My brothers and sisters (and their families)

William J. Hill and Mary Carnes were married on July 22, 1854. In the eight years before William's death in 1862, five children were born to them: Edwin Carnes in 1855, Lucius Davis in 1856, Ella in 1858, Dora in 1859, and William Walter in 1861. Another child, Ida Rogers, born in 1858, was raised with the other children in the Hill family as one of their own. Ida was the daughter of Amanda Carnes Rogers, Mary Carnes' sister. This chapter is a short history of these brothers and sisters of William Walter Hill.

EDWIN CARNES HILL (1855-1946)

Edwin Carnes Hill, the firstborn into the family of William Jasper and Mary Carnes Hill, was born April 21, 1855. He was always religiously disposed and when a little lad, he became a member of the Church of Christ under the influence of his Grandfather Carnes.

After he had completed his education at Burritt College, he took an agency of a Bible which had special features and helps to aid in the study of the scriptures. A portion of Arkansas was assigned to him for the sale of the Bible. While engaged in canvassing the territory, he met and married a young widow, Eugenia Patrick Summitt. To this union the following children were born, given in the order of their birth: Mary Edna, Walter Pleasant, Annie Laurie, Emma Cora, William Jasper, and Vivian Allene.

He remained in Arkansas for many years after his marriage. Being naturally a mechanic, he learned the carpenter's trade and worked at that for good wages. Part of the time he was employed at a railroad shop in a suburb of Little Rock. He finally came back to Tennessee and settled on a farm on the Cumberland Mountain Plateau and entered the ministry, evangelizing in the mountainous region, establishing new congregations and strengthening old ones.

In the meantime he and his wife separated, the wife going to St. Louis. Walter Pleasant and Viviane Allene went with her. The other children remained on the farm with their father. While on the farm he was appointed by Governor Frazier, a friend of the family, superintendent and caretaker of Herbert Domain, a preserve acquired by the state and now used as a reformatory for delinquent Negro boys.

At Ed's suggestion, it was arranged to have a family reunion at his beautiful place. So the children and grandchildren of the Carnes-Hill family met at Sparta, boarded the train running to the Bon Air coal mines at Clifty, the terminal of the railroad. There we secured a wagon and team, some riding and some walking over a rough road for several miles until we reached Herbert Domain.

The large spacious buildings afforded plenty of room to accommodate the crowd. There were two buildings, one was occupied by the older married people, the other turned over to the children where they could romp and play. Here we spent a happy week fishing, bathing, horseback riding, and engaging in other games. Ed furnished vegetables and fruits while the others chipped in and brought other food.

At the end of his service to this preserve, Ed returned to his farming and preaching, but as his children grew up they went to Chattanooga to get employment. Even after his children left he continued to farm, working through the weekdays and preaching on Sunday. But after a time his children induced him to come to Chattanooga and live.

He made his home with Annie Laurie and Joe Arlidge where he spent his time improving their home and gardening. Each April 21st, on his birthday, his children would celebrate with a family reunion and a big dinner. The writer of this history and family were always invited and enjoyed many of these sumptuous meals.

Ed had standing appointments to hold meetings with the churches he had served so long on the mountain and continued filling them as long as he was able. On July 26, 1946, his spirit was set free from his afflicted body to join the innumer-able host of the redeemed gone before.

This is a record of Edwin Hill's children, as it is known to the writer:

Mary Edna married Sam Parker in Pikeville. Sam was an employee of the N.C.&St.L. railroad running on the branch road from South Pittsburgh to Pikeville. They later moved to Chattanooga. There they went into the real estate business, buying, improving, and selling. Edna was the guiding mind on the deals. They accumulated considerable real estate in Chattanooga. They had no children.

Annie Laurie married Joe Arlidge and lived at Hixson, Tennessee. They had two adopted daughters, Estell and Ezell. Annie Laurie was of a lovely disposition, always smiling. She was very fleshy, which possibly contributed to her heart attack, which caused her death. After her husband's death, she lived with her brother William in Chattanooga for a short time before she passed away.

Emma Cora, after coming to Chattanooga, married Charlie Powell. Two children were born to this union: Rebecca and Claude Jackson (Jack). After Mr. Powell's death and when her children were settled and self-supporting, Emma married Charles DeBord, a farmer on Route 3 near Pikeville. She is the only one of Edwin Hill's children still living in Tennessee at this writing.

Rebecca Powell married Sherman Hixson. They have two children, Carol and Douglas. Mr. Hixson is a superintendent of Combustion Engineering Corp. in Chattanooga.

Jack Powell graduated from the University of Tennessee. He married Glendon Bennett and has two children, Gary and Marsha. He is a research analyst at TVA.

William Jasper (Bill) is a railroader and has a responsible position as engineer on the switch engine in the railroad yards in Chattanooga. Bill married and had two children, Edwin Wendell and Nancy. Bill died an untimely death by asphyxiation from leaking gas in his home and was cut down in the prime of life. He was corpulent and jolly, always a familiar figure at the celebration of his father's birthday dinners.

Wendell Hill married and has two children: David and Susan.

Nancy Hill married Edd Wilcoxson. They have two children.

