Hill and Morgan families papers

Collection

Identifier: MS-0190

Staff Only

Collection Overview

Abstract

The Hill and Morgan families papers span four generations of a Wood County, Ohio family, from 1831 to 1983. The surnames of the successive generations are: Hill, Morgan, Overmyer, and Graf. The collection includes correspondence, documents, manuscripts, printed materials, photographs, newspaper clippings, and some artifacts collected during this time span. These materials provide an intimate look into the events of a typical Northwest Ohio family, and the context in which they lived.

The generation of this region's first pioneers is represented through correspondence with relatives in some of the eastern states. Letters to members of the Hill family, from friends serving in the Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War, provide some details of a soldiers life during that time. Religion proves to be a dominant influence throughout this collection. Similarly, education in Northwest Ohio is illustrated by student compositions, report cards, and programs, as well as various teacher's manuscripts, class lists, and instructional materials.

The collection represents some women's history with the several manuscripts of local, state, and national women's organizations.

Of interest to the genealogist are the materials dealing with a wide cross section of relatives, and of friends living in Wood County. Associated family names include: Burrows, Crawfoot/Crowfoot, Hallopeter, Hoiles, Kingsbury, Ostrander, Shuman, Underwood, Wensel, and Whitman.

In addition to portraits of family and friends, this collection includes more than 150 photographs and negatives, many of which depict rural life in Ohio from the late 19th century.

Dates

Creation: 1831-1983

Extent

2.38 Cubic Feet (5 legal size archive boxes, 1 phase box)

1 Items (1 oversize document)

Creator

Hill family (Family)
Morgan family (Family)

Scope and Contents

The Hill/Morgan Family collection provides rare insight into many different aspects of Ohio history. Early 19th century correspondence to the Hill family reveals contemporary attitudes about relationships, travel (infrequency of visits), and activities. The Reverend Harlow Hill and his family also received many letters from friends serving in the Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War which gives personal accounts of battles and camp life during campaigns. All of the letters, except three in box 1, folder 2, from Allen S. Underwood of the 153rd New York have been transcribed. The three mentioned above were omitted due to lightness and illegibility issues.

Better represented are the lives of the daughters of Guy and Hester (Hill) Morgan. Correspondence between each other and friends furnish an intimate and affectionate description of their lives from their youth near the end of the century, to old age. School compositions, report cards, and commencement programs give further personal reference to their lives. Two of the girls trained and practiced as teachers near Wayne, Ohio, as is evidenced by some of the teaching certificates and other teacher's documents included. The tragedy of young lives ended prematurely through sickness is portrayed in the letters and obituaries of two of the sisters' deaths.

The life of the youngest daughter, Adella (Morgan) Overmyer, is represented more completely than any other. Her attendance at Lima College, and subsequent career as a teacher are illustrated in her letters, especially to her college friends. She was also very active in various women's organizations on a local, state, and national level. Minutes of meetings, pamphlet material, conference programs, and awards all combine to describe her opinions and actions regarding women's issues during the early to mid-20th century.

Religion played a significant role in the succeeding generations of this family, from the Reverend Harlow Hill to Mrs. Ruth Graf (donor of the collection) who married a Lutheran Pastor. The collection therefore includes many tracts and publications of a sectarian nature from the mid-nineteenth century to 1980.

The genealogist will find much information about the Hill and Morgan families, as well as their many relations. Because of the nature of this collection there is much information about many families who grew up and were associated with this Wood County family for over 100 years.

Biographical / Historical

The Reverend Harlow Hill (1810-1893), an itinerant preacher, married Amy Kingsbury (1811-1883) on February 27, 1832 at Martinsville, New York. The Reverend was a Vermont native born on February 14, 1810. He and his wife came to the Freeport (later named Prairie Depot and now known as Wayne), Wood County, Ohio, vicinity in 1832. In January 1833 he constructed a log cabin in Perry Township. The next year he conducted the first Methodist Episcopal class in the township with seven members present. A year later Montgomery Township was set off from Perry and the first election followed in 1835. Hill along with Charles Smith were elected overseers of the poor; a total of fourteen votes were cast at the election. During the Civil War Hill corresponded with a number of soldiers from the Wood County area. Among them are Elisha Fair - Company K, 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry; Charles M. Gano - Company K, 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry; James F. Hollopeter; Manning H. Jackson - Company E, 25th Ohio Volunteer Infantry; William A. Knoll - Company H, 11th Michigan Volunteer Infantry; Guy Morgan - Company K, 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry; John Morgan William Charles Pfeffer - Company C, 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry; John A. Stump - Company E, 25th Ohio Volunteer Infantry; Nash E. Stump - Company E, 25th Ohio Volunteer Infantry; Allen S. Underwood - Company K, 153rd New York Volunteer Infantry; and William Henry Wickard - Company H, 49th Ohio Volunteer Infantry.

Four children were born to Harlow and Amy: Harrison (1832), Henry Whitman (1837), Harriet (1839), and Hester Ann (1843). Harlow Hill died on July 9, 1893 and was buried in the Graham Cemetery, Montgomery Township, Wood County, Ohio.

Hester Ann Hill married Guy Morgan (1839-1910) on Christmas day 1866. Guy Morgan, son of Griswold and Rhoda Shuman Morgan, was born in Wood County Ohio. The Morgan's settled near the Hill's in Montgomery Township. Guy enlisted in Company K, 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry on August 24, 1861. He was discharged on a surgeon's certificate of disability on May 5, 1863, after he was shot in the head during the Battle of Murfreesboro. This couple had seven daughters: Carrie Lucinda (1867), Cora Belle (1871), Harriet Mabel (1875), Anna Eliza (1878), Jessie May (1882), Luella Jean (1884), and Hester Adella (1886). Guy died on March 3, 1910.

The youngest daughter, known as Adella Morgan, attended Lima College, and was a teacher in the Wayne, Ohio area. She was married October 18, 1919, to William G. Overmyer at Toledo, Ohio. Adella was accomplished in many endeavors, literary, and otherwise. She was also active in many different women's organizations on a local, state, and national level. The Overmyers had three children: Hester Mae, Joseph Guy, and Ruth Ellen.

Conditions Governing Access

No known access restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Researchers using this collection assume full responsibility for conforming to the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright, and are responsible for securing permissions necessary for publication or reproduction.

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into the following series:

Correspondence, 1831-1971
Literary productions, 1881-1980, undated
Subject files, 1862-1983, undated
Legal documents, 1835-1923
Financial documents, 1872-1923
Scrapbooks and newsclippings, 1899-1980
Printed material, 1917-1919, undated
Photographs, 1858-1948, undated
Artifacts, undated

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The records were donated and transferred to the Center for Archival Collections in October 1981 by Mrs. Ruth Graf of Wayne, Ohio, a fourth generation descendant of the Reverend Harlow Hill who moved to Wood County in the 1830s.