Lake-Geauga-Portage County OhArchives Obituaries.....Hill, Daniel C. March 6, 1903 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/oh/ohfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: John Ludwick haydad@embarqmail.com June 19, 2009, 1:02 am Painesville Tellegraph 12 March 1903 Taken from the Telegraph Painesville Ohio "The funeral of Daniel Hill Late of Madison was held at Madison M.E. church March 7 at 12 o'clock. Remains were interned in Maple Grove cemetery. Had Mr. Hill lived one month longer he would have been ninety years of age, in our next letter we will give a short history of Mr. Hill's early life taken from a diary of his own, giving a brief account of some of the hardships and trials endured by the first settlers of the Western Reserve. S.H.E. "March 12, 1903 Taken from the telegraph Painesville Ohio March 19, 1903 page 4 " D.C. Hill was born in Swanzy, Cheshire county, New Hampshire, March 6th 1813, Lacking only one month of ninety years of age. There were in the family six boys and three girls, four of the boys and one of the girls still living. At the age of 22 Mr. Hill married Miss Almira Long and as a wedding tour started for the West, not by railroad nor with automobile but rather the ox car then the rapid means of transit. He arrived in Elk Creek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania, in the dense forest with out a house but bought fifty acres of forest land, commenced clearing and building a log house. For a roof we split what the Dutch call shakes, 3 feet long, out of ash, and laid them similar to the shingles are now laid; floor was made of the same kind of wood split smooth as possible. Now for a stove there was not one in the state that could be had for love or money, so we went to work and removed a piece of the flooring, dug up the ground and pounded it down hard for the hearth. Sticks laid up cob house shape plastered with mud provided a means of exit for smoke; our chairs, table, bedstead etc., were also made with my kit of tools witch consisted of an ax. For music no piano or organ graced our humble home but rather the frequent cry of the wild cat in the still night or the growl of the bear at our door (which at night was always securely barred) told us that we had near neighbors which were seeking a more intimate acquaintance. Our nearest neighbors were three miles away; roads not as they are now, but to find the way we had to follow marked trees. We lived this way for a few years clearing ground and raising wheat on the same then started west again, this time in Madison, Lake County, Ohio. I traveled fifty miles that day on foot most of the way guided by marked trees through the forest. Mr. Hill worked in this mill for a year or two after which he purchased 100 acres of farm land and paid for it. The latter part of the life of our deceased friend most of the people of Thompson and Madison are familiar with. Wonder how some of our young Americans of the present day would enjoy starting out in life in this manner. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/oh/lake/obits/h/hill1409nob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ohfiles/ File size: 3.3 Kb