entries that mention births, deaths, and marriages.
- The original diary is at the Western Theological Seminary Collection at the Joint Archives of Holland in Holland, Michigan.
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The following citation is from an old newspaper (evidently copied from The Oneida Dispatch, as indicated in the text), which may explain what happened to some of the "missing" gravestones, etc. for the Old Peterboro Cemetery
The Madison Observer,
Morrisville, NY, Wed., June 9, 1869, p. 2, c.3
"Desecration of Burial Grounds" . . .
A Peterboro correspondent of the Dispatch speaks thus of the condition of the old burial ground in the northern part of that village:
Several years ago a new cemetery was laid out, and has since been used in preference to the old one; those who had laid their friends in the old ground supposed their graves would remain undisturbed forever, but land being "scarce and dear," (to some) and a part of this silent city being thinly populated, it was thought advisable by those pecuniarily interested, to abridge its boundaries; therefore, a fence was built through it, since which the plow glides around and over the graves thrown out of the corporation, and one of their "worthy" citizens shows his desire to gain an honest living by the sweat of his brow by raising beans, &c., in a grave-yard.
Daniel Hill, was a soldier of the revolution, (an American War of Independence Veteran). Born 1 May 1752, (birth year sometimes shown as 1748 in pension records), at Natick, (later renamed Sherborn), Middlesex, Massachusetts.
Son to William Hill (1715), and Joanna Sawin (1715), brother to Susanna (1741-42 died young), Miriam (1743-44 died young), Zedikiah (1746), Jesse (1749), Susanna (1756), and Joanna Hill (1760).
Husband to 1st wife Jane Whitney of Dedham, Norfolk, Massachusetts, (married 12 Apr 1777), and father to Miriam (1778), Sabry (1779), Sarah (1780), all children were born in the Massachusetts commonwealth.
Husband to 2nd wife Alice De Gross (1767), (aka the "French Woman") of an old Cape Cod family, (married 1 Jan 1785), and father to Stephen (1786), Alice Lerie (1787), Daniel (1789), Johannah (1791), Jabez (1794), Polly (1797), William (1799), John (1800), Elsie (1803), Betsey E. (1805), Abigail (1808), and Almira (1810), all children of the 2nd marriage were born in New York state.
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Daniel Hill assisted in establishing American Independence while acting in the capacity of a volunteer Minute Man, then as enlisted Militia, part of the Natick, Massachusetts company of men serving in the Massachusetts Continental Line. (see excerpts from pension deposition below).
Born in Sherborn, his service is credited to the town Natick, according to its offical rolls. As the births of some of his children were recorded in Natick, he must have lived there during the revolution. He took part in the Battle of Bunker Hill (Breed's Hill), and is said to have served several years in the revolution. He resided in Greenwich, Hampshire, Massachusetts after the revolution, and married his 2nd wife there.
Later, he removed to Sangerfield, and New Hartford, of Oneida County, New York, and then settled in Lennox, Smithfeild, and finally Fenner, of Madison County, New York. It is in this Peterboro/Smithfield/Fenner area of New York state, where he spent his last years, and where he died.
He was a farmer.
Further, we infer that he was a God fearing, church going man based on selected entries from the diary of Simeon Brownson, who was a resident of the Town of Fenner, and a member of the Peterboro Baptist Church.
The Peterboro Baptist Church stood next to the cemetery where Daniel Hill is buried, (see attached image).
- 1834 - Old Mr. Daniel Hill was buried Thurs. 23rd Jan. 1834.
- 1842 - Mrs. Orison Howe[s] [Daniel's daughter Abigail], died rather suddenly Jan. 31st 1842.
- Eve. of Feb. 2nd, 1842 - Attended the funeral of Mrs. Orion [sic Orison] Howes.
- 1843 - Self & Mrs. B.[Brownson] attend the funeral of Old Mrs. Daniel Hill [formerly Alice De Gross], at the Baptist Meetinghouse in P.[Peterboro] Wed. April 26, 1843.
====================================
NOTE: Per the Smithfield Town Historian, Simeon kept his diary from 1830-1847.
- A typed copy of the entries is at the Peterboro Area Museum along with an index of all the entries that mention births, deaths, and marriages.
- The original diary is at the Western Theological Seminary Collection at the Joint Archives of Holland in Holland, Michigan.
====================================
The following citation is from an old newspaper (evidently copied from The Oneida Dispatch, as indicated in the text), which may explain what happened to some of the "missing" gravestones, etc. for the Old Peterboro Cemetery
The Madison Observer,
Morrisville, NY, Wed., June 9, 1869, p. 2, c.3
"Desecration of Burial Grounds" . . .
A Peterboro correspondent of the Dispatch speaks thus of the condition of the old burial ground in the northern part of that village:
Several years ago a new cemetery was laid out, and has since been used in preference to the old one; those who had laid their friends in the old ground supposed their graves would remain undisturbed forever, but land being "scarce and dear," (to some) and a part of this silent city being thinly populated, it was thought advisable by those pecuniarily interested, to abridge its boundaries; therefore, a fence was built through it, since which the plow glides around and over the graves thrown out of the corporation, and one of their "worthy" citizens shows his desire to gain an honest living by the sweat of his brow by raising beans, &c., in a grave-yard.
Inscription
The grave
of
DANIEL HILL
died
Jan 22 1834
"The aged sure must die,
would of uncertain date,
prepare while moments fly,
to meet the stroke of fate"
Gravesite Details
Old Peterboro Cemetery, Madison County, NY, is seperate and different from the newer Peterboro Cemetery, Madison, New York.
