Franklin County TN Archives Biographies.....Hill, B. W. February 12, 1911 - February 12, 1940 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/tn/tnfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Donald Hill hilldonl@bellsouth.net February 21, 2013, 7:01 pm Source: Census records, personal knowledge Author: Donald Hill B.W. Hill (b. February 12, 1911, d. February 12, 1940) was the son of James Allen (Jim Becky) Hill (b. 1884) and Rebecca Walls (b. 1879). His grandfather was another James Allen Hill (b. 1863), and his great-grandfather was Francis Marion Hill (b. 1842, see http://files.usgwarchives.net/tn/franklin/bios/hill319nbs.txt). B.W., his parents, and his siblings are listed in the 1920 and 1930 census records. (From these records, only the location, names, relationships, sex, age, and marital status are presented.) 1920 9th CD Franklin Co., Tennessee Hill, James A., Sr. Head M 35 M Becky Wife F 39 M James A., Jr. Son M 10 S B.W. Son M 8 S Agzean Dau F 6 S Leona Dau F 2 3/12 S B.W. first married Dora McElyea on March 14, 1930, in Franklin Co., Tennessee. They are listed in the 1930 census. 1930 9th CD Franklin Co., Tennessee Hill, James Head M 52 M Rebecca Wife F 50 M Allen Son M 21 S B.W. Son M 19 M Agazine Dau F 17 S Dora Dau-in-law F 17 M Dora was born in Alabama, as shown in the following census record: 1920 Hollytree Pct Jackson Co., Alabama McElyea, Monroe Head M 51 Wd Wm. Son M 8 S Dora Dau F 6 S This family moved to Franklin Co., Tennessee, prior to 1930. Nothing more is known about Dora. She may have died shortly after their marriage. On February 24, 1934, B.W. married Catherine Gertrude Payne in Coffee Co., Tennessee. Catherine was the daughter of David Henry Payne and Bertie Mai Jones. Census records including Catherine are the following: 1920 10th CD Franklin Co., Tennessee Payne, Dave M 26 M Bertie M. F 24 M Catherine F 4 8/12 S Clemma F 1 5/12 S 1930 10th CD Franklin Co., Tennessee Payne, Dave M 35 Wd Catherine F 14 S Clemmie F 10 S B.W. and Catherine settled in the Greenhaw community of Franklin County, Tennessee. The next year, a son, David Alton, was born; twin girls, Gertie Jane and Bertie Jean, arrived in 1936. This is reflected in the 1940 census, taken after B.W.’s death. 1940 10th CD Franklin Co., Tennessee Payne, Dave M 46 Wd Hill, Katherine F 25 Wd Alton M 5 S Bertie F 3 S Gertie F 3 S One night in February, 1940, B.W. and some of his friends were playing cards and drinking at a small house near where he grew up, in the Oak Grove community of Franklin County. A dispute arose between B.W. and Clyde Wilcox. A comment by B.W.’s sister Agazine Thompson was that, “You can’t see the road for the Wilcoxes.” The fracas moved onto Oak Grove Road, at a site about halfway between the intersection of Wilder’s Chapel Road and the intersection with Knight Lane. The approximate GPS coordinates are UTM 16 592453E 390482N. B.W. was armed with a shovel, and, when young J.M. Hill (b. 1921) approached in the darkness, B.W. thought he was Clyde and started to swing. Someone caught his arm and stopped him. Clyde retrieved a poker from a nearby house, crept up behind B.W., and whacked him in the head. B.W. collapsed on the ground. Thinking that he was only stunned, his friends took him to his parents’ house and put him in a bed. The next morning, he could not be roused. He was transported to the hospital in Sewanee, where he died later in the day. Catherine was informed. She arrived to receive B.W.’s belongings, which included $1.25, the only money she had. B.W. was buried in the Hill Cemetery in Franklin County. Catherine’s problems did not end. She returned to Greenhaw and tried to provide for her family. Alton died nine months later. She then moved to Harvey, Illinois, where she got a job in the war industry. She married again, and she and her new husband, Sheridan Tillford Gilbertson, moved back to Cowan, Tennessee, before returning north, this time to Wisconsin. She and her husband adopted five Indian children; one of these was killed in a car wreck in 1970. Before that, her husband was hurt in a wreck and disabled for life. One grandson drowned while searching for a drowning victim, another died of a heart attack. In the fall of 2003, she was living with a daughter in Minnesota and was generally in good health. Her mind was superb. She was active, caring for her husband and cooking. She recalled that Louisa Wagner Partin (b. 1870) delivered her babies, and she remembered a neighbor, Lizzie Hill Sansom (b. 1875). Catherine died in 2006. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/tn/franklin/bios/hill320nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/tnfiles/ File size: 5.0 Kb