Hill, Mary

Mary Hill lived with her husband George Hill at 3601 Baring Street, in the Powelton Village neighborhood of West Philadelphia. At the end of the nineteenth century, this neighborhood was a mix of upper-middle class industrial tycoons and middle class families utilizing newly established electric rail lines. The Pennsylvania Railroad company purchased a large tract of land there in 1852 for future development, and the 30th Street Station was eventually built in this area.

The main correspondent in the collection is Mary’s son, William (Will) Hill. Weekly correspondence between June 1888 and October 1890, with some brief gaps, informally documents a portion of Will’s employment with the Pennsylvania Railroad company. From the content of the letters, it appears that Will worked with the corps of engineers responsible for marking and laying the tracks in the state of Pennsylvania and some areas of Virginia. He worked both in the field and in the office of the corps’ various temporary stations throughout Pennsylvania.

Powelton Village, Philadelphia. Viewed on April 4, 2006. http://www.swarthmore.edu/Humanities/langlab/personal/powelton/Powelton.html All other information derived from the collection.

From the guide to the Mary Hill correspondence, 1888-1910, 1888-1890, (University of Delaware Library - Special Collections)

Epithet: widow of Arthur, 2nd Marquess of Downshire

Title: Baroness Sandys

British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000568.0x00035a

The Blossom and Hill families lived on Hicks Street in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y. Sarah C. Hill (1851-1903) married Frederick Blossom (b. 1830) in 1872 in Brooklyn. Their first child, Katherine E. Blossom (also known as Katrinella) was born in Brooklyn in 1874.

From the guide to the Blossom and Hill family papers, 1842-1902, (Brooklyn Historical Society)