Denver, History of Colorado, BIOS: HILTON, Orrin N. (published 1918)
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"History of Colorado", edited by Wilbur Fisk Stone, published by The S. J. 
Clarke Publishing Co. (1918)  Vol. II


p. 284, 286-288
photo p. 285

ORRIN N. HILTON.

	Orrin N. Hilton comes from a long line of fighting ancestors and 
displays the same martial spirit, save that his contests are those of 
the forensic field, wherein he has won fame as the most noted criminal 
lawyer of Colorado, having been connected with some of the most 
important criminal cases tried in the courts of the state. He is a 
direct descendant of the famous Hilton family which, according to the 
historian Hutchinson, "is the most ancient family in England that bears 
a coat of arms." A manuscript of the time of Charles II gives the 
information concerning the ancestral line. Sir William Hilton, knight, 
married the daughter of Sir John de Grisley and had a son, Adam, who 
lived in the reign of Athelstan, king of England, A. D. 925. He gave 
the great cross or crucifix to the monastery of Hartlepool and caused 
his arms to be engraved thereon. His son, William de Hilton, knight, 
had four children, including Sir William Hilton, who was baron of 
Hilton in the reign of William the Conqueror. He married the sole 
daughter and heir of General Tyronne, and their son and heir, Alexander 
Hilton, Baron Hilton of Hilton, married and had a son, Sir Robert 
Hilton, knight, who wedded the daughter of the baron of Marrick. Their 
son, Sir Robert Hilton, knight, baron of Hilton, married the daughter 
of Lord Nevill and the line of descent comes down through Sir William 
Hilton, knight, baron of Hilton, who married a daughter of the baron of 
Ravensforth; Sir Alexander Hilton, knight, baron of Hilton, who married 
a daughter of Vesey; Sir William Hilton, knight, who married a daughter 
of Restell; Sir William Hilton, knight, who married a daughter of Grey; 
Sir Robert Hilton, knight, baron of Hilton, who married the daughter of 
Sir James Folensby, of Folensby, knight; Sir William Hilton, knight, 
who married a daughter of Sir William Eure, knight; Sir Robert Hilton, 
knight, who married a daughter of Sir William Bulwer, Esq.; Sir 
Alexander Hilton, knight; Sir William Hilton, knight, who married a 
daughter of Stapleton; Sir Robert Hilton, knight, baron of Hilton, who 
married a daughter of John de Biddick; Sir William Hilton, who married 
Margaret, daughter of Sir Ralph Surtees; Sir William Hllton, knight, 
baron of Hilton, who married Margery, daughter of Sir William Boees; 
William Hilton, baron of Hilton, who married Elizabeth, daughter of 
John Clarfax and died without issue, so that he was succeeded by his 
younger brother, William Hilton, as Baron Hilton of Hilton, who married 
Margaret, daughter of Sir Thomas Medcalte, knight; Sir William Hilton, 
who married Anne, daughter of Sir John Yorke, knight; Thomas Hilton, 
baron of Hilton, who married Anne, daughter of Sir John Bowes, the 
knight marshal, and second, Jane, daughter of Sir John Talbot, knight; 
and Sir Richard Hilton of Hilton Castle, who on January 20, 1770, 
married a daughter of John Hedworth, of Chester Deanery, England.

	The title of baron is supposed to have been given to the family 
even before the creation of barons, either by writ of summons or the 
general courtesy of the country from the respect and immemorial 
existence of the family, or as a sort of provincial peerage. Hilton 
Castle is described by Hutchinson: "With many hanging woods and 
ornamental plantations in long-extending avenues; and though possessing 
few beauties of situation, and much shut in from prospect, yet may be 
justly called a pleasing retirement." Less than a century and a half 
ago it was a splendid castle, of which Bourne, the historian of 
Newcastle, writes, in 1736 that: "The present gentleman, John Hilton, 
Esq., a regular descendant of this ancient family, lives in the place 
of his ancestors, which he adorned and beautified beyond what was done 
in past ages; in particular the chapel, famous in the country for its 
Irish wood, is so furnished with plate and books and other necessaries 
that it merits the character of a very beautiful chapel," Orrin N. 
Hilton has written a most interesting description of this, in which he 
says: "Now the whole imposing pile, deserted and desolate, stands the 
gradually wasting prey of wind and weather. Approaching from 
Sunderland, glimpses are obtained of its grey towers, rising amid lofty 
woods and avenues, in the vale on the left hand. As you near the lodge 
the gateway is seen, each of its stone pillars surmounted by the image 
of a large bird (black) of the falcon or buzzard tribe, with a coronet 
at its feet. Proceeding along a pathway lined with ruinous park fencing 
for about a mile, the visitor arrives before the western or chief front 
of the old castle. Its center, consisting of the front of an earlier 
edifice, has extensions of modern buildings on each side. The chief 
features of this center are tour projecting square towers, surmounted 
by octagon battlements, which also extend along the recesses between 
the towers, as well as along the tops of the extensions or wings at the 
sides of the center, so that a telling fire from under cover could be 
delivered against an assailing enemy along the whole front of the 
castle. The architectural style of the front stamps it as belonging to 
the reign of Richard II. The center and wings are adorned with shields, 
the arms being those of Neville, Skirlaw, Percy and Louvaine, Brabant, 
Hilton, Vipont, Lumley, Fitz-Randall, Washington, Ogle, Conyers and 
others. Near the castle on a rising ground or terrace, stands the 
chapel, so famous for its 'Irish wood,' its 'plate and books, and other 
necessaries,' now a rapidly decaying ruin. 'Its beauty has given way to 
destruction. The roof is still on but the windows are nearly all gone. 
Looking in, you see some few pews and the remains of a pulpit, but not 
a monument of its long line of lords, stretching down from the Saxon 
ages to the last century, Is left. The whole of its ruinous floor is 
cleared of its pews, and the sparrows clamour in its wooden ceiling and 
the crevices of its walls. On the outside are numbers of stone shields 
of the Hiltons and families of their alliance as the Viponts, 
Stapletons,' etc.

