Edward Hill

Early and family life

This man's origins are uncertain, although modern genealogists consider him the son of "Master Edward Hill" of Elizabeth City County who distinguished himself defending his home (and 100 acres of farmed land) against Native Americans in the uprising of 1622, and who was buried on May 15, 1624. That Edward Hill's widow, the former Hannah Boyle (1602-1659), survived two subsequent husbands. This man thus had several step-relatives on the Eastern Shore, even if he inherited property in several different counties by primogeniture from his father. His full sister Elizabeth reached adulthood and married William Pindley. Hannah Hill next married neighbor Thomas Spellman (who helped settle Edward Hill's estate but himself died by March 1627, leaving his property in England to their daughter Mary, and his Virginia property to his widow). Her third husband, Alexander Mountney (an ancient planter who had arrived in the Virginia colony in 1610, sold Elizabeth City property in 1633/1634 and moved to Accomack County by 1635, when he became a vestryman of that Accomac County parish.), but died by February 1644. In 1655, Hannah Mountney stated in a deposition that she was about 53 years old, and in 1657/8, she and Edwin Connaway patented 1659 acres in Lancaster County on Virginia's Northern Neck. Hannah may have borne another two sons and daughters by her third husband, and was also named the executor of William Pindley's estate for his orphaned children. Hannah Mountney's estate was ultimately administered by William Crompe "her son in law," who moved to Talbot County, Maryland.

Career

Hill established Shirley Plantation in Charles City County by 1638. Two years later he was a tobacco viewer for the county, and 1660 he patented nearly 2500 acres in the county which became part of the plantation.

In 1640, Hill first represented Charles City County in the House of Burgesses, alongside Francis Eppes, Joseph Johnson, and Thomas Pawlett. In that session, as with previous sessions, the assembly had a clerk (Richard Lee) but no Speaker. Hill continued to represent Charles City County in the House of Burgesses in 1642, this time alongside Walter Aston and Walter Chiles, as well as Joseph Johnson. However, he was not among the county's three representatives (Walter Aston, Walter Chiles and Thomas Stegg) in 1643, when burgesses elected Thomas Stegg as the legislature's first Speaker. In 1644, Hill succeeded Stegg as the Speaker. At that 1644 assembly, Hill represented Charles City County alongside John Bishop, Francis Poythress and John Westropp, and the following year continued as Speaker, but represented the county alongside Rice Hooe, Francis Poythress and Edward Prince. The Grand Assembly of 1645-1646 did not re-elect Hill as Speaker, instead selecting Edmund Scarborough, although Hill did represent Charles City County, this time alongside Francis Eppes, Rice Hooe, Edward Prince, William Barker, Charles Sparrow and Anthony Wyatt. In 1646, Hill was not one of Charles City County's two representatives in the House of Burgesses (they being Rice Hooe, and Daniel Lluellin), presumably because of his activities in Maryland described below.

In March 1645, the assembly ordered Captain Hill and Captain Charles Willoughby to take troops to Maryland to capture and return some Virginians who remained there without permission. While there, Hill acted as Maryland's governor, and he remained in Maryland and in that office for several months. He had a commission dated July 30, 1646 which had a signature purportedly of Gov. Charles Calvert, but without proof that the governor actually signed it. On January 18, 1646, Hill wrote Leonard Calvert from Northumberland County (on Virginia's Eastern Shore) requesting "sallary in that unhappy service", and Maryland Governor Thomas Greene replied that Hill's demands should be satisfied. By the year's end, Governor Calvert, in command of a small body of troops, recaptured the Maryland capitol in Annapolis and reinstated himself in the government, which prompted Hill to surrender and return to Virginia. Nonetheless, Calvert died, prompting the executor of his estate, Lady Margaret Brent to liquidate part of his estate to secure the departure of Hill and his troops. Thus in August 1647, Mr. Broadhurst declared "there is now no governor in Maryland, for Captain Hill is governor, and him only he acknowledged." Captain Hill attended a meeting of the Maryland governor's council on June 10, 1648, and demanded payment of the money promised him by Leonard Calvert as governor, namely half of the Governor's receipts for 1646, as well as half the customs duties collected that year. On August 26, 1649, Lord Baltimore responded by declaring that in 1646 Hill was only his pretended lieutenant in that province and that Lord Baltimore had never fully authorized that payment.

Personal life

Hill married and had children, although as with his birth origin, the identity of his wife and most children is unproven. He clearly was the father of son Edward Hill, Jr., who inherited Shirley Plantation, as well as married and had children, including Edward Hill III who like his father and grandfather served as a burgess and lived at the plantation. On August 5, 1658, an Edward Hill and his wife Elizabeth conveyed a lot in Jamestown (the colonial capital, where members of the council were supposed to have living space) to Walter Chiles II. This original Edward Hill may have married or remarried a woman originally named Hannah Jordan (widow of burgess Walter Aston who had represented Shirley Hundred Island or related entities most years between 1630 and 1643; Aston or a namesake son died in 1656). Edward and Hannah Hill may also have had a son named Thomas and daughters Hannah and Mary since several people with the Hill surname lived in Charles City County before 1700. In the winter of 1661/2, Edward Hill Jr. had a land/dower dispute with his mother or stepmother Hannah Hill, which indicates his father's death, and an October 1663 court notation indicated she was too ill to appear in court or surrender the land.

Death and legacy

Hill died, probably in what we now consider the early months of 1662, although his place of death and burial have been lost. In 1663, he was finally paid for procuring powder and shot for the colony. His son, Edward Hill, Jr. continued both the family's political involvement representing Charles City County in the House of Burgesses, and served one term as its Speaker, as well as cultivated Shirley Plantation and other vast landed estates.

Shirley Plantation remains today, as one of the Commonwealth's longest operating plantations, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Upper Shirley Vineyard, immediately adjacent to the plantation house, on what had been the same property during Edward Hill's lifetime (and that of many of his descendants) has tasting rooms open to the public, including on days that the plantation house is closed to the public.

Cockacoeske, Totopotomoy's widow, reminded the Virginia General Assembly of her husband's death in 1676 when they again requested assistance during Bacon's Rebellion. The National Park Service administers a battlefield named "Totopotomoy Creek" near Mechanicsville on the outskirts of Richmond, but as the site of a battle in May 1864, not 1656.