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Below is a family biography included in the Biographical Review Volume of Biographical Sketches of The Leading Citizens of Hampshire County, Massachusetts published by Biographical Review Publishing Company in 1896.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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SAMUEL FOLLETT HILLS, a well-to-do farmer of Worthington, was born upon the farm he now owns and occupies, February 20, 1845, son of Julius and Elizabeth Follett Brown Hills. Mr. Hills’s grandfather was Daniel Hills, a resident of Grantville, Conn., who moved from that State to Blandford, Mass., and followed agricultural pursuits there until his death. Julius Hills was born in Granville, January 31, 1806. He accompanied his parents to Massachusetts, and when a young man he came to Worthington, where he purchased a farm of one hundred and fifty acres, which he conducted with success during the remainder of his life. He died November 12, 1893. The wife of Julius Hills was a daughter of Luke Brown and Bethsheba (Warner) Brown, and was born in Hardwick, Mass., June 5, 1806. Her father, who was a graduate of Harvard College and was a well-known lawyer of his day, died in 1835. Mrs. Julius Hills became the mother of two children, namely: Daniel F. Hills, who married Anna C. Coles, of Westfield, and died January 25, 1882; and Samuel Follett Hills, who bears the name of a patriotic ancestor now to be mentioned.

Samuel Follett, the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in the town of Attleboro, Bristol County, Mass., November 23, 1757. Immediately after the fight at Lexington (April 19, 1775) he enlisted at Swanzey, N.H., under Captain Jonathan Whitcomb, marched to Mystic, near Boston, where he joined the New Hampshire regiment commanded by Colonel Reed a few days before the battle of Bunker Hill (June 17, 1775), in which he participated. He remained in this regiment until discharged. Afterward he volunteered to serve one month longer in the company of Captain Baldwin or Spaulding. In April, 1778, he enlisted at Worcester in the company of Captain Nathan Harrington, which was ordered to join a detachment, under Major Reuben Reed, that was to guard a body of prisoners from General Burgoyne’s army, then at Cambridge, Mass., to Rutland, in Worcester County, Mass. During a portion of the time he was on guard. At that place he was sick with the small-pox and was in the hospital. In July, 1780, he again enlisted at Worcester, in the company of Captain Grout, who marched to Butts Hill in Rhode Island. He was granted a pension, May 10, 1833, to commence March 4, 1831. He came to the town of Worthington, Mass., in 1781, where he resided until his death, November 30, 1854, ninety-seven years and a few days old. His first vote was cast for General Washington for President of the United States in 1788, and his last for the defeated candidate, General Scott, in 1852.

Samuel F. Hills was educated in the district schools. He assisted in carrying on the farm, and succeeded to the ownership of the property after his father’s death. His farm consists of two hundred and twenty-five acres, and is devoted to general husbandry and the raising of high-bred cattle, sheep, and horses. Mr. Hills is a Republican in politics, and is chairman of the Board of Selectmen.

On August 30, 1871, Mr. Hills was united in marriage with Josephine Maria (Mayhew) Burr, widow of Oliver C. Burr, and a daughter of Lyman and Mary E. (Richards) Mayhew. Her father was born October 3, 1821, in Huntington, Mass. His wife, who was born in North Adams, Mass., April 9, 1825, died October 2, 1869, having been the mother of nine children: Jerome B., Josephine, Mary Ella, Julia O., Arthur Elmer Scott, Lyman A., Henry W., Martha L., and Eliza A., five of whom are still living. Mrs. Hills had two children by her first marriage: Frank, who died in 1868; and Frederick, who died in 1884. Mr. and Mrs. Hills have three children, namely: Abbie Warner, who was born July 27, 1872, and married Judson G. Blackman, a farmer of Cummington, Mass.; Mary E., who was born July 2, 1875, and is now a school-teacher; and Josephine Scott, born December 10, 1880.

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This family biography is one of the numerous biographies included in the Biographical Review Volume of Biographical Sketches of The Leading Citizens of Hampshire County, Massachusetts published in 1896. 

View additional Hampshire County, Massachusetts family biographies here: Hampshire County, Massachusetts Biographies

View a map of 1901 Hampshire County, Massachusetts here: Hampshire County Massachusetts Map

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