Mercy Hill

Her parentage remains unknown. The identity of the woman who married John Hill is not yet examined.

As it is said out there on the internet without any proper source, it is thought that she was "Mercy Howland" who married John Hill.

"Mercy Howland" who married John Hill is not identical to Mercy Howland who was the daughter of Thomas and Mary Howland.

John Hill and his unknown wife had married sometime before either 1723 or 1727 and had possibly ten children together during their marriage between 1723/1727 and 1739.

However, Mercy Howland, daughter of Thomas and Mary Howland, was mentioned as Mary Howland in the citation order by Judge Isaac Winslow in 1737. In fact, she was unmarried at that time. Nothing mentioned about Mrs. "Mercy Hill" or John Hill in Thomas Howland's probate records.

"Mercy Howland" who married John Hill and Mercy Howland who was the daughter of Thomas and Mary Howland were separate, different women at two different locations (Westerly, Rhode Island and Marshfield, Massachusetts respectively) at the same time.

Significantly, Mary Hill's birth record is found in the vital records of Westerly, Rhode Island. Mary Hill's birth record is listed under John Hill's birth record because both of them are recorded together on the same page in Book 1, page 173.[1] Her birth record shows that Mary Hill was born on 27 February 1701/02.[1] It is possible that John Hill's unknown wife and Mary Hill may be the same woman who married John Hill, but it seems to refer to Mary Hill who was the daughter of John Hill and was the sister of John Hill. However, the record of the marriage between an unknown woman and John Hill is not found yet.

It is clear that John Hill had the following children on the record on Book 2, pages 87 and 97 without mentioning his wife's name.[1]

Interestingly, the book John Hill of Dorchester, Mass., and His Descendants, which was published in 1904, did not say anything further on the identification of John Hill's wife on page 30, but it listed six known children of John Hill and no further investigation of this family had been made.[2]

The identification of John Hill's wife remains unclear, so it is doubtful that "Mercy Howland" married John Hill. It is necessary to find a good source to support the evidence on the identification of his wife's name before the book was published in 1904.

The best source is preferred before 1904 for her identification.

However, there was another book The Descendants of Robert Burdick of Rhode Island, which was published in 1937, and it had two interesting references about John Hill and his wife. It said, "(John Hill of the Oblong, Dutchess Co., N. Y.) and Mercy, his wife, belonged to the Westerly Sabbatarian Church before July, 1768" on page 73 and "John Hill and his wife (Mercy) were members of the Westerly Sabbatarian Church before July, 1768" on page 83. It cannot be ascertained whether John Hill of Westerly and his unknown wife are identical with John of Oblong, New York and his wife, Mercy because John Hill of Westerly, Rhode Island, and his wife, Jane Hill sold 12.75 acres of land on 3 September 1756. It means he already married his second wife, Jane before the sale of 1756.

In 1873, the book The Memorial: Portraits of William Bliss [and Others] was published, and it discussed the list of 278 members who still the members of the Westerly Sabbatarian Church on pages 131 through 133 and they were examined and compared by Elisha Stillman and Joseph Clarke, Jr. in July 1768. On page 131, "John Hill of the Oblong" and "Mercy Hill" were on the list.[3]

Marriage

The identification of the woman who married John Hill sometime before 1727 remains unknown. It is thought that she was Mercy Howland who married him as it is said on the internet. Clearly, it is not a good source to support that.[1]

Children

Unidentified woman and John Hill had the children together, but only six known children were born in Westerly, Kings County, Rhode Island.[2]

1. [Proven] Tacy Hill, b. 17 December 1727.[1]
2. [Proven] Jonathan Hill, b. 25 April 1730.[1]
3. Henry Hill, b. 1732.
4. [Proven] Ebenezer Hill (twin), b. 23 March 1733/34,[1] or 23 March 1723/24.[2]
5. [Proven] Mercy Hill (twin), b. 23 March 1733/34,[1] or 23 March 1723/24;[2] m. 1st, Unknown Nye, m. 2nd, James Valentine Cox.[4]
6. [Proven] John Hill, b. 21 November 1734;[1] d. 1796.
7. Caleb Hill, b. 1736; d. 1812.
8. [Proven] David Hill, b, 18 November 1736.[1]
9. George Hill, b. 1738; d. 1800.
10. Stephen Hill, b. 1739.

Sources

1. Arnold, James Newell. Vital Records of Rhode Island, 1636-1850: Births, Marriages and Deaths. First Series. Vol. 5, Part IV. "WESTERLY "Births and deaths", Providence, Rhode Island: Narrangansett Historical Publishing Company, 1894, p. 108.
2. Bartlett, J. Gardner. John Hill of Dorchester, Mass., and His Descendants. Boston: New-England Historic Genealogical Society., 1904, p. 19.
3. The Memorial: Portraits of William Bliss [and Others]. Westerly, R.I: G.B. & J.H. Utter, 1874. Print, p. 131.
4. Cutter, William R. Historic Homes and Places and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Middlesex County, Massachusetts. New York: Lewis historical Pub. Co, 1908. Print, pp. 1437, 1438.