LUCIUS DAVIS HILL (1856-1933)

Lucius Davis Hill was born in Pikeville on the 25th day of August 1856. He was educated in Manchester College and Burritt College while these institutions were under the administration of his grandfather, W.D.Carnes and his mother, Mary Carnes Hill. When his grandfather was superceded in the presidency of Burritt College, the Hill family moved to Sparta. This was about the year 1877. Lucius, like his father, decided to make Law his profession and associated himself with H.C. and D.L. Snodgrass and studied under their tutorship.

These two Snodgrasses were distinguished lawyers and politicians. H.C. Snodgrass was elected to Congress from the 3rd Congressional District for two terms. D.L. Snodgrass rose to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Tennessee.

While studying law in the office of these two men, Lucius founded the Sparta Expositor (the writer of this history learned to set type in the Expositor office while Lucius was editor). He was admitted to the bar in 1888 and began to practice in Sparta and continued active practice there. His practice was frequently interrupted by his public political career. He was attorney for several corporations, among which was the N.C.&St.L. Railway, the Bon Air Land & Coal Co., Tennessee Electric Power Co., and other large concerns. He had a large general practice. He later formed a partnership with his son, Malcolm C. Hill, who obtained his L.L.B. degree from Vanderbilt University and who carried on the legal affairs of the firm while Lucius was in public office.

Frank T. Fancher writes as follows concerning Lucius Hill's political career:

"From 1886 to 1890 Judge Hill was a member of the State Legislature, and was a member of the State Senate in 1923, again in 1925, when he served as Speaker of the Senate, which is the same as Lieutenant Governor in many states, the occupant succeeding to the Governorship on the death or removal of the Governor. From 1917 to 1921 he served under appointment of President Wilson as International Boundary Commissioner between the United States and Mexico, and was instrumental in negotiating one of the most important boundary treaties and agreements between the two countries, contributing greatly to enduring friendly relations."

On many occasions he was special Judge of the various courts in this circuit. For four years he was chairman of the Democratic National Committee of Tennessee. At the time of his death, September 19, 1933, Judge Hill was a member of the Tennessee Railroad and Public Utilities Commission, having been elected for a second term of six years.

Judge Hill and his family were devoted members of the Sparta congregation of the Church of Christ. He was an eloquent and scholarly gentleman, a ripe lawyer, true to his high conception of the ethics and dignity of his profession and a splendid exemplar of those qualities and characteristics of mind and heart and conduct that drew and held his friends by the hundreds and thousands over the state of Tennessee. A well-founded lawyer and patriotic public citizen, Lucius Davis Hill was of the highest rank and will ever be remembered by the Sparta Bar and coming generations will call him blessed.

Soon after coming to Sparta he married Betty Young from a prominent family who owned a brick colonial home on a hill above the highway leading from Sparta to Spencer. To this union the following children were born: Oliver W., Bessie, who died in infancy of a brain trouble (meningitis) (the writer rode horseback at night to Doyle after Dr. Henry Smith in vain to save her life), Lucius D. Jr., Frank Y., Paul S., Malcolm C., Virginia, Katherine, and Rebecca. All these children were born, grew up, and spent a happy childhood on a farm about a mile south of Sparta. They were educated in the public schools of White County and the University of Tennessee. Of the five boys, three chose law as their profession and two elected medicine as their life work. All have been eminently successful in their respective fields of service. All saw overseas service in World War I, Malcolm getting slightly wounded. A life sketch of each of these children follows:

Oliver W. Hill was born on February 18, 1883. He was educated in the public schools of White County, Burritt College, and Potter Bible College, Bowling Green, Kentucky. His boyhood was spent on a farm near Sparta. His medical career was started at Sewanee University Medical Department, but he was graduated from the University of Tennessee Medical School at Nashville in 1907. His first practice was at Clifty, Tenn. with his uncle, Dr. W.B. Young. On November 27, 1907 he married Vivian Gardner at Florence, Alabama. She was born at Blockton, Ala., on Nov. 24, 1885. To this union was born Sarah Rebecca on August 29, 1908. Sarah died Sept. 19, 1909, and was buried in the family plot at Sparta. Who knows but that this death brought about Oliver's decision to specialize in diseases of children? He went to New York Nursery and Child's Hospital for postgraduate work early in 1910. In July of that year he moved his family to Knoxville, opened an office, and was the first to specialize in pediatrics in that city. His ability as a physician was recognized and his name became known not only in Tennessee but all over the South. He was President of the Knox County Medical Society in 1916--East Tennessee Medical Association in 1914--Chairman of Section on Pediatrics in 1926--Secretary of Southern Medical Association in 1922--member of the American Medical and American Academy of Pediatrics.

Oliver was a faithful and devout member of the Church of Christ and was, with five others, instrumental in establishing the church in the Knoxville area. For many years, with his family around the breakfast table, he read from the Bible and had prayers

It was on June 21, 1939, that a heart attack brought to a close his useful and devoted life, just at the zenith of his career as a physician, friend, husband, and father.

