Elbert County GaArchives Thomas Hilley,
Revolutionary War


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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Chandler Eavenson
http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00030.html#0007294

Military - Revolutionary War 
Pvt Thomas Hilley, Sr. (1754-1838)

The following excerpts are taken from an article on 26 Apr 2006
in The West Georgia Beacon by Leo A. Hohmann, Editor: 

"Honoring a Heard County Revolutionary War hero. 

"It was a proud day for the family of Revolutionary War soldier 
Thomas Hilley, who is buried under the shade of tall oaks at 
Bethel Baptist Church off Charlie B. Johnson Road in rural Heard
County. 

"The church cemetery, nestled in the woods between the Corinth and
Powers' Crossroads communities, was draped in the colors of the 
early American patriots Saturday afternoon, April 22, compliments 
of the Casmer-Pulaski Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution,
which presided over the grave-marking ceremony for Pvt Hilley. 

"More than 60 of the descendants gathered for the ceremony from all
over Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia. Many chapters of the Daughters
of the American Revolution, including the James Stewart Chapter in 
Heard County and the Daniel Newnan Chapter in Coweta, came to lay 
wreaths or flags at Hilley's grave site. 

"Hilley, born in 1754, was raised in Virginia, served in the Virginia
militia and fought in the Revolutionary War. He made the move to 
Georgia by covered wagon in 1790, first settling in Elbert County 
and then in Heard County in 1838. 

"'He was a religious man, a man of spirit, but he was also a man 
of physical toughness', said George Wheeless, president of the 
Georgia Society of SAR. The year Hilley moved his family to Georgia 
was one of the coldest winters on record and they had to cross three
rivers - the Broad, the Oconee and the Flint. He and his wife Mary 
Walker Bond Hilley, raised 10 children, one of whom was physically 
handicapped.......Wheeless read a proclamation signed by June 
Jackson, chairwoman of the Heard County Board of Commissioners, in 
honor of Hilley. Men dressed in period attire fired off three loud 
bursts of their muskets to salute the man of the hour....." 

[Submitter's notes: An obituary elsewhere on this site shows that 
Thomas Hilley was born 26 Apr 1754 and died 22 Mar 1838.]

Submitted by: Chandler Eavenson