NAVARRO COUNTY, TX - Hill, George Washington (Dr.) ***************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/tx/txfiles.htm *********************** This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: carl matthews WESTERN NAVARRO CO CONTROVERSY "When did Dr George Washington Hill arrive in Western Navarro Co Texas?" Spring Hill, Texas, located in Western Navarro Co, Texas, was reported by many early area historians as being the oldest settlement in the county, and their writings have been used by others who have written about the area over more recent years. Those early writers….Alva Taylor, Annie Love, Barbara Davidson Patterson, and others… stated that the Spring Hill Trading Post, operated by Dr George Washington Hill, was standing at the time of the 1838 Battle Creek Massacre and that he, Dr. Hill, had been appointed by President Sam Houston to establish a Trading Post at that site. A Historical Marker at Dawson, Texas states that Dr Hill built the Trading Post in 1838 and, in October of that same year, the Battle Creek Fight & Massacre between "the Kickapoo Indians and the surveyors" occurred. The 1838 date, highly suspect for a number of reasons, probably, had its origin in a printed account of The Battle Creek Massacre written by two of the survivors, Walter P Lane and William F Henderson. The account, published in THE NAVARRO EXPRESS NEWS of Corsicana, reported that Lane had mentioned that they surveyors had camped near Hill’s Trading Post. Hill’s Trading Post, by 1860, located just south of the present day Spring Hill Cemetery, had become a Western Navarro County landmark. Lane did not say that Hill’s Trading Post was there in 1838….only that the surveyors had camped near that site. Based on various factual information, Lane was, probably, referring to the location of Hill’s Trading Post at the time of the writing…1860. The year 1838 Dr Hill may have been in an Indian fight near Marlin area December 1839 Dr Hill and Sam Houston were outvoted on moving the Texas Capitol to The Falls on the Brazos…Marlin TX area. The year 1840 Dr Hill began serving in the Texas Legislature The year 1842 Dr Hill named executor of estate of Judge Francis Slaughter who lived at Fort Franklin The year 1843 Pres. Sam Houston appointed Dr Hill as Secy of War, replacing Albert Sydney Johnson, a post he held until 1845 when Texas became part of the United States. The year 1846 Dr Hill’s name was not shown on the 1846 NavCo Poll List May 1846 Ethan Melton named Post Master at Melton, later Dresden. This was the first U S Post Office established in Navarro Co. The year 1847 Dr Hill paid taxes in Robertson Co June 1847 Dr Hill served as agent for land sale south of Richland Creek. He…may….have received payment in the form of acreage from the land sale. November 1847 Dr Hill married Mrs Minerva Katherine Matthews Slaughter, widow of Judge Slaughter and sister of Robert Harve Matthews The year 1848 Dr Hill paid taxes in Navarro Co. August 1848 First burial at Spring Hill Cemetery The year 1849 Dr Hill named Post Master at Spring Hill The year 1852 Dr Hill named "Special Agent, Texas Indians" by Robert S Neighbors, replacing Jesse Stem. His principle duty was the removal of Indian villages on the Brazos River to Young Co TX, a move accomplished by May 1853. The year 1852 Robert Harve Matthews named Post Master at Spring Hill The year 1860 William Henderson, a surveyor who was a participant and survivor of the Battle Creek Fight and Massacre, wrote: "In 1838, the settlements between the Brazos and Trinity Rivers were Franklin and Parker’s Fort. All beyond was a vast wilderness occupied by hostile Indians of a doubtful character." Williams does not mention Spring Hill or Hill’s Trading Post. Dr George Washington Hill died in 1860 and was buried at the Spring Hill Cemetery. He had stipulated that two acres of his land be set aside for the Cemetery. {See biography of Dr Hill at the USGen Navarro Co Web} Copyright 2006 Carl W Matthews POB 600441 Dallas TX 75360-0441