A Blog About My Daddy For Father's Day

This is me with my Daddy and Mother.

My father, Hartwell Russell George Hillier (better known as Rus) was born on 16 February 1906 in Fallbook, San Diego Co., California.  I've already written a blog about all the places he lived as a child.  As an adult, he lived in Santa Monica, Manhattan Beach, and Long Beach in Los Angeles Co., California.  He also lived in Fallbrook, San Diego Co., California and Independence, Inyo Co., California and Seal Beach, Orange Co., California and in Westerville, Franklin Co., Ohio and in Toccoa, Stephens Co., Georgia.

When I was born, during WWII, my Daddy was working at Douglas Aircraft Co. in Long Beach.  He was Personnel Manager for the Engineering Department.  In spite of being too old for the draft and having a defense job, he wanted to do his part, so he joined the Coast Guard Reserves and patrolled off of the coast one night a week for a year.

My Daddy loved to fish and hunt.  He especially liked to do these things in the Owens Valley, Eastern Sierra area.  I was only four years old (so heard this story from my parents) when he came home from one of his trips and announced that we were moving to Independence.  My mother asked, "Missouri?"  She had never been to Independence, California!  There was a hardware/sporting goods store for sale in Independence.  His plan was to buy the store and live where he could fish and hunt right in his own neighborhood.  So off we went! 

This is my dad on one of his hunting trips.

I loved living in Independence as a child!  However, eventually, my parents realized that they just couldn't make a living there so we moved back to the city.  My father, once again, took up his career as a mechanical engineer.  He even invented some things that were patented by companies that he worked for in the aerospace industry.  

Besides his engineering career and his love of fishing and hunting, he also loved to build things (especially woodworking), was a gunsmith, and a great cook.  He built a garage on one of our houses, built a boat for fishing, and there wasn't anything he couldn't fix.  

I learned many things from my Dad...

-- He taught me to fish.  I caught my first fish at about age 7.

-- He taught me how to paint and wallpaper a room.  Something that has served me in good stead over the years.

-- He taught me how to properly set a table.  He was a real stickler for this!

-- I sort of inherited his love of fixing things.

-- And much more!

My dad and I on his 95th birthday.

For his 100th birthday, Daddy took a sky dive!  He died just a few weeks before his 101st birthday, while staying with my brother in Toccoa, Georgia, on 7 January 2007.  He is buried in a family plot in Fallbrook, California.  

                           

PS -- One thing I forgot to say about my dad...  He was a great story teller!  I wouldn't know nearly so much about my extended family if it weren't for his stories.

GRAVE STONES RESTORED!

In the Summer of 1990, I took a trip to Missouri and Kansas in search of my Russell ancestors and relatives.  I stayed with Rosie Russell Gaul and her husband Harold in St. Joseph, Missouri.  Rosie is a distant cousin, now deceased, who had a great interest in family history.  Rosie and Harold took me all over Buchanan Co., Missouri, and Miami Co., Kansas, to meet family members, both dead and alive.

Before I visited, Rosie had remembered that her mother told her about an old Russell family cemetery.  It was on the property of John C. Russell, a brother of my second great grandfather, Joseph Tipton Russell, near Faucett, Missouri.  This property passed out of the Russell family many years before.  Rosie figured out where it was and went to talked to the home owner.  She asked if they knew anything about an old cemetery that used to be on that property.  Yes, they know all about it!

They told her that one of the previous owners had wanted to plant a lawn where the cemetery was located.  So they removed the grave stones and threw them over the line fence into the neighbor's woods.  They showed her where.  After getting permission from the neighbor, she and Harold climbed over the line fence and found the stones.  A couple of them were in tact but most were broken and, undoubtedly, some were missing.  So sad.

When I visited in 1990, they got permission from both property owners and took me there.  This was really exciting for me since one of those stones was that of my second great grandfather, Joseph Tipton Russell.  I climbed over the line fence -- which was covered with poison ivy -- and had a great time looking at and taking pictures of the stones.  Rosie and Harold had propped some of them up and pieced some of them together on the ground on their previous visit.  Below are some pictures of how they looked.         (Read on after you look at these pictures.)

