Roger's Scrapbook
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Frank Bernard Hill (1883-1967)
Frank Bernard Hill was born on January 20, 1883, in Omaha, Illinois (about 6 miles south of Norris City, IL.) He was the 4th of 8 children (4 boys, 4 girls) born between 1878 and 1899 to Henry Hezekiah and Mary Elizabeth (Jordan) Hill. The family lived on a farm in Indian Creek Township (White County), about 1.5 miles NE of Norris City, IL.
His Parents.
Henry Hezekiah Hill (1853-1936) and Mary Elizabeth (Jordan) Hill (1858-1951).
(This photo is taken from https://www.flickr.com/photos/82856031@N04/24528240120 and is reproduced here in accordance with the Flickr license agreement.)
On January 5, 1910, Frank(26) married Ida Ellen Kohlhass (31) in Mt. Carmel, Wabash County, IL.
They had two children: George Eugene ("Gene") Hill, born December 17, 1911, and Mary Lucille Hill, born September 17, 1914. Both children were born in Mt Carmel, IL.
Frank and Ida's son Gene circa 1916.
Gene and Mary Lucille Hill.
In the 1920 Federal Census the family is listed as living at 419 West 6th Street in Mt Carmel, lllinois, and Frank's occupation is listed as Railroad Engineer.
Sometime in the early 1920's, Ida's mother Margaret, father Gus, brother George, and her two nieces, Donna and Mary Helen Kohlhass all moved out to San Bernardino, California. Two of Ida's aunts, Clara Ellen (Stolz) Foster, and Lora Emiline (Stolz) Vickrey were also living in California (Pomona) in the 1920's. Frank and Ida decided to join the exodus and they with Gene and Lucille moved out to San Bernardino. But Ida was joining her entire family while Frank was leaving behind his mother, father, seven brothers and sisters and many aunts and uncles.
The Kohlhass family began operating a chicken ranch on 19th Street east of Mt Vernon Avenue in San Bernardino, California. Perhaps it was the change in occupation or the asymmetry in the presence of family members, but, for whatever reason, Frank eventually decided that this life didn't suit him and he returned (in the late 20's?) to his job as an Engineer on the New York Central Railroad back in Illinois.
In 1932 Frank sued Ida for divorce but, most likely because of her Catholic faith, she refused to grant it. For all intents and purposes, for most of her life in San Bernardino, Ida was single mother. I'm sure she had help from her parents and her brother, but Frank was an absentee father. Legend has it that Frank provided little or no child support and only rarely visited San Bernardino. (I think my Dad, Gene, felt abandoned during his teen age years. Dad did tell me about a visit by Frank in 1930, where he gave Gene a Hamilton wrist watch for his 18th birthday. It's the only thing he ever recalled getting from his father.)
This is the watch that Frank gave to Gene for his 18th birthday in 1930 and that Gene gave to me on my 18th birthday in 1954.
(If any family member reading this has an idea about who would like to inherit and would treasure this watch, I'd like to hear from you at roger_hill@q.com .)
Frank with his "regular train crew". According to Jack Davies, Frank's son-in-law, the people in the photo are (L to R): Frank, his fireman, 2 brakemen and his conductor.
Frank had this photo made into a postcard that he sent from Mt Carmel to some of the family. No date is given but the logo on the tender says "New York Central" so it may have been taken about 1930.
In August of 1933 Frank's son Gene married Alice Marie Greek in Riverside, CA, and in August of 1938 his daughter Lucille married John Ogwen (Jack) Davies in San Bernardino, CA. Frank did not attend either wedding. In February, 1936, his first grandson was born (me) and in May of 1936, his father, Henry Hezekiah died in Norris City, Illinois.
I found no public records of Frank's whereabouts in the 1930's. When he registered for the World War II draft in 1942 he was listed as living in Cairo, Illinois. So he was evidently still driving trains on the "Little Egypt" line for the New York Central in the 1940's.
New York Central locomotive Number 2016 in the yards at Mt Carmel, Illinois, in 1939. This is very likely one of the locomotives that Frank drove on the "Little Egypt" line of the Cairo division of the New York Central Railway.
(This photo is taken from https://www.flickr.com/photos/82856031@N04/25004066822/ and is reproduced here in accordance with the Flickr license agreement.)
By the mid-1940's Frank's family in California had grown. He now had seven grandchildren living there and his brother had moved to Anaheim, CA. Frank's wife Ida was living with her daughter Lucille Davies' family. Frank's visits to San Bernardino became more frequent.
These photos were taken circa 1948 at the Davies' family 1 acre "farm" near the corner of Electric Avenue and 41st Street in San Bernardino, CA.
At left is Frank with his youngest grandchild, David Davies, and on the right with the family cow, Goldie.
In the summer of 1951, Gene and Alice took a vacation by railroad to visit the Hill family in southern Illinois. At that time Frank's mother, Mary had been bedridden for almost 10 years and under the loving care of her daughters, Cora and Radie.
Gene with Frank's sisters Minnie (L) and Radie. White County, IL, 1951.
Gene with Frank's sisters Radie (L) and Minnie. White County, IL, 1951.
On September 28, 1951, Frank's mother Mary Elizabeth (Jordan) Hill passed away at the age of 93.
Mary Elizabeth (Jordan) Hill (1858-1951).
Henry Hezekiah and Mary Elizabeth Hill are buried together with their daughter Radie in Union Cemetery in Norris City, Illinois.
The headstone in the background bears the name Vineyard which was Henry's mother Rebecca's maiden name.
In the late 1950's Frank retired from the New York Central and moved permanently to California. He lived with Ida in a guest house on Lucille and Jack Davies' property on Slover Avenue in Fontana/Blomington.
Frank and his brother Thomas Alvin Hill (1884-1964) at Tom's house in Anaheim, CA. May, 1958.
Ida and Frank, May 1959.
Ida with Frank, Alice and Gene Hill, Newport Avenue, Fontana, 2 Apr 1961.
Sometime in the mid-fifties, Gene acquired an 8mm movie camera and began to document some of the family events. I have reformatted some clips from his movies and made them available as HTML5 videos in the Video Vault on this website. I have assembled clips from Gene's home movies showing scenes of Frank and Ida taken over the years 1955 to 1966. The video starts at Frank and Ida's home in Fontana, CA, that was located on the property of their daughter, Lucille Davies, and family on Slover Avenue. To see the video click: Frank&Ida.
Frank at the Baptism of his first great-grandson, Robert E Hill born on 7 Aug 1964, in Fontana, CA.
L to R: Framk, grandson John Holding Robert, Gene, and grandson, James Hill.
On 28 May, 1966 Frank's wife Ida Ellen (Kohlhass) Hill passed away at a nursing home in Ontario, CA.
A year later, on 4 May 1967 Frank Bernard Hill, passed away also in Ontario, CA.
Ida and Frank are buried side by side in plots 690 and 691 in the Grandview Section of Montecito Memorial Park at the end of Waterman Avenue in San Bernardino/Colton, CA.
Frank Bernard Hill (1883-1967).