Consecration Deed: Archibald N. Hill

Here, finally, is an actual consecration deed. So far I have only this one for Archibald N. Hill. There is one listed for Myron Tanner & Brothers, value $566.50, but other than that I'm not finding family names. There are very few deeds from the San Bernardino settlers; they would have been in transit at the time the deeds were being created, and as far as I know there were no deeds created in San Bernardino.

And, yes, I still have not explained consecration deeds. Explanation to come, eventually, complete with citations.

Consecration Deed: Archibald Hill

April 10/54

Brother Young     I Dedicate Myself & wemen and Children with all that I Have in Posesion unto The Lord and Your Desposel with Chearful Heart

     and Remain Your Brother In the Gospel of Christ

                 Archabild N Hill

Early Mormon Missionaries: Archibald Hill

Archibald Newell Hill was an early Scottish convert from Canada. I have not told his life story yet because it is complicated and at least part of the story should be told in a more formal publishing venue, but here is his entry from the Early Mormon Missionaries database.

Archibald Hill, mission picture, courtesy of Sharon Wilbur.

Hill served three missions. The first was to Europe. Daniel B. Richard's Hill Family History notes, 

Archibald served a mission in 1865 (2 years and 4 months) to Birmingham and Southampton and traveled 3,657 miles by foot; 7,631 miles by railroad; 8,786 miles by water; attended 318 public meetings; preached 253 sermons; and baptized 10 persons. He visited his place of birth and met with an uncle.

On his return to the United States, he headed a large company of immigrants. (See more information at Mormon Migration: Manhattan, Liverpool to New York, 1867).

The second mission call was to Canada with his brother Alexander Hill, Jr. Richards notes that he visited his old home in Essex, Ontario.

Archibald Hill and his three children from his first marriage,
Samuel Hill, Hannah Hood Hill Romney, Rebecca Hood Hill Pettit.
Courtesy of Sharon Wilbur.

His third mission had to do with the intense prosecutions in the late 1880s over plural marriage. Richards notes:

In 1887 he left Utah for Joseph City, Arizona ... He got as far as Springville, Utah and returned to Salt Lake. He was then appointed as a missionary to Arizona and he left again for Joseph City and lived with his nephew, Joseph Richards for almost a year. He visited twice his granddaughter Mary Ann Romney Farr in St. Johns and to Luna Valley, New Mexico where his sister Elizabeth Swapp lived. While in Arizona he received word that his wife Margaret had died. At the end of his visit in Arizona and New Mexico, he left on the train for Salt Lake City and went through Denver where he visited with his “lost daughter” Emma Milam Hill Thomas whom he hadn’t seen for 24 years.

Here are two letters he wrote, provided through the Early Mormon Missionaries database and found at the Church History Library.

Archibald Newell Hill Letter, April 13, 1887, First Presidency Missionary Calls and recommendations, 1877–1918, Church History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, CR 1 168, box 3, folder 11, image 14, 1–2.

Transcription of the letters, as written, no correction of spelling, but I do not include the periods he uses to keep space.

Lehi April 13/87 [received by Church] A.N. Hill — April 15 — 1887. 

Mr. F.D. Richdards 

My Dear Brother no doubt but you are aware of my arest & Escape may it be wise or folish. I Have ben Led in this way, Now I +^+would^ be Pleased to Know if you Have any advice or Council for me in the futer. I dow acknolidge the Hand of the in the Past. Escape from the Enemy. Now if a mission to Europ Canada or any wheare Els would be of benifit to the Kingdom or My Self & famly I wish to be Like Clay in the Hands of the Potter 

I am now at Lehi with Bro Wm Yates, just arrived by wagon & will wate for an answer from You. My Famly is all Right as for a Livleyhood I Beleive my adress will be 

A. Currie, Lehi, in Care of William Yates 

As Ever Your Brother in the Gosple & // 

A. N. Hill 

P..S. I Believe I Can get a Recommend from my Bishop of the 19th ward if Necesery in Hase [haste, since] the Train is Coming

Archibald Newell Hill Letter, June 17, 1887, First Presidency Missionary Calls and recommendations, 1877–1918, Church History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, CR 1 168, box 3, folder 11, image 15, 1.