My second great grandfather, Joseph Tipton Russell's stone before restoration.

The next day, we went to the Pattee House Museum in St. Joseph.  This museum is amazing.  It has a collection of everything, from light bulbs to pottery to cameras to...  you name it!  As we were leaving, a man was coming toward us down the hall.  Rosie said, "That's the curator of the museum." I said, "I wonder if he would like some tombstones for his collection?"  She knew just what I had in mind!  We
stopped and talked to him and told him the story.  Yes!  He wanted them!


After I went home, Rosie got permission from both property owners and met the museum crew there one day.  They took all the stones back to the museum and had them restored.  They did an incredible job!  In 1991, the stones were installed on the lawn of the museum for all to see!  Here's what they look like now.

My second great grandfather, Joseph Tipton Russell's stone is upper right in picture.

Pattee House Museum, St. Joseph, Missouri

FAMILY EASTER TRADITIONS

When I was young, the "Easter Bunny" filled our baskets with goodies and we found them waiting for us when we got up on Easter morning.  The baskets were saved from year to year.  We put them out before bed on Easter Eve and found them full in the morning.

Also, when I was young, we often had an Easter Egg Hunt the day before Easter.  My dad would hide eggs and candy in the yard.  All the kids in the neighborhood were usually invited to participate.  Below is a picture of one such group of egg hunters, taken in Independence, CA in about 1949 or 1950.

Another tradition was to get a new Easter outfit every year.  (Sometimes it was the only new outfit I got all year!)  We would get all dressed up and go to church.  Then come home for Easter dinner.  In my family, we always had leg of lamb for dinner.  Below are pictures of my new Easter outfit in Independence, California in 1948.  Vicky Underhill's grandmother made us matching Easter dresses that year.

Top picture is me, bottom picture is me on left with Vicky Underhill.

When I had children of my own, we continued these traditions -- but I added one more.  At our house, the Easter Bunny hid the baskets and left a trail of clues to find them!

My Father -- Schools!

It is amazing to me that my father, Hartwell Russell George Hillier, turned out to be a fairly stable person.  He lived with seven different families and changed schools twenty times.  One day I asked him to write down all the schools he'd attended.  I just came across that list.  Some things are abbreviated so I'll apologized in advance for any errors in interpretation.  I will also apologize for my dad if his memory wasn't perfect.  He was about 80 years old when he wrote this down for me.  All locations are in California.

His parents separated when he was about 4 years old so, at age 5, he was living with his paternal grandmother, his father, and two bachelor uncles in Pomona.  He attended kindergarten at 5th Street School.  He was still living there when he started first grade at Kaufman School.  

He did the second half of first grade at a private school.  He couldn't remember the name but it was located in South Pasadena where he was living with his dad and his Aunt Mabel and Uncle Charlie.

He was living with two different foster families during the week in second grade.  He couldn't remember what school he attended while with the first family.  The second family home schooled him.  Then he was with a third family (yes, all in one year!) who sent him to Claremont Grammar School.

Then he lived with his dad again in third grade and attended Walnut Street School in Pasadena.  Before third grade was over, he went to live with his mother and attended McKinley School in Pomona.

He lived with his mother most of the time after this.  However, he spent most of his summers with his maternal grandparents in Fallbrook and even did a little bit of one school year there.

In fourth grade they were living in Pomona and he attended Lincoln School for part of the year.  Then they moved to Claremont and he went to Claremont Grammar School.

In fifth grade, he was back at Lincoln School in Pomona until they moved to Stockton, where he spent the rest of the year at Fair Oak School.

Then they moved back to Pomona where he spent the 6th through 9th grades at Central School and Gary Junior High School. 

In the tenth grade they moved to Anahiem where he attended Anahiem High School for half of the year.  Then they moved back to Stockton where he attended Stockton High School for a year and a half.  

During what would have been his senior year, they were migrating so he did not attend school.  At age nineteen, he returned to Stockton High School and graduated at age 20.  Whew!