(The writer of this history would be recreant at his task and it would be incomplete if it did not include Mrs. Vivian G. Hill and relate the part she played, the credit she deserves as the companion of Dr. Oliver Hill in his distinguished career, and as the mother in rearing a large family of children, who are now filling responsible positions in world affairs. She was a faithful and valuable helpmate to her husband, ran the household and cared for the children during their school days. She also was active in social and civic circles. She served as president of the Knox County Women's Auxiliary to the Medical Society and president of the Women's Auxiliary to the Southern Medical Association. She always had much pleasure in planning and maintaining a large flower garden. Since the death of her husband she has disposed of the large and spacious home and garden on Dandridge Avenue and now resides at 1408 Lakeland Drive in Knoxville. She fills her mind and time by teaching Flower Show Practice and Horticulture for the National Council's Flower Show Judging Schools. She is an accredited judge for the National Council of State Garden Clubs, for the American Rose Society, and for the African Violet Society. She lectures on many subjects pertaining to growing flowers and landscaping gardens. She is ready to go wherever called or pleasures invite.)

Oliver and Vivian Hill were blessed with the following children:

Mary Hill was born July 3, 1910, in Florence, Alabama. When she was three weeks old, the family moved to Knoxville. She was educated in the public schools and Gulf Park College in Gulfport, Mississippi, but graduated from the University of Tennessee. On Dec. 21, 1931, she married Edward Leon Chavannes, who was born on July 14, 1907. He is vice-president of the Chavannes Lumber Company and served one term as mayor of Knoxville. He is also a graduate of the University of Tennessee. They have two sons: Albert Hill was born in Knoxville, February 29, 1936. He graduated from Knoxville High and is now taking pre-medical work at U.T. Oliver Adrain was born in Knoxville on Dec. 4, 1939. He is at West High School and says he may study medicine. (Mary and Ed have adopted Ed's sister's youngest daughter, Frances, who was born in Los Angeles, California on October 21, 1942. She is in Jr. High School.)

Oliver William Hill, Jr. was born in Knoxville on September 15, 1912. He followed in the footsteps of his father. He got his A.B. and M.D. degrees from the University of Tennessee Medical School at Memphis in June 1935. He interned in St. Louis and at Babies Hospital in New York in preparation for his chosen field, diseases of children. He is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Knox County Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. He practiced with his father about a year and a half before his father's death and is recognized by the medical profession in Knoxville as an authority on children's diseases. On April 25, 1935, at Corinth, Mississippi, he married Will Dean Rabby, who was born August 10, 1910, in Dallas, Texas. They have three girls: Terry Rawlston, born July 10, 1939; Nancy Ann, born December 7, 1943; Janie Fowler, born February 15, 1948.

Lena Elizabeth Hill was born September 11, 1915 in Knoxville. She attended public schools and Gulf Park College in Gulfport, Mississippi and also U.T., but married before finishing school. Thomas Barnes Donoho was born in Gallatin, Tennessee, on December 12, 1911, and is an engineering graduate of the University of Tennessee. He and Betty were married on December 31, 1936. He was with TVA until called into the service before World War II. He served both in the United States as instructor at several camps and in the European Theatre, was at the Battle of the Bulge. Later he served as a Lt. Colonel and is an engineering consultant in San Antonio, Texas. They have two girls: Lynda Lois, born Dec. 19, 1940, in Knoxville; Vivian Louise, born Dec. 25, 1942, in Memphis.

Samuel Gardner Hill was born in Knoxville on April 13, 1921. He was educated in public schools, McCallie School for Boys, and the University of Tennessee. He received his degree in 1942 and then served in the Pacific Theatre until 1945. After discharge from the Army, he married Myra Barton at Anniston, Ala. on Dec. 19, 1945. Myra was born in Lynn, Ala. on Jan. 6, 1920. Sam was impressed and influenced by the religious and spiritual side of his father's life rather than the material aspects. This caused him to devote his life to preaching the gospel of Christ. After study at George Peppardine College, Los Angeles, Cal., where he got his M.A. degree, he received his B.D. degree at Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky. He has served churches at Puento, Cal.; Jeffersonville, Ind.; Louisville, Ky.; Huntington, W.Va.; and will be at Enterprise, Ala., after Sep. 1955. Sam and Myra have two children: David Barton, born in Louisville, Ky., on July 20, 1948; Mary Gardner, born in Louisville on Sep. 19, 1951.

Susan Hill was the youngest child of Oliver and Vivian Hill. She was born in Knoxville on Feb. 25, 1924, and was educated in public schools, Arlington Hall School for Girls, and the University of Tennessee. She was married in Carlsbad, N.Mex. to Lt. Milton Armour Perry on Apr. 20, 1944. Milton is a graduate in Chemistry from the University of Mississippi. He was born in Tupelo, Miss. on Sep. 12, 1921. After serving in the Army as instructor, as bombardier at Carlsbad, and at Ft. Meyers, Fla., he was discharged at the close of the war and came to Knoxville. He worked one year at Oak Ridge, the Atomic City, and then decided to go back to school at U.T., where he received his M.A. degree and then his Ph.D. in Chemistry. He is now with the Eastman Corporation in Kingsport, Tenn. Milton and Sue have two children: Carol, born in Carlsbad, N.Mex., Mar. 2, 1945; Douglas, born in Knoxville, Aug. 29, 1948.

