WASHINGTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY (Washington County, Utah)
WILLIAM BROWN HILL
(farmer, early Toquerville resident)
BIOGRAPHY
William Brown Hill was born on October 19, 1836, in Glasgow, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. William and his mother immigrated to the United States in the early 1840s and settled in Salt Lake Valley before October 1, 1852.His first wife, Emma Maria Mecham, was born on May 9, 1940 in Montrose, Lee County, Iowa.
His second wife, Mary Jane Price, was born on December 22, 1843 in Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois.
William and Emma were married on February 15, 1857. William and Mary Jane were married on August 31, 1859. Both couples were married in the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The families first lived in Lehi, Utah. Here William and Emma had their first two children, and William made his living as a farmer.
In 1861, when President Young called three hundred families to the Dixie Mission, an area about three hundred miles southwest of Salt Lake City, William (24), Emma (21), and Mary Jane (17), were among those called. Their charge was to build up Zion by establishing communities in southern Utah and growing cotton if practicable. The Dixie Saints arrived in Dixie in December 1861, and their first orders were to get water to the land, lay out cities, and provide for the education of the children. By May 1862, the Hill family had settled in Toquerville, where Emma had ten more children and Mary Jane had all seven of her children.
At some point, William occupied the home built by Nathan C. Tenney at 108 N. Toquer Blvd.
During the next twenty years, the Hills braved the hot, southwest Utah sun, fierce desert winds, and rains that didn’t come for months and then came in torrents. During the first Christmas season after the Hills’ arrival, it rained off and on for what seemed like forty days! The resultant floods brought swarms of flies and mosquitoes, which in turn brought disease. Typhoid, diphtheria, malaria, whooping cough, and scarlet fever ravaged the struggling settlements. William and Emma lost three children while living in Toquerville. Mary Jane and William lost a two-year-old daughter.
In 1880, the Hills sold their house on 10 West Center Street in Toquerville to William Jackson and in 1881 moved to Mesa, Maricopa County, Arizona. William (45) and Emma (41) brought eight of their nine remaining children with them. Mary Jane (38) and William’s six living children also came to Mesa.
William died on September 22, 1883 in Mesa from a smallpox epidemic which struck Mesa at that time. He was age forty-six and was buried in the Mesa Cemetery.
Mary Jane died on May 3, 1914 in Mesa and was also buried in the Mesa Cemetery.
Emma Maria died on August 6, 1923 in Mesa and likewise was buried in the Mesa Cemetery.
FAMILY
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William's Parents and Siblings:
Alexander Hill Jenette Broom Hill William Brown Hill Elizabeth Mary Hill James L. Hill * William Alexander Hill * Annie Isabelle Hill * |
(6/15/1819–3/4/1892) (married xx/xx/1834) (03/16/1820 – 12/23/1899) (10/19/1836-9/22/1883) (married Emma Maria Mecham and Mary Jane Price) (Unknown - Died as an infant) (xx/xx/1842-xx/xx/1901) (married Ellen Robertson) (xx/xx/1849-xx/xx/1920) (married Marion Robertson) (xx/xx/1858-xx/xx/1944) (married William McBride) |
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Emma's Parents and Siblings: Ephraim Mecham Polly Derby Mecham Amos Mecham Permelia Mecham Lewis Mecham Elvira Mecham Emma Maria Mecham Hyrum Moroni Mecham Sarah Ann Mecham Ephraim Don Carlos Mecham Mary Henrietta Mecham Polly Celestia Mecham John Albert Mecham Adelia Vilate Mecham |
(3/7/1808–7/6/1891) (married 11/29/1829) (8/13/1813–12/1/1898) (10/30/1830–4/xx/1931) (9/11/1832–6/10/1911) (married Daniel Bigelow) (12/18/1835–10/12/1907) (married Vashtia Emily Johnson) (12/23/1837–10/xx/1845) (5/9/1840–8/6/1923) (married William Brown Hill) (8/20/1842–3/14/1917) (married Sarah Ann Stevens) (2/10/1844–1/xx/1847) (8/14/1846–10/xx/1946) (4/10/1848–12/21/1899) (married Miles Batty) (4/2/1852–4/21/1890) (married William Haws) (6/21/1854–1/14/1934) (married Rosella Ann Bigelow) (12/26/1856–11/25/1941) (married Robert Wilson Glenn II) |
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Mary's Parents and Siblings: Charles Price Mary Jane Shelton Price Benjamin P. Price Mary Jane Price Sarah Ann Price Sarah W Price Charles Oakey Price * Emily Maria Price * Esther Ann Price * Adeline Price Egbert * Samuel Daniel Price * |
(9/1/1800–5/27/1873) (married 10/6/1841) (9/2/1822–5/1/1914) (8/11/1842–10/14/1850) (12/22/1843–5/1/1914) (married William Brown Hill) (9/4/1845–5/25/1846) (About 1849 – After 1850) (xx/xx/1857-xx/xx/1859) (xx/xx/1858-xx/xx/1929) (xx/xx/1860-xx/xx/1928) (married Henry Sylvester Perry) (xx/xx/1862-xx/xx/1900) (married William Riley Egbert) (xx/xx/1863-xx/xx/1896) (married Margaret Ann Hall Timothy) |
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First Wife and Children: Emma Maria Mecham Hill Emma Elvira Hill William Albert Hill Lewis Hill Ephraim Hill Polly Jennette Hill Vilate Hill Permelia Jane Hill John Derby Hill Elnora Hill Jesse Hill Hiram Moroni Hill Walter Parley Hill Mary Celestia Hill |
(5/9/1840–8/6/1923) (married 2/15/1857) (5/20/1858–7/30/1941) (married Alma Franklin Naegle) (2/1/1860–5/4/1923) (5/3/1862–10/27/1863) (3/2/1864–10/10/1886) (3/3/1866–5/14/1954) (married William Grafton Brundage) (2/27/1868–2/4/1880) (1/15/1870–5/20/1937) (married James Horne) (12/11/1871–10/4/1883) (11/9/1874–12/6/1946) (married Lionel Brand Johnson) (10/18/1875–10/27/1946) (married Mabel Amelia Bloomer) (4/12/1878–2/22/1879) (2/1/1880–10/1/1943) (married Myrtle Brizzie) (8/12/1883–7/5/1969) (married Edmund Garfield Montgomery) |
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Second Wife and Children: Mary Jane Price Hill Mary Jane Hill Rhoda Hill Charles Price Hill Caroline Janette Hill David Shelton Hill Annis Lottie Hill Lafayette Hill |
(12/22/1843–5/1/1914) (married 8/31/1859) (11/3/1862–10/19/1947) (married Joseph Rogers Standage) (7/4/1865-9/xx/1867) (5/20/1867–12/25/1928) (married Laura Fidelia Plumley) (10/7/1869–6/11/1954) (married Walter Harvey Pew Sr.) (12/29/1872–3/27/1955) (married Alice Serepta Ingram) (1/18/1874–12/14/1949) (married William Middletown Clark) (3/6/1876–1/17/1958) (married Eliza Roxey Staples) |
* Half-siblings
PHOTOS
 William |
 Emma |
 Mary |
 Mary Jane Price Hill |
 William & Mary's Daughters |
REFERENCES
Toquerville, Oasis in the Desert - A History of Toquerville and the AreaBook compiled and written by Cherrie Gubler Naegle
Pages 65, 68, 135, 147, 179, 190, 202, 233, 235, and 241
For the book information page, click here.
Find-A-Grave entry for William Brown Hill
Find-A-Grave entry for Emma Maria Mecham Hill
Find-A-Grave entry for Mary Jane Price Hill