The family continued to live in Stockton and he went off to Modesto Junior College for two years.  Then he took a year off and worked at P.G.and E. in Stockton to help support his family.

He went to UC Berkeley for one year -- his junior year of college at age 23.  He didn't ever get to finish.  He had to quit to help support the family again -- working again at P.G. and E.  (His step-father didn't seem to be able to hold a job for long.)

Then the family moved to Santa Monica and he began his career as a mechanical engineer -- which was his major before he had to quit school.

Note:  I've fallen behind again -- not getting one of these published every week.  I may have to give up on that if I can't get caught up.

Hannah Caswell, A Brick Wall and a Mayflower Descendant

My ancestor, Hannah Caswell, was one of my brick walls for a long time.  She was married to my ancestor, William Slack.  I knew his ancestry but, for years, I didn't know hers.  I did all the logical and appropriate searches and came up with nothing.

Someone had said the her father was Jonathan Caswell but the only reason I could see was that she had a son named Jonathan Caswell Slack.  This was a bit of a clue but certainly not proof.  So...  I eventually did my search the wrong way.  I started with the immigrant ancestor, Thomas Caswell of Taunton, Massachusetts, whose genealogy was published in the Mayflower Descendant.  I searched down all of the branches of his family and found several Jonathans who were the right generation to have been Hannah's father.  I easily eliminated all but one of them.  I found that the remaining Jonathan was a son of Joseph Caswell and Lydia Harding who lived in Middlesex Co., Connecticut.  Once I got there, I found Hannah and her family and proceeded to prove the line all the way back to Thomas.

Jonathan Caswell married Margery Markham.  Hannah was their daughter.  She was baptized in East Hampton, Middlesex, Connecticut on 2 July 1786.  Jonathan and Margery and much of Jonathan's family, including Joseph Caswell and Lydia, moved to Otsego Co., New York.  That is where Hannah married William Slack on 30 April 1807.  William was from Northampton, Massachusetts.  He was a land owner in Springfield, Otsego Co. and that is where they lived.  They had four children, including my ancestor Philinda Slack who was born 3 January 1809.  Their other children were Jonathan Caswell Slack, Levi Slack, and Lewin Slack.  Levi and Lewin died in 1812 and I believe Hannah died then also -- but I have not found her grave.  (Which means she is a bit of a brick wall -- still!)  William took his two living children and went back to Massachusetts to his family.  There he was remarried in 1813.

Hannah is not only a descendant of Thomas Caswell but, through her mother, Margery Markham, she descends from the Mayflower three times -- making me a descendant of William Brewster, John Howland, and John Tilley.  I thought I didn't have any Mayflower lines and then I got three in one!

My Great Grandfather, Samuel Sandys Hillier

This is how it looked in 1994.

Samuel Sandys Hillier was born at Cowage Farm, Bremilham, Malmsbury Wiltshire, England on 22 December 1850.  He was a son of William Hillier and Elizabeth Pike.  In 1861, he appears on the census twice...
In the household of his father at Royal Oak, Bremilham, Malmsbury, as a son age 11.
In the household of Joseph Whale in Corston St., St. Paul, Malmsbury, as a visitor age 11.  He may have been going to school at this second place.

On 23 July 1872, he married Mary Ann "Molly" Newth, a daughter of William Pride Newth and Elizabeth "Betsy" Adkins.  They were married Malmsbury, Wiltshire.  Right after their marriage, they emigrated to the USA and settled in Hastings, Adams Co., Nebraska.  Then, after a trip to England in 1877-1878, they returned and settled in Kansas.  The reason for the trip to England in 1877 was his father's death.  They were first in Gettysburgh and Nicodemus, Graham Co. and then in Lenora, Norton Co., Kansas.  They moved to Pomona, Los Angeles Co., California in about 1886.

Samuel was a butcher most of his life but took up the sale of real estate in Pomona in about 1890.  In studying the Hillier family in England, I found that there were other butchers.  It may have been a family trade passed down.  He became a citizen of the United States in 1888.