	"That the Hiltons were one of the most opulent and eminent 
families in this part of the kingdom is known and evident. The 
following details respecting this ancient house are from a manuscript 
in the possession of the Musgraves of Hayton:-'Three hundred years 
before the conquest, in the reign of King Athelstan, one of the Saxon 
monarchs, the family of Hyltons were settled in England in great 
reputation, as appears by a certain inscription at Hartlepool. Upon the 
coming over of the Conqueror, Lancelot de Hylton, with his two sons, 
Henry and Robert, espoused his cause and joined them. Lancelot was 
slain at Faversham, in Kent. To his eldest son, Henry, the Conqueror 
gave a large tract of land on the banks of the river Wear, not far from 
Wearmouth, as a reward for his own and his father's valour. This Henry 
built Hylton Castle in the year 1072. He was one of the commissioners 
that treated -with the Conqueror concerning the northern counties, and 
he died in Normandy in the service of the same prince.

	"In the reign of Edward II, who sent four of his sons into wars 
of France under command of the Black Prince, was first created baron of 
Hylton Castle for his gallant defense of it against the incursions of 
the Scots. This peerage continued in the family for several 
successions, till at last it was forfeited upon account of some 
unguarded words which William, the seventh and last baron, spoke 
against the queen and her favorite, De la Pole, and which were carried 
to court by the bishop of Durham of that date. On the death of this 
William, which was thought to have been violent, the crown, seizing 
upon the estate, conferred it upon the Informing bishop, who held it 
for some time, to the utter exclusion of the rightful heir. In process 
of time, however, Lancelot, grandson of the offending William, was 
restored to his castle and to part of the Hylton inheritance; but to no 
more of it than the bishop thought fit to allow him, and upon this hard 
condition, that he and his heirs forever should hold the moiety that 
was given under certain rents and services to the see of Durham, and 
have the title of barons, but not barons of the bishopric, annexed to 
their inheritance. Under this proviso the property continued to remain 
in the possession of the family.

	“'In the pedigree of the Hiltons,' continues the Musgrave 
manuscript, 'there are several names remarkable for their learning and 
piety, but almost innumerable of those highly renowned for their 
martial deeds. War seems to have been the pleasure, genius and 
recreation of the Hiltons; nor has any family been more lavish of their 
blood in defense of their country's cause. Since the time of the 
conquest it has been remarked of the Hiltons that one was slain at 
Faversham, in Kent; one in Normandy; one at Mentz, in France; three in 
the Holy Wars under Richard I; one in the same under Edward I; three at 
the battle of Bordeaux under the Black Prince; one at Agincourt; two at 
Berwick-upon-Tweed against the Scots; two at the battle of St. Albans; 
five at Market Bosworth and four at Flodden Field.' The statement of 
the number of Hiltons slain at Bosworth and Flodden seems improbable; 
but it must be remembered that the family was numerous and extensive. 
At all events, all parties admit that the vast quantity of tradition 
connected with this family points to its great antiquity; and Surtees, 
the writer of 'The History and Antiquities of Durham,' stated that even 
when the fortunes of the house were fallen, the gentry of the north 
continued to testify their respect for them and to acknowledge them as 
'The highest nobles of the north without the peerage.' In all 
appearances of the Hiltons they took precedence as of natural right 
after the peers, and when Dean Carleton and his daughters took seats 
above Baron Hilton at the quarter sessions and in front of him and his 
family in a pew in the cathedral, 1669, the innovation was regarded as 
the impertinence of an upstart and created a scandal accordingly.

	"The enormous wealth of this family may be conjectured when it is 
stated that at one time it possessed the manors of Hilton, Barmston, 
Grindon, Ford, Clowcroft, North Beddick, Great Usworth, and Follensby 
in the county of Durham; Carnaby and WharramPercy in the county of 
York; Elington and Woodhall in Northumberland; Alston Moor in 
Northumberland and Cumberland; with the Advowsons of Thyckhaigh and 
MonkWearmouth.