Virginia Hill, the oldest daughter of Lucius Davis and Betty Young Hill, was born in Sparta on Feb. 10, 1888. She spent a happy childhood with her brothers and sisters on the farm near Sparta. She was educated in the White County Public Schools and the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. After completing her education, Virginia visited relatives in Bell County, Tex. with her aunt, Mrs. Sallie Story. There she met a young man named Lindsay Scott Harkey whom she subsequently married. After their marriage, they lived in Plainville, Tex. for a while and then moved to Knoxville where Mr. Harkey was in the insurance business. Lindsay Harkey was a natural born salesman. No matter what he was dealing in, automobiles, walking horses, or real estate, like the fabled man of ancient mythology, everything he touched turned to gold. Virginia Hill and Lindsay Harkey had one daughter:

Lois Harkey was born in Bolton, Bell County, Tex. in 1911. Lois and her family spent two years in Europe during World War I. After returning from Europe, they moved to Lubbock, Tex. and then to San Antonio. In 1930, Lois married J. Franklin Spears from Darlington, S.Carolina. In 1945 Franklin Spears died of a heart attack. Lois is now living in Austin, Tex. They had two children:

Franklin Scott was born in 1931. He graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1948, attended Southern Methodist University and then the University of Texas where he received his Law degree in June 1954. While a student at Texas University he was president of the student government and a member of the Kappa Alpha Fraternity. In 1953 he married Jo Ann Hyltin of Austin. She majored in Education at Texas. They are now living in San Antonio where he is practicing law with his uncle, Adrian A. Spears. They have one son (the great-grandson of Lucius Davis Hill), Franklin, Jr., who is 18 months old.

Lois Virginia was born in 1939 and is attending Austin High School in Austin, Tex. She lives with her mother and plans to enter the University of Texas when she graduates from high school.

Lucius D. Hill, Jr., second son of L.D. and Betty Young Hill, was born June 3, 1889, in Sparta, Tennessee. After graduating from White County Schools, he entered the University of Tennessee and received his A.B. degree and then his M.D. degree from the U.T. Medical School at Memphis. Like his brother, Oliver, he decided to make diseases of children his special field of practice. After attending various children's hospitals and clinics, he went to San Antonio and located and soon built up a large and lucrative practice where he still remains. Lucius married Charlotte Mohr, daughter of a distinguished and highly educated German who held positions of trust in his native country. After he came to America he became a popular writer of short stories and poetry. Lucius and Charlotte had four children. In 1929, Charlotte died and several years later Lucius married Dorothy Duerler who was born in San Antonio. Her great-grandfather was Baron Von Horff, the most famous surgeon San Antonio had in its earlier years. She was graduated from Smith College. Lucius and Dorothy had one child. The four children of Lucius and Charlotte were:

Adelaide Hill, who married Col. William F. Savoie. They are living in Washington D.C. They have two children.

Lucius D. Hill III was graduated from the University of Virginia Medical School in Richmond. After serving internships specializing in surgery, he is now on the surgical staff of Mason Hospital, Seattle, Washington. He married Tarrance Rinehart of Charlottesville, Virginia. They have two children.

Elizabeth Hill married Daniel Brown of Sparta, Tennessee. Dan was editor of The Sparta Expositor for several years, and under his management it became one of the best and most influential weekly publications in the state. The paper received many citations from the University of Tennessee. During a Democratic administration, Dan was appointed press attaché to the American Embassy in Turkey. Just before he left to assume his position in Turkey, Elizabeth gave birth to twin girls. As soon as the mother and babies were able, they flew to Turkey which was quite a fete for a mother with two babies. They lived in Turkey for several years but are now in Jordan. They have four children.

Charlotte Hill, the fourth child of Lucius and Charlotte Hill, married Col. Floyd I. Robinson of Savannah, Georgia. They have three children.

After the death of Charlotte Mohr Hill in May 1929, Lucius Hill, Jr. married Dorothy Duerler. They had one child:

Eleanor Hill was the only child of Lucius and Dorothy Hill. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1955. Her parents attended the graduation.

Frank Young Hill was born in Sparta on Aug. 31, 1892. He was the fourth child of Lucius and Betty Young Hill. Upon reaching school age he entered the public school system at Sparta and after graduation from high school he enrolled as a student at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where he continued until he got his A.B. degree. Afterwards, he entered the Cumberland Law School at Lebanon, Tennessee, where he received his L.L.B. degree. He was admitted to the bar and went to Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican border to begin the successful practice of his profession. He was soon elected City Attorney of Laredo and still holds that position.

While attending the University of Tennessee, he was often in the home of his brother, Dr. Oliver Hill on Dandridge Pike. The Allens were neighbors of the Hills. One member of the Allen family was a daughter named Cynthia McClure Allen. She and Frank met, fell in love, and married on Aug. 8, 1919. Cynthia Allen was born in Knoxville on Oct. 7, 1896. Frank and Cynthia Hill had three daughters and one son:

Sarah Isabell Hill was born May 3, 1920, in Laredo. She married Louis Harring, Jr., a petroleum geologist. They live in San Antonio, Texas. Mr. Harring served in World War II and is now a Lt. Colonel in the Air Force Reserve.