Samuel and Mary Ann had thirteen children, nine of whom survived to adulthood.  They were Elizabeth Sarah Grace, William Sandys (died young), George John Ernest, Ruth (died young), Mabel Mary, Allen (died young), Charles Arthur "Charlie", John (died young), Ernest Stephen (my grandfather), Herbert Henry, Ray, Mary Edith, Nelly Ruth (died young).  Sometime before 1904, they were divorced while several of the children were still at home.  Samuel married Alice Erskine in Yuma, Arizona in 1904 and they had one child, Stuart Samuel, together in 1907.  By 1914, they were separated and she was married to someone else.  Mary Ann Newth never remarried.

My father lived with his grandmother Mary Ann Newth Hillier for a while as a child.  He had many stories to tell about the two bachelor uncles, Herbert and Ray, who were still at home at this time.  One story was about the Halloween when one of them (with the help of some friends) turned the outhouse over on its side -- the door side -- while the other one was in there and then ran off.  Daddy said his grandmother sent him to the bar to get them to come home and release him.

Samuel died on the 24 of January 1912 in Pomona.  My father, who was 6 years old at the time, remembered being fascinated by a little mouse that was running in and out, under his coffin.  Samuel is buried in Pomona Cemetery.  When Mary Ann died in 1919, she was buried next him.

LEWIS CHILSON, A COLORFUL RELATIVE

Lewis Chilson was a brother of my fourth great grandfather, Joseph Chilson, Jr.  I want to talk about him because he had a more "colorful" life than the average Chilson.  He was born about 1798 in Westhampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts, the youngest son of Joseph Chilson, Sr. and Mary "Molly" French.  He married Dorcas Damon, a daughter of Nathan Damon and Olive Witherell, on 27 October 1820 in Westhampton.

Lewis and Dorcas had three children that I know of -- Orpha, Fordyce, and Rodney.  Rodney disappears from records and I suspect he died young.  Orpha and Fordyce managed to cause quite a bit of grief for their parents.

In 1850, I was unable to find Fordyce on the US Census in Westhampton.  After broadening the search, I found him in Charlestown, Middlesex Co. in the State Prison.  He was there because he was convicted of Larceny.  He had a wife and some children who were left behind to be cared for by relatives in Westhampton.  By 1860, he was home.  He and his family were living with Lewis and Dorcas.

As if this weren't enough, their daughter Orpha had a child Orinthia Weller Chilson out of wedlock.  I did a thorough search of records and found that the father of this child was Roland Weller, who was married to someone else at the time of this child's birth.  Orpha, eventually, got married to John Gray Russell.  However, Orinthia was raised by her grandparents and is found in their household in 1850 and 1860.

The Chilsons and other families who lived in the northern part a Westhampton, near the Chesterfield line, including Lewis Chilson, seemed to have decided to join the Chesterfield Baptist Society.  In New England, if you were not going to to attend and support the local Congregational (Puritan) Church, you had to submit a certificate proving that you were a member of and supporting another church.  I found quite a number of these in the Westhampton records, including one submitted by Lewis Chilson in 1824.  However, the Westhampton Congregational Church ignored it in his case.  To summarize the church minutes...  Several times in 1824, a complaint was brought against Lewis Chilson for "neglecting the preaching of the word and the Lord's table" for two years.  Various people were assigned to go out and talk to him.  All of them reported back that he was not planning to return to the Congregational Church.  Eventually, in 1825, they decided to excommunicate Lewis Chilson.  There were several public readings of this decision.  It is interesting to note that, Lewis Chilson had been a member of the Chesterfield Baptist Society for some time and had submitted the proper document about a year before the Congregational Church excommunicated him.  It seems a bit like persecution to me!  Especially since I couldn't find any other members of the Chesterfield Baptist Society who received this treatment.

In addition to all of this, poor Lewis had financial problems.  He was in court a number of times and his property was attached to help pay his debts several times.  Nevertheless, he remained right there in Westhampton is whole life even though his brothers all moved on.  He died on 24 August 1860 and is buried in the Westhampton Cemetery.  His wife died eleven years later and is buried next to him.