	"But this ancient race, which flourished through the lapse of 
five centuries and was carried on through twenty unbroken descendants 
that continued fruitful in lineal representatives though so many of its 
sons were slain on the field of battle, was destined to receive its 
deadliest blow from one of its chiefs. About the middle of the 
seventeenth century Henry Hilton, having conceived some grievous 
offense against his family, deserted the seat of his ancestors and 
lived in obscure retirement, first at the house of a remote kinsman at 
Billinghurst, in Sussex, and afterward at Mitchel Grove, where he died. 
He bequeathed, in 1641, the whole of his estate for ninety-nine years 
to the city of London, setting aside the natural lives for that time. 
This led to active litigation. The lawyers were busy tearing out the 
vitals of the estate, when out burst the Civil war and completed what 
they could, no doubt, have done as effectually if left to themselves 
and their natural genius for reducing overgrown estates. From that time 
the barons of Hilton have sunk lower and lower, till the last of the 
family, a widow and her daughter lived in the Windmill Hill, Gateshead, 
the husband and father, the last of the direct Hiltons,, having been, 
it is supposed, a woolen draper."

	From such a lineage comes the Hilton family, of which Orrin N. 
Hilton is a representative. He was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, 
September 12, 1849, a son of Hoyt W. and Mary Jackson (Woodman) Hilton, 
the latter a daughter of the Rev. Jonathan Woodman, a prominent 
minister, who preached in Vermont. The family home of the parents 
adjoins that of Benjamin Butler at Lowell, Massachusetts, and has been 
occupied by the Hiltons for many generations, for the establishment of 
the family on American soil dates from the landing of the Pilgrims at 
Plymouth Rock. The same martial spirit which permeated the English 
ancestors was manifested in the American branch. The great-grandfather, 
David Hilton, was an officer of the Revolutionary war and in all the 
other wars of the country the family has been represented. Hoyt W. 
Hilton was born at the old Hilton home in Lowell and was reared, 
educated and married there. With the exception of an occasional trip he 
remained in Lowell throughout his entire life and there conducted the 
largest dry goods and department store of the city, being considered 
one of the leading merchants and business men of Massachusetts. Both he 
and his wife passed away at the old family home, which is still being 
kept up by their children. Their family numbered seven sons and 
daughters.

	Orrin N. Hilton pursued his education in the public and high 
schools of Lowell, Massachusetts, and after his graduation was sent to 
Bates College at Lewiston, Maine, where he won his Bachelor of Arts 
degree in 1871. Years afterward his alma mater conferred upon him the 
LL. D. degree in 1914. Following the completion of his classical course 
he left home and went to Van Buren county, Michigan, studying law at 
Kalamazoo, after which he was admitted to practice in 1874. He then 
followed his profession in Van Buren county until 1880, when he was 
chosen as a candidate for county judge and at the general election was 
elected and for two successive terms occupied the bench of Van Buren 
county, continuing to serve as judge until 1888. It was subsequent to 
his retirement that he removed to Colorado, settling first at Aspen, 
where he engaged in practice for a year, and then came to Denver, where 
he has made his home since 1889. He has made notable progress in his 
profession, specializing in criminal law, and is regarded as perhaps 
the most capable, resourceful and eminent criminal lawyer of the state. 
He has tried many notable cases which have won him wide fame. He is 
also known as the attorney for the United Mine Workers' Association and 
the Western Federation of Miners, being the legal representative of the 
latter organization for twenty years. Mr. Hilton, in 1912, re-edited 
for the Lawyers' Co-operative Publishing Company "Wharton's Criminal 
Evidence," tenth edition. His selection for this work was a high 
tribute to his knowledge of criminal law and it has been said of Mr. 
Hilton, "There is no one in America more competent to carry on the work 
of the great Wharton."

	Mr. Hilton, in 1914, wrote "Due Process of Law," issued by the L. 
D. Powell Company, of Los Angeles and Chicago.

	On the 23d of May, 1883, Mr. Hilton was married to Miss Carrie 
Smolk, of Van Buren county, Michigan, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John 
Smolk, who were prominent citizens there. Mr. and Mrs. Hilton have no 
children of their own, but have reared and educated a son of his 
sister, who died when the boy was an infant. He is Lucius C. Woodman, 
now a prominent mine owner, residing in Alaska, to whom Mr. and Mrs. 
Hilton gave every possible advantage which they would have extended to 
children of their own.

	Politically Mr. Hilton has always been a republican and is a 
member of the state central committee of his party. He is likewise a 
Mason and is a member of the Uniformed Rank of the Knights of Pythias. 
His religious faith is that of the Episcopal church and he is serving 
as vestryman of the church at Upland, California. He has recently 
erected a fine residence in Ontario, California, where he hopes soon to 
take up his permanent abode. The wise use of his time, talents and 
opportunities has not only brought Mr. Hilton to the front as one of 
the eminent criminal lawyers of the west, but has also brought to him a 
notable measure of prosperity as the reward of his labors, and it is 
his hope soon to retire from active connection with the profession.