Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)
Richard Hill (b. 1698 - d. 1762)
MSA SC 3520-15900
Property Owner, London
Town, Maryland
Biography:
Dr. Richard Hill was a Quaker who
lived in the area
surrounding London Town from
his birth in
1698 until he left Maryland in 1739. Born on his family’s plantation,
“Hill’s
Point,” right outside Annapolis,
he was the grandson of Captain Richard Hill1 and
the son of
Henry Hill.2
His brother Levin Hill was married to
Elizabeth Hill.3 Dr. Hill’s other brother
Joseph Hill died
in 1761, surviving all of his children.4 Joseph Hill’s wife, Sarah
Richardson
Hill, also died in 1761.5 His daughter, Margaret, died in 1745.6 His
only son, Henry, died in
1751 while helping hang tobacco.7 Joseph Hill left most
of his
possessions to his granddaughter, Henny Margaret Hill.8
In 1720/1, Dr. Richard Hill married Deborah Moore. They
were married near London Town and the South River. She was the
granddaughter of Thomas Lloyd, the governor of Pennsylvania, and the
daughter of Mordecai Moore.9 Dr. Hill and his wife had at least ten children:
Richard Jr., Henry, Deborah
Bissett, Milcah, Harriot Scott, Hannah Moore, Mary Lamar,
Rachel Wells,
Margaret Morris, and Sarah Dillwyn.10
His eldest
son, Richard, died on March 18, 1755 in Madeira.11
Dr. Hill was a surgeon, an amateur botanist, and a
merchant. It is believed
that he may have lived in Philadelphia
for a time while receiving his medical training.12 He pursued his interest in medicinal plants through his correspondence with scholars in London and the Royal Society of London.13 As a merchant, he owned at least four
vessels: Frederick
(80 tons, ship), London Town
(70 tons, snow), Benedict (50 tons,
sloop), and Bachelor Hall. 14
Dr. Hill possessed at least seven lots in
London
Town
and some parcels of land in the surrounding area. He acquired lots 1,
2, and 44
from Richard Moore (son of Mordecai Moore) in 1722.15 He bought
lot 43
from Ellis Davis of Philadelphia in 1722,16 lot 8 from Stephen Warman in
1725,17 and
lot 90 from Thomas Macklefish in 1727.18 He also purchased other parcels
of land
from Patrick Sympson,19 David Macklefish,20 Richard Jones,21 Thomas Tylloy,22
and
William Purdy.23
Dr.
Hill owned at least forty slaves. He purchased Sambo from Joseph
Burton
in 1730, Toby from Thomas Linthicum in 173024, and Tommy, Tommy, and Nell
(or
Moll?) from Edward Parrish in 1732.25 He sold thirty-seven slaves to John Galloway in 1737 (to see a complete list, click here).26 Valentine (boy) and Jemima (girl) were two of the slaves he had with him in Madeira. In his will, he left
Valentine to his son,
Henry, and Jemima to his granddaughter, Mary Bissett.27
Toward
the end of Dr. Hill’s time in the London Town area,
he “sought
immunity from debts,” the equivalent of filing for bankruptcy today,
but was
denied.28 Thus,
he had to sell most of his possessions, demonstrated by a deed made in
1737 in
which Dr. Hill had to sell three London Town lots
and at least
five parcels of land to John Galloway.29 Dr.
Hill moved to Funchal, the capital of Madeira, a Portuguese archipelago
north
of the Canary Islands.30
Before
his departure, his eldest daughter, Hannah, aged fifteen, married
the grandson of his wife's sister, Dr. Samuel Preston Moore. He left
six of his own children in her care.31 One can read about
the relationship between Hannah Moore (nee Hill) and her father in the
letters they exchanged during Dr. Hill's time in Madeira.32
Gradually, Dr. Hill's business affairs started to improve, as he
desired to provide well for his children. He returned to the colonies
in 1754 to visit his family who had moved to Philadelphia, and his
brother, Joseph, who lived near London Town.33
While visiting from Madeira, Dr. Richard Hill died on January 29,
1762 in Philadelphia.34
1. Mechelle L. Kerns, London Town: The Life of a
Colonial Town, (University of Maryland Baltimore County:
Masters of Arts Thesis, 1999), 93.
2. ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY COURT
(Land Records) Richard Hill, 1734, Liber RD2, folio 247, MSA
C97-17, MdHR 4783.
3. Barnard C. Steiner, ed, Proceedings and Acts of the Assembly, vol. XL, (Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society), 237.
4. Kerns, 96.
5. "Sarah Richardson Hill," Maryland Gazette, January 15, 1761.
6. "Margaret Hill," Maryland Gazette, January 20, 1745.
7. "Henry Hill," Maryland Gazette, August 28, 1751.
8. Kerns, 96.
9. Mechelle Kerns and Mollie Ridout, Dr. Richard Hill of London Town: Economic and Social Perspectives on Life in Colonial America, (Maryland: London Town Foundation, 1998), 5.
10. Library Company of Philadelphia. Will. Richard Hill, 1761. Collection
Number. YI 2/ 7291/ F235.
11. "Richard Hill, junior." Maryland Gazette, May 15, 1755.
12. Kerns, 93-4.
13. Kerns and Ridout, 13-4.
14. Kerns, 93-4.
15. ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY COURT
(Land Records) Richard Hill, 1722, Liber CW1, folio 499, MSA
C97-11, MdHR 4777.
16. ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY COURT
(Land Records) Richard Hill, 1722, Liber
RCW2, folio 232, MSA C97-12, MdHR 4778.
17. ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY COURT
(Land Records) Richard Hill, 1725, Liber
SY1, folio 161, MSA C97-13, MdHR 4779.
18. ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY COURT
(Land Records) Richard Hill, 1727, Liber SY1, folio 293, MSA C97-13, MdHR 4779.
19. ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY COURT
(Land Records) Richard Hill, 1724, Liber SY1, folio 83, MSA C97-13, MdHR 4779.
20. ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY COURT
(Land Records) Richard Hill, 1726, Liber SY1, folio 206, MSA C97-13, MdHR 4779.
21. ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY COURT
(Land Records) Richard Hill, 1731, Liber
IHTI1, folio 393, MSA C97-16, MdHR 4782.
22. ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY COURT
(Land Records) Richard Hill, 1732, Liber RD2, folio 266, MSA C97-17, MdHR 4783.
23. ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY COURT
(Land Records) Richard Hill, 1730, Liber RD2, folio 381, MSA C97-17, MdHR 4783.
24. ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY COURT
(Land Records) Richard Hill, 1730, Liber TI1, folio 303, MSA C97-15, MdHR 4781.
25. ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY COURT
(Land Records) Richard Hill, 1731, Liber IHTI1, folio 393, MSA C97-16, MdHR 4782.
26. ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY COURT
(Land Records) Richard Hill, 1737, Liber RD2, folio 483, MSA C97-17, MdHR 4783.
27. Will. Richard Hill, 1761.
28. Kerns, 95; Steiner, 237.
29. ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY COURT
(Land Records) Richard Hill, 1737, Liber RD2, folio 483, MSA C97-17, MdHR 4783.
30. Kerns, 93-5.
31. Kerns and Ridout, 24.
32. John Jay Smith, Letters of Doctor Richard Hill and His Children, (Philadelphia: T.K. & P.K. Collins, Printers, 1854).
33. Kerns and Ridout, 36.
34. "Richard Hill," Pennsylvania Gazette,
Feb. 11, 1762; Kerns and Ridout, 39.
Researched and written by Sarah Hartge, 2012.
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to Richard Hill's Introductory Page
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