Nephi, Juab. Co     June 17/87 

President F. D. Richards. My Deare Brother 

I Received a Letter Yesterday from Bro. G. Reynolds Stating that I was apointed on a mission, all Right trust I will be of Some use in this great Cause of truth & warfaire, wherever it may be to no place mentioned, I would be glad for a Companion in Labour. 

he wished me to call in the evening the only Safe time I Recon. at the Historan Office. I will notify you which night I can be at Your Servise as I have to be on the Looke out, it will be if all right, the Lord willing Some time next week. May the Lord Bless & Preserve you & all his Servents. as Ever your Brother in Tribulations 

A. N. Hill

Notable Relatives: Mitt Romney

This is a very occasional series about notable descendants of some of the people featured on this blog.

Willard Mitt Romney, currently slated to become the presidential nominee for the Republican Party in the 2012 general election, is a descendant of Archibald Newell Hill and his first wife, Isabella Hood Hill. Archibald and Isabella were Scots living in Canada when they met two missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Samuel Lake and James Standing. The Hill family joined the Church and set out for Nauvoo and then started west with the Saints. Isabella died at Winter Quarters. Archibald set off across the plains and his sisters took his three small children, Samuel, Hannah, and Rebecca, to the Salt Lake Valley. Archibald later remarried (several times) and had a large family.

Standing, left to right: Archibald Newell Hill, Samuel Hood Hill. Seated, left to right: Hannah Hood Hill Romney, Rebecca Hood Hill Pettit.

I have wondered a time or two if it could have ever crossed the mind of Archibald and Isabella as they left Scotland, and then as they left Canada for the United States that theirs would be an integral part of the American dream: immigrants leaving old Europe and establishing a home in America and having their descendants become doctors and lawyers and professors and governors and even a possible president of the United States.

Romney's descendancy is:

Archibald and Isabella Hill

Hannah Hood Hill Romney

Gaskell Romney

George Wilcken Romney

Willard Mitt Romney

Our line is:

Archibald and Isabella Hill

Rebecca Hood Hill Pettit

Mary Isabell Pettit Green

Lucile Green Glade

Beverly Glade Wessman

This means that Grandma Beverly was a third cousin to the current candidate.

I personally find this relation only mildly interesting since Romney, being descended as he is from Archibald Hill, Miles Romney, Parley P. Pratt, Charles Wilcken, and others (see my Brief Guide to Mitt Romney's Polygamous Heritage) probably has many tens of thousands of cousins in the Church today, and it's neither rare nor novel to be related to him.

Note: I have extensive materials about Archibald and Isabella Hill and their families. They lived fascinating and complicated lives, but for a variety of reasons I will probably not get around to blogging about them until next year.

Hannah Hill Romney Album: Men in Pompadours

Here are the next two pictures. With the Prince Albert coat, the fact that the picture was taken in London, the book in his hands (scriptures?), and the fact that the picture was found in Hannah Hill Romney's album this is probably a missionary. Which missionary would it be? It is someone close enough to make it into the family album.

 

The only reference I can find to G. Flower is a note about an ambrotype for sale. Westminster Bridge Road is just south/east of the Thames, and was the location of Astley's Theatre, as noted on the photograph.

This man is not Archibald Hill and it's not Samuel Hill. Is it Miles Park Romney? I've never seen a picture of him at any other age besides this:

It doesn't look like it. Miles Park was in England when he was 18-21 years old, and this man looks substantially older. Could it be his father, Miles Romney? I seem to remember that he served as a missionary; I don't know whether it was before he emigrated or afterwards.

Miles Romney, the father of Miles Park Romney.

Could the picture from the album be a Hill uncle? There are several possibilities there, but I don't know if any of them served a mission in England. I'll try and follow up on this detail another time.

