My Family Tree

There are reasons for believing that he came from the vicinity of Chard, in Somersetshire, England, about eight miles north of Lyme Regis. The Visitation of Somersetshire in 1623 gives the pedigree of a Hill family, of Poundsford, in which a John'* Hill is mentioned as the tenth and youngest son of William* of Poundsford {Roger j^ William^). This John Hill was born circa 1571, had a son John,^ yeoman, living in Chaffcombe, a parish three miles east of Chard, of age but unmarried in 1628, but who had removed from there before 1633.
Dorchester records show that John Hill had land granted on Feb. 18, 1636, Jan. 2, 1637-8, and March 18, 1638. There is no evidence that he was a member of the church, and the style of his will is totally different from that in vogue among the religious Puritan colonists. Not having been a church member he could not have been a freeman ; and there is no record of his having held any public offices. It has been commonly stated that John Hill of Dorchester was a blacksmith, but nothing appears to substantiate this assertion, and the inventory of his estate indicates that he was a farmer.* His residence, after 1 644, was in that part of Dorchester called Uncaty, and later setoff as Milton.