Published by permission from the historical society.

Transcribed by Mrs. McElroys' MMS class.

HILL-George W.

George W. Hill, born in Upper Tract, W. Va., left his native state when he was just a young man and came west to Kansas. He spent the year 1870 around Manhattan. He joined with the cowboys that drove cattle from Abilene to Texas. On one of these trips he was caught out in a blizzard and froze his hands, which left a permanent stiffness to his fingers.

The next year, 1871, he came on farther south and filed a claim, which later was to become a part of the City of Mulvane.

The deed was signed by President U. S. Grant, September 1^st, 1873, Certificate No. 2314, Osage Indian Land. Thus, he became one of the pioneer farmers in this region.

About that time, another pioneer family, Joseph and Mary Jane Pattee, settled on a farm about a mile north of Mulvane.

In the Pattee family, almost every generation moved west. The ancestor of this family came to America from Ireland and settled in Maine, and later moved to Marietta, Ohio. It was here that their three children were born, whose names were: Clarissa, Mandana (later Mrs. Charles Hunsaker) and J. Edgar.

During the Civil War, the father belonged to the State Militia. They didn’t have real guns to use "for drill" so wooden ones were used. He made shoes for his children and others whose fathers had gone off to war. Later the lure of the west was too strong to resist, so they moved to Iowa, staying for a short while; and then in 1873, they decided to come to Kansas. They, with two other families (Clarissa’s uncles), formed a for-covered-wagon-caravan and headed west. Traveling was very slow, as the roads were very poor and they sometimes had to ford streams. After forty days of travel, they stopped near Salina, rented a farm, and put out a crop. That was a notable year, for the grasshoppers came and destroyed almost everything. Leaving the two other families in the Salina area, the Pattee family loaded all their possessions in their wagon and came south, stopping about eighteen miles south of Wichita. Here they built a log house, one room built partly in the ground with high windows and a loft above.

The end of the railroad was at Wichita. Freight and passenger service used wagons, but, ponies in the south carried mail service.

Clarissa (now called Clara, was my mother and that is the only name I ever heard her be called) became one of the pioneer schoolteachers. She received her certificate to teach from Thomas H. Mason, the newly elected Sumner County Superintendent of Education. Mr. Mason had no office of his own but owned a Comanche pony, which he rode over the county establishing school districts.

The school Clara taught was called "Littleton" (two miles east and in the second mile south of Mulvane.) The building served as a community house for church, school, and all social gatherings for miles around. It was here that she met the young man from West Virginia. On October 15^th, 1876, Clara A. Pattee was united in marriage to George W. Hill in this community church

Their first home was a "dugout" built on George’s claim. (Location now would be near 603 S. Fourth Street in Mulvane.) During the next two years, lumber was hauled by wagon from Wichita and a new two-story house was built, with three large rooms downstairs and four rooms above. This was one of the earliest homes in the community.

As there were no streets and thinking that the little settlement to the south and east, where a store and post office had been established would be the place for a town to grow, the big house was faced toward the east.

However, when the Santa Fe Railway built their lines south of Wichita, they built their depot at the division point, where one line went south to Wellington and another line went southeast to Arkansas City. It was around this point the town of Mulvane grew.

My father attended the meeting that was called for the naming of the new town. Later, when the streets were laid out and the town began to grow toward the north and west, our house was remodeled to face the street.

There were nine children in the Hill family: eight girls and one boy. The oldest girl was born in the "dugout", the next eight were born in the new home Their names: Etta Hill Porter, Frankie Hill Brown, Delcie Dee Porter, Catharine Hill Hatfield, Pearle Hill Hixson, Wilbur Lee Hill, Eva Hill Muller, Gladys Hill Davis, and Christine Hill Mason.

There were five grandchildren: Max Lee Muller, Ruth Davis Breckberg, Chester Paul Davis, Marlen N. Davis, and Robert Hill Mason.

The eight girls all followed in their mother’s footsteps and became successful teachers in Kansan schools, also in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Etta and Frankie served as principals in the Wichita schools for many years.

Reflecting on the love we all held for our mother is the following excerpt from a letter written by Wilbur Lee to his sister, Catharine, when he was many miles from. "Mother gave us her all and all credit to her for instilling in all her children those fine qualities she possessed. She was fully dedicated to her church and to her family trying to instill in our minds, hearts, and souls all the examples we could absorb from her teaching by both words and everyday living." Wilber Lee’s life work was with the railroad.

As a child, I remember in case of a bad storm the rule of the household was for all us children to hurry to the basement and climb in a ten-bushel wooden box. I’m sure the box held more than ten bushels, but that was what we called it and we all felt it was a place of utmost security.

The First Methodist Church in Mulvane was then located near 402^nd S. Fourth Street. It was just a block and a half away from our home. It was here where all of us children regularly attended Sunday school and church. It was a usual Saturday night scene at our house to see us all seated around a table lighted by a kerosene lamp studying and discussing our Sunday school lesson.

Not far from the house was a good-sized orchard of apple, cherry, pear, and peach trees. A big vegetable garden was grown every season. The summers were spent canning and storing food for winter use. There were the big cans of dried applies, peaches, and corn. We always tried to fill the long shelves in our basement with apples, potatoes, pumpkin, and squash.

Every fall was butchering time when the meat was cured or canned, the lard rendered and the year’s supply of soap made. We had our own cows and chickens so milk, butter, and eggs were plentiful.

These were the years of the coal oil lamps, the wood or coal burning stove, the washboard and tub, and the rag carpet. When there was not enough wind to turn the windmill we pumped water by hand. The water for laundry was usually heated over a fire in a big iron kettle outside the house. With no phones, communication was limited to visiting with our neighbors, school, and church friends constituted our social life.

We were really happy when we got our first hand-worked washing machine and icebox. Gas eventually was piped to us, which entirely changed our cooking and heating needs. Also, to have a gas light in each room was a real treat. Years later, electricity was added, and with it came all the many conveniences that are so common today.

There are only two living members left of this family now: Wilbur Lee and myself. We live on a farm three miles north of Belle Plaine.

The old family home, which was located in the north part of the 600 block on S. Fourth Street, was torn down in 1970.

Contributed by Christine Hill Mason in 1973.