And, another picture from the album, a young man perhaps also wearing his hair in a pompadour (see this link for a discussion of 1900s pompadours, which is the wrong time frame, but the same or a similar hairstyle):

The back side of this picture does not have a photographer's mark. Could this be Miles Park Romney? The picture looks like it was taken in the 1860-1870 time period, which would make this young man be the right age to be Miles Park. Perhaps someone in the extended Romney family has a known photograph of Miles Park at this age to compare.

Next in a Series of Guest Posts...

Life gets busy sometimes, and I've had just enough time to work on another in a long series of guest posts for Keepapitchinin. This one grew out of the last Eminent Women post on Isabell Romney Platt. 

The post is a brief biography of each of Mitt Romney's twelve ancestors who were involved in polygamous marriages. The subject is frequently discussed in the news and on news blogs across the internet, so this was an attempt to provide some accurate information, and point out that these are real people who lived real lives and should not be used as pawns in a political game.

So, here's a link to the post. "A Brief Guide to Mitt Romney's Polygamous Heritage."

And, one of these days I'll get back to posting more of Hannah Hill Romney's photo album, and finish the Tanner Daguerreotype project, and work on lots of other leads and loose ends in this vast, ongoing family history project.

Amazing New Find: The Hannah Hill Romney Photo Album

Several days ago, a distant cousin emailed with the news of an amazing find. Hannah Hood Hill Romney's photo album had been kept by her daughter-in-law, Ethel Call Romney, and she left this note with the album, which was found recently by one of her descendants.

In 1969 when Ethel Romney wrote this note, it would have been difficult to identify the photographs, but due to technological advances, we may be able to tell the identities of some or all of the people in the pictures.

A Few Notes About Hannah Hood Hill Romney and Her Family

Hannah Hood Hill (1842-1929) was the daughter of Archibald Newell Hill (1816-1900) and Isabella Hood Hill (1821-1847). Archibald and Isabella were Scottish immigrants to Canada. Two children were born, Hannah and her brother Samuel Hood Hill (1840-1903), before the family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and moved to Nauvoo where Rebecca Hood Hill [Pettit] (1845-1922) was born. Hannah's mother Isabell died at Winter Quarters as the Saints were headed west.

In 1862, Hannah married Miles Park Romney (1843-1904) in Salt Lake City, Utah. Miles left almost immediately after their marriage for a three-year mission to England. After he returned, the Romney family moved several times, first to help build the town of St. George in southern Utah, then to help establish St. Johns in eastern Arizona, then to help found the Mormon Colonies in Mexico.

Hannah had eleven children. She told about her life in a touching and detailed autobiography which unfortunately is not available online.

After Miles Park Romney died in 1904, Hannah and his other wives, Catharine Cottam Romney (1855-1918) and Annie Woodbury Romney (1858-1930), sold the family ranch in Mexico. Hannah spent much of the rest of her life living with her children and her sister, Rebecca Hill Pettit.

Hannah was visiting family in the Colonies in Mexico when she died in 1929.

Some Pictures from the Photo Album

Please leave comments or send an email (see my email address on the sidebar) if you know the subject of any of the pictures posted today or subsequently or if you can tell us anything about  the details of the pictures or photographers.

Here is the first picture.

This picture was taken by Charles Outon in Landport, which is in England. The identification on the back of the picture says, "A. N. Hill & Son." It is written in Spencerian script, which means that the person who identified the picture was probably educated in the Nineteenth Century, so it may be an accurate identification. Here are known pictures of Archibald and Samuel to compare, and the identification looks correct.

Archibald Hill as a missionary. This picture is courtesy of Sharon Wilbur, and is not from the Hannah Hill Romney Album.

Back (left to right): Archibald Hill, Samuel Hill. Front: Hannah Hill Romney, Rebecca Hill Pettit. This picture is courtesy of Sharon Wilbur, and is not from the Hannah Hill Romney Album.