Cynthia Hill is married to Ace Hill Alsup, Jr., attorney. They live in Temple, Texas, and have two children: Ace Hill Alsup, III and James Alsup. Mr. Alsup served as a Lieutenant in the Navy during World War II.

Virginia Hill is married to B. Sankel. They live in Washington, D.C. He served as corporal in the Air Corps during World War II.

Frank Young Hill, Jr. graduated from the University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee in 1951. He is at this writing (1955) stationed in Korea with the Air Force. He plans to study law and join his father in practice in Laredo.

Paul Story Hill was the fifth child of Lucius D. and Betty Young Hill. He was born in Sparta, attended school there and graduated from the University of Tennessee and Cumberland Law School. Paul was a favorite of his aunt, Mrs. Sallie Young Story, sister of Betty Young, hence the Story in his name. Sallie Young married Ephrium Story, a promising young lawyer of Sparta on Nov. 25, 1893. Mr. Story died in 1895 as the result of blood poisoning from an infected finger. Thus Sallie Story was left a widow. So long as she lived she manifested great interest in the activities of her nephews and nieces of the Hill-Young family.

Paul Hill, after receiving his L.L.B. degree, located in San Bonito, a town in southern Texas. He was elected State Representative one term but was defeated for re-election. He was a strong Democrat. This writer was in conversation with him just prior to the 1952 election and he assured me that Eisenhower would not carry Texas. I gave him the same opinion as regards Tennessee. Both states went for Eisenhower.

Paul Story Hill married Ila May (Bobbie) Stevens. They had two sons:

Lucius George Hill and Paul Stevens Hill are the sons of Paul and Bobbie Hill. When these boys finished high school and were ready for college, the family moved to Austin to put them in the University of Texas. Paul took an agency for an insurance company to supplement his law practice. Bobbie also got a job. Paul Stevens plans to study medicine and Lucius George wants to be a school teacher.

Malcolm Carnes Hill, youngest son of Lucius D. and Betty Young Hill, was born July 6, 1897, at Sparta. He was educated in White County Schools and the University of Tennessee. He obtained his L.L.B. degree from Vanderbilt University in 1922. He first went to Florida and intended to locate there, but about this time Judge Hill, his father, became a candidate for Railroad and Public Utilities Commissioner and Malcolm came back to Sparta to attend to his father's law practice. He remained in Sparta. He served as City Attorney from 1929 to 1937, and again about 1944. He served on several special occasions as Chancellor. He was a member of the State Democratic Committee from 1940 to 1944, and was a delegate to the Electoral College in 1948.

Malcolm dreamed of a Broadway Street uniting east and west Sparta, separated by the Calf Killer River. It was his moving spirit that made it a reality. He bought the Mark Clark home which was a landmark of this community. He modernized it and converted it into a beautiful and spacious home with large lawn and surroundings, making it a delightful and central point for family reunions. A notable one was held there in 1955, where 76 of the Carnes-Hill family were present. Four generations were represented.

On July 15, 1929, Malcolm married Rebecca Lacy, a refined and cultured woman, daughter of Dr. Lacy, who worked with U.S. Health Department as eye, ear, and nose specialist. Dr. Lacy has now retired from active practice and is living quietly and pleasantly in his Virginia home. Rebecca was a teacher in the White County High School at the time of their marriage. They have four children, all of whom were educated in White County schools and Vanderbilt University:

Malcolm Carnes Hill, Jr. and Carmine Lacy Hill were twins, born Oct. 7, 1931. Oliver James Hill (Pal) was born Nov. 19, 1932, and Sara Medora Hill was born May 30, 1940.

Carnes married Virginia Mitchell while they were both in high school on Sep. 10, 1949. Both later completed their education at Vanderbilt University. They have two children: Malcolm Carnes III and William. Carnes is presently employed in Syracuse, New York.

Carmine has taken post-graduate work at the University of Kentucky, learning portrait painting.

Oliver James is a student at Vanderbilt.

Sara Medora is in high school.

Note: Lucius Davis and Betty Hill had two other children, Kathryn and Rebecca. Dr. Hill's biographies of these children were apparently lost.

ELLA HILL (1858-1946)

Ella Hill, daughter of William J. Hill and Mary Carnes Hill, was born on June 22, 1858, at Pikeville, Tennessee, where she spent her early childhood. In another chapter of this history, Ida Rogers and Ella Hill - A Comparison, is given an account of her school days at Manchester and Burritt Colleges while her grandfather, W.D.Carnes was president of these institutions and where her mother, Mary Carnes Hill, was one of the teachers. She graduated from Burritt about 1877.

After W.D.Carnes, by trickery and deceit, was deprived of the presidency of Burritt College, Mrs. Hill resigned and her family moved to Sparta. Ella was 21 years old.

Ella never married, not because she had no suitors--she had many and persistent ones--but she turned a deaf ear to all their blandishments. She chose a musical career. While Aunt Nettie Carnes lived with the family during and right after the Civil War, Ella took piano lessons from her. Nettie was an accomplished pianist, having studied for several years in Knoxville while her father was president of the University of Tennessee. Besides taking lessons from her Aunt Nettie Carnes, Ella continued the study under Mrs. Walden, Music teacher at Manchester College. She became an expert pianist.

