
After all these years, I think I have finally found ’em.
This past Tuesday I was searching on Ancestry and came upon a woman named — which is not common — on a “Tax & Exoneration” list, whatever that means. Usually a woman mentioned by name during this period means she is widowed. Sometimes, rarely, she may be single and unmarried. Otherwise, it would be the name of her husband in her place. She would go unnamed.
Elizabeth Hill is her name. From 1778 to 1780, she is listed, living in White Deer Township, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. White Deer is now, apparently, in Union County.
Is Elizabeth Hill the mother of my ancestor James? Or is she an aunt and Jacob his father? Who knows. At least, now however, I have names and a location to focus on. This should be the breakthrough I have been hoping for.
What sealed the deal for me is a name scribbled out below Elizabeth and Jacob, William Jordan. You see, William Jordan is the father of a woman named Mary Jordan. Mary married a man named James Hill.
Jacob Hill is recorded right after Elizabeth. James Hill had a grandson named Jacob A. Hill. This has been confirmed by DNA testing.
After 1780, Elizabeth Hill disappears from White Deer Township, at least in the records she does. Did she die? That would be my guess. Of course, she may have simply moved, to another town or into another household. She may have remarried.
In 1781 a woman named Elizabeth Hill was living in a place called Northern Liberties near Philadelphia. She was still there in 1790, living with three boys less than 16 years old and one female, her age unknown.
In 1790 James Hill is living in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. He is the only male in a household of six, meaning he and Mary likely had at least four daughters.
William Jordan and his brother Samuel are living nearby. William died on January 8, 1795 in White Deer Township, Northumberland County.
If this James Hill is my ancestor, then he would go on to marry a woman named Sarah Tidd, who went by the name Sallie, and they would settle in Ohio.
I don’t know what happened to Mary Jordan or their four daughters. One may be Rebecca Hill, who was born in 1785 and married Samuel Tidd, a brother of Sarah.
ajh