When was Archibald Hill in England? An anonymously-written family history notes:

Archibald served a mission in 1865 (2 years and 4 months) to Birmingham and Southampton and traveled 3,657 miles by foot; 7,631 miles by railroad; 8,786 miles by water; attended 318 public meetings; preached 253 sermons; and baptized 10 persons. He visited his place of birth and met with an uncle. On his way home was appointed charge over a steamship of Saints going to America. [Here is the record of the journey of the Manhattan, with Archibald Hill presiding over the Saints.]

Samuel Hood Hill was in England about the same time and he headed another company of Saints traveling to America on the ship Caroline a year before his father returned home. [Account of the journey.] The picture of Archibald and Samuel Hill may have been taken before Samuel left England on May 5, 1866.

Here is another picture from Hannah Romney's photo album.

The photographers, Charles R. Savage and George M. Ottinger, operated in Salt Lake City from December 1863 to 1872.

I think this is a picture of Miles Park and Hannah Romney's oldest daughter, Isabell Hill Romney Platt; first, because it looks like her, and second, because she is shown alone without any siblings.

Isabell's father left on a mission to England before she was born in 1863 and returned when she was three years old. Perhaps Hannah had this picture taken to send to Miles in England, since Isabell appears to be one or two years old.

Here is a later picture of Isabell to compare to the subject of this photograph, as well as a picture of Miles Park Romney since Isabell has a very strong resemblance to her father.

From Findagrave. This is a copy of a picture from Life Story of Miles Park Romney (Thomas C. Romney, Independence, Missouri, 1948), f310.

A close-up of the child in the picture in the Hannah Hill Romney photo album.

Miles Park Romney. From Findagrave. This may be a copy of a picture from Life Story of Miles Park Romney (Thomas C. Romney, Independence, Missouri, 1948), frontispiece.

The picture of Archibald and Samuel Hill and the picture of Isabell Romney Platt were the first photographs in the collection. We will be posting many more and hopefully with the help of online resources and descendants who see this blog, we will be able to identify many of the people in the photographs.

Archibald Hill and Mary Howes

Archibald Hill had several wives. One of them, Mary House or Howes, was listed in NewFamilySearch with a birth date but not a death date. The Utah State Archives has death certificates, so I checked to see if she died in Utah, which she did. Here is her death certificate. She was 74 years old and died of "myocarditis acute" and "abscessed teeth." (Take good care of your teeth! If you don't, it can lead to or complicate heart problems.)

Mary's maiden name is spelled "House" on her death certificate but "Howes" on earlier records in England and "Howse" on her migration record, so I have used the earliest spelling, "Howes."

I added Mary's death and burial information to NewFamilySearch, complete with citation. The death certificate lists her father's name, which should help trace Mary and her family. She did not have any children, so her husband's descendants from his other wives should make sure that her immediate family's temple work is done.

(If someone wants to do the work, make sure you identify the correct family in England with the father Jervis or Jarvis Howes and a mother who died before Mary left England, and please document all the information you add to NewFamilySearch. Identifying her family is a bit of a challenge, but certainly not impossible.)

Seen at the DUP Museum

The Daughters of Utah Pioneers has a rather amazing museum, stuffed with pioneer artifacts and pictures and histories, next to the Utah State Capitol. During a visit yesterday, while in the basement display room, my eye fell on a green tin, about 6" wide by 6" high (plus a handle) by about 4" deep.

The typed display note said, "Tea canister bought in Farmington, Canada in 1840 by Isabella Hood. She died in Winter Quarters in 1847. Donor Edwin Pettit."

The tin is a green color, much used, and what is of the most interest was a paper pasted to the front of the tin. It said, in beautiful lettering,

This tin Canister [sic] was Bought by my wife Isabella Hood in Farmington 27 Miles North of the [unreadable] in Toronto Canada Just before we were married [unreadable] February 27th 1840. She died in Winter Quarters 20. March 1847 A. N. Hill

What an interesting and unusual primary source!

Picture of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum from www.flickr.com/photos/katieelaine/1785518052/.