History of Lycoming County Pennsylvania,
edited by John F. Meginness; ©1892
CHAPTER L., BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

JOHN HILL was born at Windsor Castle, Berks county, Pennsylvania, May 24, 1787, son of Jacob Hill, a soldier of the Revolution, and grandson of John Daniel Hill, who was born in Philadelphia county, Pennsylvania, about 1723, and late in life removed from Windsor Castle, Berks county, to Greensburg, Westmoreland county, where he died about 1814. The family is descended from an ancestor who migrated from Ireland to Switzerland after the Reformation; and as early as 1682 and soon after they were represented in southeastern Pennsylvania. Jacob Hill removed to the Muncy valley in 1794, locating within the present limits of Wolf township, and here John Hill was reared and obtained a limited education; and here he resided upon the parental homestead or in its immediate vicinity, until his death a period of seventy-nine years. His father suffered from physical disability entailed by his military service, and at the age of eighteen John Hill, being the eldest of his sons, was obliged to do much of the business of his father beyond the home, especially at the courts of the county, and thus early formed those business habits to which his future success is largely attributable. In 1815 he married Catharine Steck, and they were the parents of twelve children: George Hill, M. D., of Hughesville; Jacob and John, who died in infancy; Rev. R. Hill, of Mount Airy Seminary, Philadelphia; Dr. Charles M. Hill, of Hughesville, deceased; Elizabeth, wife of Elwood Hughes, of Dixon, Illinois; Sarah A., deceased wife of Rev. P. Born, D. D., of Missionary Institute, Selinsgrove; Susanna, widow of Rev. Joshua Evans; Hannah, deceased wife of Capt. A. C. Mensch, of Dover, Delaware; Martha, deceased, who married Rev. Charles Ehrhart, deceased, formerly professor at Pennsylvania Col-lege, Gettysburg; Mary C., wife of Rev. J. R. Dimm, D. D., principal of Missionary Institute, Selinsgrove, and Margaret, deceased. About the year 1812 Jacob Hill was elected captain of a military company; he subsequently rose to the rank of major, "and displayed ability as a tactician. In 1836 he was commissioned as justice of the peace, and held this office until it became elective. He became a Whig during the second term of Jackson's presidency, and at the formation of the Republican party became an earnest supporter of its principles and measures. About the year 1830 he took advance ground regarding the use of alcoholic stimulants, and was ever after an ardent temperance advocate. He became a member of the Lutheran church early in life; much of his life he was an officer in the church, and at all times he was zealous in promoting her interests. In this faith he died, June 1, 1873, at the advanced age of eighty-six years and six days.
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Birth date discrepancies -
24 May 1787 (Biography - History of Lycoming County Pennsylvania)
25 May 1787 (Tombstone inscription)
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