While at Manchester she undertook to teach her young brother, the writer of this history, to play the piano. While he was as attentive to her instructions as he should have been, she became impatient and scolded and hurt his feelings. When he burst into tears, Ella grabbed him up, hugged and kissed him, and thus expressed her sorrow at wounding his feelings and her love for him.

Ella gave lessons on the piano for several years. She was called to Post Oak, a prosperous community in Roane County, Tennessee, where a class had been made up for her. She taught there a year or two. She was music teacher at Evensville College for two years, when Prof. Stevens was president there. She not only taught music but taught in public school at times. While her brother, Dr. William Walter Hill, was practicing medicine at Whiteside, Marion County, Tennessee, he had a friend who was school director in that district. Through her brother's influence, Ella and her mother, Mary, were elected to teach the public school there which they did with satisfaction for two years. Also, when Dr. Hill formed a partnership with Dr. Pea at Whitwell, the latter knowing the qualifications of and experience of Mary Carnes Hill, they were given charge of the public schools there. They taught one term there and began the fall term when Mary was stricken with a fatal case of pneumonia.

After her mother's death she came to Chattanooga. But many years before, while in good health and active, she adopted a young girl, Lillian. Lillian Hill was all that a daughter should be. They had a mutual affection and sympathy for each other and in all the ups and downs of her checkered career, when she couldn't care for herself, Lillian faithfully looked after her and did what she could to make Ella's life comfortable and happy.

When Ella came to Chattanooga, she bought an apartment house in North Chattanooga. She lived in one apartment and rented the others. She had difficulty in getting reliable tenants who would pay their rent. The property got out of repair and finally was condemned by the city and torn down. However, while living in the apartment, she noticed her vision was failing and constantly growing worse. She consulted Dr. Hogshead, a specialist. It was found she had degeneration of the macula in both eyes and cataract in the left eye. Her vision was never so dim but what she could see her way to get around, but she was unable to read.

After her apartment was condemned and torn down by the city, she rented rooms near the Allen home (Lillian had married Lester Allen) where Lillian could look after her needs. Finally Lillian took her into her own home where she affectionately cared for her during the last years of her life and where, on the morning of Jan. 20, 1946, she was seized with a heart attack and her earthly life was ended.

Ella was a devout Christian, a member of the Church of Christ. A daily reader of the Bible as long as her vision would permit, she was thoroughly conversant with the scriptures and doctrines of the New Testament Church. She regularly attended church to worship as long as she was physically able.

When death came, and her spirit was set free from her tired and afflicted body to pass through the vale of life eternal, she could with perfect vision meet and greet her loved ones gone before.

Lillian Hill, foster daughter of Ella Hill, was born Nov. 11, 1903. As she grew up, Ella instilled into her young life the principles of righteousness, truth, and morality which formed her stable character in later life. She had both a literary and musical education.

After Mary Hill's death, Ella and Lillian came to Chattanooga to make their home. By this time Lillian had grown to be an attractive young woman, such as young men would be wooing and seeking her hand in marriage. Lester Allen was the successful suitor. They were married on March 23, 1921. To this union, two children were born:

Lester Allen, Jr., while driving a truck across a railroad crossing, was struck by a train and fatally injured. Thus his useful life was cut short.

Doris Iona Allen was born Aug. 12, 1924. In after years, she married a military man, Mr. James Gray Smith. To this union two children were born: Sandra Lynn, born Jan. 22, 1947, and Linda Graye, born Dec. 27, 1948. (It is a striking coincidence that the first of these children's birthdays is the same month and day as Ella Hill's birthday and the other is the same as Dora Hill's.) Ion's husband has the rank of major in the engineering section of the Air Force. They are now in Korea.

Lillian Hill was divorced from Lester Allen in January 1947. She has since married Mr. S.E. Mckensie. They are pleasantly located on East 13th St. in Chattanooga.

DORA HILL (1859-1951)

Dora Hill, daughter of William Jasper and Mary Carnes Hill, was born at Pikeville on Dec. 21, 1859. She, like the other children of the family, was educated in Manchester College and Burritt College while these institutions were under the administration of her grandfather Carnes and her mother.

She was the smallest one of the family, small of stature and never weighing much over 100 pounds. In her early childhood she had an unusually severe and prolonged case of whooping cough which left her with a chronic bronchitis which continued all her life until penicillin was discovered and cleared it up. This probably stunted her growth and accounts for her smallness.

She and I, the two youngest children, had a peculiar mutual affection for each other which lasted through the years. We romped and played together and it was not always innocent fun. We sometimes got into mischief, as for example the time we pinched the icing off the wedding cake.

After the Hill family moved to Sparta, it was not many years until Dora married Quill Rhea. Quill was clerk and master of the Chancery Court and held that position as long as he lived. His father and mother ran the Rhea House - a popular hotel then and up to this day. Quill built one of the business houses in the brick block north of the public square in Sparta and had other real estate.

