Today, I will share information about immigrant Jonathan Hill and his wife, Mary, of Prudence Island, Rhode Island, that is even more sparse than that of his son, Jonathan, about whom I wrote yesterday.

Jonathan Hill is said to have come from Wales, probably not long before he settled in Rhode Island about 1657. Whether he and wife Mary married in the old country or when they arrived in the colonies is not known. As with the wife of Jonathan’s son, Jonathan, there is absolutely NO proof that I have found that states anything more than her given name was Mary. The surname found in many family trees was apparently debunked 100 years ago.

Jonathan might have been born c1630, as son Jonathan was born about 1657. Whether or not Jonathan was the firstborn child is not known.

Jonathan Sr. and Mary were the parents of three known children, but there might have been others lost to time.

Children:

i. Jonathan, born c1657, probably Prudence Island; died by 5 September 1731, when his estate administration began; married (Unknown) and had seven children.
ii. Henry, born 24 June 1661, with his birth recorded in Warwick, Rhode Island; married Elizabeth (MNU). They both died after 12 October 1724 when they sold land to Henry Gardiner of South Kingstown, Rhode Island.
iii. Robert, born no later than 1669, as he sold land in 1690 and was likely over 21 years of age;  died between 12 July 1690, when he sold land, and  17 September 1711; married Mary Pearce.

Like I said, today’s data is SPARSE! If you can contribute any new factual (documented) information, I would love to hear from you.

If much work has been done on the two Jonathan Hills of Prudence island, Rhode Island, little evidence of it has appeared online. In fact, the most modern write up I have been able to find is in FamilySearch digitized books: Allen-Gould-Hill Genealogy: Descendants of William Allen of Prudence Island, Newport Co., R.I., 1660 Including Descendants of Jeremy Gould of Newport – 1638 and Jonathan Hill of Prudence Island, 1657 with a Short History of Quidnessett by Daniel Gould Allen, Revised, Arranged and Published by Edward A. Claypool, Chicago, 1908. The book is actually typed, as with a typewriter!

Also digitized was The Hill-Allen and Aylsworth Families of North Kingstown, Rhode Island by Gary Leland Rhodes, 2005, but this book was merely a compilation of photocopied pages from much earlier, previously published works.

Therefore, I am tentatively sharing the following, pertaining to the parents of Ebenezer Hill who married Mary Fones (great grandchild of George Soule of the Mayflower.)

Jonathan Hill was born about 1657, probably on Prudence Island, Rhode Island, about the time that his father, Jonathan Sr., settled there. In spite of online postings for Jonathan’s wife, I can find absolutely NO documentation of even a first name and the early works on the family say she is unknown.

Although no birth record is found for Jonathan, he gave a deposition in December 1695 stating that he was about 38 years old. Likewise, there are no recorded dates of birth for his children, but it is supposed that he married by, say, 1682, when he would have been about 25. That was a common age for young men in New England to marry at the time.

His sons, Jonathan and Caleb, were granted administration on his estate on 15 September 1731. From that, I would think that they were the two oldest sons. I believe Ebenezer was the baby of the family, born perhaps about 1704. When the estate was finally settled, each child acknowledged receipt of his/her share.

Children:

i. Jonathan, born c1683; died between 15 September 1731 and 22 December 1748, when he was mentioned as deceased in the will of his brother, Caleb. He apparently married as his sons, Barnard, Jonathan and Nathaniel, were named in Caleb’s will.
ii. Mary, born c1684, if she married at age 21; reportedly died 13 February 1758; married Isaac Lawton, 25 December 1705. Isaac was born 25 May 1681 and died 1728, both in Portsmouth, Rhode Island.
iii. Caleb, married Ruth, who was named in his will; died before 9 February 1755, when his will was proved. He had written it on 22 December 1748.
iv. Rebecca, married John Allen; died after 15 September 1731.
v. Sarah, married Mr. Mills; died after 15 September 1731.
vi. Thomas, born c1692; reportedly died 20 April 1768, Rhode Island; married (1) Elizabeth Allen, with whom he had no children. She died soon after marriage. (2) Rebecca Allen, sister of his first wife, Elizabeth. They had three sons and three daughters. (3) Anna (Waterman) Tilllinghast.
vii. Ebenezer, born c1704; died 31 October 1753, St. Eustatius Island in the Caribbean; married Mary Fones, 1 January 1729/30.

If anyone has done any more recent research into this family and can document any new facts or make corrections, please leave a comment.