On Christmas Eve of 1786, Robert Hill, Jr. married Eleanor Hyfield.  Ten months later she bore him a son Benjamin on October 11, 1787.  Benjamin grew to become Reverend Benjamin Hill and married Sophia Tarleton.  The couple had at least eight children, one of which also became a minister, Rev. Caleb Taylor Hill.   Benjamin and his wife are buried in the Salem Methodist Church Cemetery, as are his father and mother.  Eleanor died sometime shortly after Benjamin's birth, although no record has been found stating the exact date of her death or burial.

Alone with his young son Benjamin, Robert Hill, Jr. finds another bride. On April 1st of 1790, He married Amelia Fitzgerald.  Still living in Frederick County Maryland, the new couple is found in the 1790 Frederick County U.S. Census living in a cluster of Hills on the same rented farm of Charles Carroll.   In this Census we find Robert Hill, Jr. and family living with his father Robert Hill, Sr.   Also on this rented farm we find Robert Jr.'s brothers Henry Robey Hill and Benjamin S. Hill all living next to each other.  According to the Census data, this cluster of Hills also includes his uncles Joseph Hill and Thomas Hill (brothers of Robert Sr.), and his widowed Aunt Penelope Robey Hill (sister of his mother, Rachel Robey Hill who married Phillip Hill, brother of his father Robert Hill, Sr.).

The next record we have of Robert Hill, Jr. and wife Amelia is the birth of their first child together.   On February 3rd, 1793, Amelia gave birth to her first child, Elizabeth, in Frederick County Maryland.   Elizabeth, three years old when her family made the long journey from Frederick County Maryland to Mason County Kentucky, later married Caleb Taylor Tarleton and settled in neighboring Bracken County Kentucky.   Caleb (also of Maryland transplanted to Kentucky) was the son of John Tarleton and Elizabeth Taylor Tarleton.   Elizabeth and Caleb settled in the town of Brooksville and were among the founding families of the Brooksville Methodist Church, holding worship service in their home until the church building was constructed in 1866.  Elizabeth and Caleb are buried in the "Brooksville Old Town Cemetery".   Their descendants are numerous and are included in the "My Family Tree" link found on my homepage.

In 1795 Amelia gave birth to a son, John F. Hill (who married Edith Sargent on January 2nd, 1822 and moved his family to Clermont County Ohio where he died in 1840).  Shortly after the birth of his son John, Robert Jr. lost his father.  Robert Hill, Sr. died on April 10th, 1795 in Frederick County Maryland and was probably buried on the rented farm on Carrollton Manor.  In June of that same year, Frederick County land records show Robert Jr. selling livestock and two beds, and settling his recently deceased father's administrative account which was finalized in October of 1796.  Robert Hill Sr. was the only Hill in Frederick County Maryland who had and administrative account settled before 1800.

Not many details have been discovered about the journey of Robert Hill, Jr. and family from Maryland to Kentucky, and their exact path is yet unknown, but their next child Nathan was born along the way.   Nathan Hill, third child of Amelia Fitzgerald Hill was born in 1797, and claimed in a later Census that he was born in Virginia.  (Nathan later married Margaret Howe and spent his life in Kentucky.)  

The next record of Robert Hill, Jr. and family is in the Kentucky U.S. Census of 1810 which reveals him living in Mason County.  Several other children have been born by this time:  William Hill born in 1800, Linzy Hill born April 26th, 1802 and Ellen born in 1804, all born in Mason County.   William, like so many Hills before him, became a minister.  He died on June 6th, 1853 and is buried next to his parents in the Salem Methodist Church Cemetery.  Linzy (my direct ancestor) married Mary Mastin (her family being another founding family of Salem Church) on October 25th, 1826 and they had eight children, most of which lived their lives on Salem Ridge and sustained Salem Church with their Christian witness, livelyhood and numerous descendants. Linzy and Mary Hill are buried along side each other in the Salem Methodist Church Cemetery.  Ellen married Augustus F. Dillon (Dillon also being a founding family of Salem Church) on Valentine's Day of 1844 and died in 1879.  Ellen and Augustus are also buried in the Salem Methodist Church Cemetery.

The 1810 Census data also revealed two other boys in the household under the age of ten, and another girl between the ages ten and sixteen (most probably between 1797 and 1800).  The names of these other three children have not yet been conclusively proven, but some suggest the names Dorcus Jane, Otho, Dempson and a fourth additional child named Tabitha.  It is interesting to note that the names Tabitha and Dorcus both refer to the same Biblical character of the New Testament, coming from two different Biblical Translations.  Perhaps they are the same person, or perhaps another girl was born to Robert and Amelia sometime after the 1810 Census was taken.

The exact residence of Robert Hill, Jr. and his family is unclear until 1818, when on the 4th of March he purchased 200 acres near the Salem turnpike from Aaron Owens for the sum of $500.00. This deed (Mason County deed book #48 page 152) was witnessed by Nathan Hill and John Hill, probably Robert's two oldest sons with Amelia, who would by then have been 42 and 44 years old, respectively.  

At some point between the date of this deed, March 4th, 1818 and the date June 23rd, 1835 Robert Hill Jr. built the Salem Methodist Church (also referred to as the Salem Meeting House) on a portion of his farm bordering the roadway called Salem Ridge, now present day KY Highway #596.  I use the ending date June 23rd, 1835, as it is the earliest date currently found which mentions the Salem Meeting House. This deed (Mason County deed book # 41, page 320-321) shows Robert and Amelia Hill deeding land to Mary Hill and describes the portion as "being part of the Thorton Survey of 303 and 1/3 acres, joining George White, Mrs. Taylor and the South West Corner of the Salem Meeting House".  Therefore the Salem Church Building had already been erected by the date of this deed.

The next significant record available is dated October 16th, 1839, and is considered by some to be the founding date of the Salem Methodist Church.  As mentioned earlier, the church had been founded at least some four to five years prior to this, but this was the date that Robert Hill deeded the church building and surrounding land separate from his own farm as The Salem Methodist Episcopal Church and Cemetery.  The property was deeded to the trustees of the church for the purpose of "promoting the Christian Religion".   For a transcription of this deed click here .

From the earliest records available my Hill ancestors were descent God-fearing Christian people.   The rented farm they lived on for so many years on Carrollton Manor was very close to the Monocacy Monthly Meeting, a very active Quaker Church.  Perhaps this association had some influence on this Hill family.   Interestingly enough, one of the founding families of this Quaker Church was the White family, which was also one of the early families of the Salem ME Church.  Any connection that may exist between these two White factions is yet undiscovered, but makes for a fitting irony at the very least.