Quill died some time in the year 1904 and was buried in the cemetery on the hill. They had no children. Quill's family had a high regard for Dora and always considered her as one of their own.

Ida Rogers, whose mother Amanda Carnes Rogers, had died when she was an infant, was raised as a sister to Dora by her aunt, Mary Carnes Hill. Ida married James Cope and, like her mother, died giving birth to her only child. Dora Hill Rhea, like her mother, took this child, Rogers Cope, to raise. When Rogers Cope was grown, he married Dora Breeding and settled on the Breeding farm. Dora Rhea made her home with them the rest of her life and she was considered the head of the family. She was treated with great care and consideration. She named the three children that were born into the family and played a large part in molding them morally and spiritually.

After she passed middle life, Dora's chronic bronchial condition began to give her serious trouble. If during the winter she would take a deep cold, it would merge into bronchial pneumonia. Several winters she spent in Florida or San Antonio, Texas, to avoid the severe winters in Tennessee. This bronchial pneumonia would present alarming symptoms that would last for several days--high temperature and rapid pulse. I, her brother, was called from Harriman to see her several times when these conditions would set up. One time Dr. Oliver Hill, our nephew from Knoxville, was called. He and I drove over together. I'll never forget what Oliver said after examining her--"She'll never make the grade". But she did and lived to the ripe old age of 92.

On her 90th birthday, an effort was made to surprise her with a celebration. Some of the family took her into Cookeville to have a picture made so that she could not observe the preparations being made. All the relatives and nieces and nephews had been invited for the occasion. When Dora returned about noon she found the house full and a big dinner set. It was a pleasant day and all enjoyed the festivities. When the weather would permit we would drive over from Harriman on the 21st of December on her birthday. On her 92nd birthday it was a mild sunshiny day--we drove over to see her and when asked how she was, her reply impressed me. She said, "Oh, I feel kind of draggy, that is the best way to express it".

After returning home, it was only a few days when a phone message was received that she was seriously ill. When we got there we found her condition so grave that my wife, May, and I decided to stay until there was a change. It was on Thursday when we went over. On Friday she grew weaker and weaker, her heart beating with fainter beat, and soon after night had settled over the earth her life quietly ebbed away, her spirit set free from her frail body passed through the gate of life eternal to join the host of the redeemed to be with them evermore.

Funeral services were held at the Church of Christ. Her body was buried beside her husband in the Highland Cemetary.

IDA ROGERS (1858-c.1880)

Ida Rogers was the daughter of George and Amanda Carnes Rogers and was born April 1858. Her father was a merchant in Pikeville. George Rogers and Amanda Carnes were classmates at Burritt College when W.D.Carnes was president. There an attachment was formed which culminated in their marriage. Ida's mother, Amanda, died soon after Ida's birth and, before her death, she asked her sister, Mary Carnes Hill, to take her and raise her. Ever after that Ida Rogers was one of the Hill family.

She was educated at Manchester College and Burritt College along with the other Hill children. After her grandfather, W.D.Carnes left the presidency of Burritt College, the Hill family moved to Sparta. There Ida entered the social circle of the younger set and soon became popular.

Among those who sought her hand in marriage was James Cope, a young lawyer in Sparta and a member of a prominent White Co. family. He, too, had been a student at Burritt and they had known each other there. Ida Rogers and James Cope were married a few years after Ida came to Sparta. After marriage they lived with the Cope family on a farm a few miles from Sparta. As a result of this union, a son was born named Rogers Cope. But the mother, due to complications in the act of childbirth, gave up her life. Thus in the bloom of young womanhood, her beautiful life was blotted out.

Like her mother, she requested Mary Carnes Hill to take her son to raise and educate. This she did as long as she lived. After Mary's death, Dora Rhea, having no children of her own, became a mother to Rogers Cope.

Rogers Cope was educated in the White County public schools and attended schools in Chattanooga when the Hill family lived there. This writer remembers that he was a delivery boy for Miller Bros. Department Store evenings after school and on Saturdays. He made the deliveries on a bicycle.

After Mrs. Hill came back to Sparta and Rogers became of age, he went to Dallas, Texas, and was employed by the Dallas Street Car Lines. He remained there two years and saved some money. When he returned to Tennessee he opened up a store of general merchandise in a prosperous farming community up the Calf Killer River above Sparta. Here he met and married Miss Dora Breeding, a member of a prominent pioneer family of White County. Her father was for many years a member of the County Court of White County. This writer, when a lad, remembers hearing people speak of Esq. Breeding. He owned a good farm in the Calf Killer Valley above Sparta.

To the union of Rogers Cope and Dora Breeding Cope, three talented children were born--Quill, James, and Mary Hill Cope. They were educated in the public schools of White County, David Lipscomb College, Peabody College, and Tennessee Tech.

Quill Cope was named after Quill Rhea, Dora Hill Rhea's late husband. After attending the above mentioned schools, Quill began to teach in the White County Schools, was elected Superintendent of Schools in White County for a year or two, and then became principal of White County High School in Sparta. Not satisfied with his educational attainments, he aspired to go further and get a Ph.D. degree. For this purpose he attended Columbia University in New York. As soon as he got his degree there, he was given a position on the faculty of the University of Tennessee. When Frank Clement was elected Governor of Tennessee (1952), he asked the University to recommend a man for him to appoint Commissioner of Education in Tennessee. They recommended Quill Cope. He served through Clement's biannual term and as Gov. Clement was reelected for a four-year term, he will continue in that position for four more years. Quill married Mary Kate Smith. They have two boys: John Rogers Cope and James Carl Cope.

James Cope, son of Rogers Cope and Dora Breeding Cope, was born on the Breeding farm up the Calf Killer Valley where he spent a happy boyhood. After completing the elementary and high school curriculums of White County Public Schools, he enrolled as a student in David Lipscomb College in Nashville where he received an A.B. degree. He also attended Peabody College in Nashville. He was elected as one of the teachers at David Lipscomb College and remained there some years. He also taught in a Bible College at Hendersonville, Tennessee. While there a Bible College was founded at Tampa, Fla. and he was called to the presidency. There he conducted a popular and successful college with many teachers on the faculty. The ministers of the Church of Christ make that their mecca and each winter have a rally there. He is an able evangelist of the Church of Christ, in demand and called for meetings all over the nation.

He married Miss Georgia Dean Combs from Dallas, Texas. They have three children named Connie, Cathie, and James Rogers.

Mary Hill Cope was born and grew up on her father's farm in the Calf Killer River Valley. She completed the elementary and high school courses of White County public schools and was a student at David Lipscomb College. She taught the elementary grades in public schools near her home for several years. She matriculated at Tennessee Tech where she obtained an A.B. degree.

Mary Hill married Roy M. Luna. They have two daughters, Gretchen and Gwendolyn. Roy Luna, after completing the agricultural course at Tennessee Tech was appointed county agent of Cannon County, and the family is now living at Woodbury, Tenn.

The Breeding farm is situated about ten miles up the Calf Killer River from Sparta where the river emerges from the narrow valley between the mountains and runs out into a broad open space. This farm of large acreage extends west of the river. It has fertile soil with most of it in cultivation.

Rogers, having acquired the interests of the other heirs of the Breeding estate, operated this farm for many years, equipping it with modern machinery and stocking it with high bred cattle and hogs. He was a progressive farmer. He improved the family residence and made it one of the most beautiful and attractive homes in the county. A family reunion was held there one summer under the shade of a large spreading elm in the front yard of the home.

When Rogers reached about middle life, he developed a throat condition, a hoarseness and painful swallowing. He consulted specialists in Nashville. They discovered an ulcer on the larynx, which they pronounced tuberculosis. Not getting any benefit from their treatment, he went to a clinic in Memphis. They diagnosed it as cancer. They treated it for quite a while but to no avail. He came home, lingered but a short time, and his useful and successful life came to an end. He was buried in the church cemetery near his home.

IDA ROGERS AND ELLA HILL: A COMPARISON

Ida Rogers and Ella Hill were both born in Pikeville, Tennessee, one the daughter of George W. Rogers and Amanda Carnes Rogers, the other the daughter of William J. Hill and Mary Carnes Hill. There was two months difference in their ages. Ida was two months older. Ella was born June 22, 1858 and Ida sometime in April of the same year. They were both educated in the same schools. They first attended Manchester College for three years, then finishing their education at Burritt College, Spencer, Tennessee. They graduated in the same class.

They were really only first cousins in the customary way of counting relationships, but growing up together in the same family they had the same love and sympathy for each other as sisters. Though opposites in disposition and many characteristics, they got along agreeably in their associations.

Ida was a decided blond, light hair with an auburn tint, and blue eyes. Ella was fair with black hair and hazel eyes. Ida was talkative with her conversation mixed with wit and humor while Ella was quiet and reticent, slowly entering in conversation, but when started she could readily carry her part of the conversation.

They were both beautiful young women and were popular with the students on college hill. They remained in Spencer after graduation, living in a home about 400 yards east of the college dormitory. It was not unusual for two of the students on the Hill to seek dates with these two young ladies on Saturday evenings. That was before telephones were invented. Now a young man can get connection with his best girl and arrange a date in a few minutes, but then the method in making dates was more complicated. It went as follows: If two young students wished to make dates with Ida and Ella, they would write a note like this, "Compliments of So and So and So and So to Misses Ida Rogers and Ella Hill and if agreeable, would be pleased to call this evening at 8 o'clock." They would then give a small coin to a boy who would deliver the note and while he waited, the young ladies would return this note: "Compliments returned and company accepted."

One Saturday late in the afternoon, such a note was returned to two young men on whom they desired to make a favorable impression. The date was made and the young ladies began to get ready to receive them. They built a fire in the parlor grate and began to get the lamp ready but to their great consternation and embarrassment, they could not find a lamp globe on the place. Kerosene oil lamps afforded the best illumination available at that time. With a globe it would make a bright white light, without a globe the flame was yellow and smoked. It was too late to send to the store and get a globe. When the boys arrived, Ella escorted them to the parlor. Ida, who was always equal to every emergency, found a piece of a globe, held it on the lamp until Ella got to the parlor, then knocked it off saying, "There, now I've broke the last lamp globe on the place."