J Hills / Joshua Hills

J Hills / Joshua Hills

 

J Hills is a common name and identity of the craftsman would probably remain unidentified except that Joshua Hills is carved on the side of the known complex molding plane.  Also key to the investigation are the assumptions that Joshua was carved by a later generation and that both father "J Hills" and son "Joshua Hills" were woodworkers who would have used molding planes. US census records were first searched for the years 1800 through 1820. One Joshua was found in Cheshire, NH and one each was found in Newbury and Newburyport, MA.

 

Essex county deed records were then searched for J Hills through 1819 and through the1830's for Joshua Hills. Two Newburyport craftsman were found; Joshua Hills b ca 1772 (housewright, joiner) and his son Joshua Hills b 1807 (wood turner, pattern maker). Joshua b ca 1772 was the son of Joshua b 1744, a mariner. Period probate records and published Hills family genealogies were also searched. 

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Joshua Hills' (ca 1772) parents were Joshua Hills and Mary Morss. Joshua m Lydia Knap on 5-13-1798. Children; Lydia K., Joshua E., Philip K., William.

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Joshua Eliphalet Hills (1807) m Sarah George 1-25-1832. Children; Sarah, Mary, Ann Maria

 

Only one other craftsman, Joshua Hills Jr. in Newburyport, was a woodworker. He was a cooper b ca 1780 d 1850 but is unlikely to have used molding planes and so is not considered a candidate. Online genealogies were not particularly careful, and this ca 1780 Joshua was often confused with the ca 1772 Joshua, so care was taken to use only period records. Making this more complex, in addition to the two Joshua Hills Newburyport families, the 1807 Joshua Hills changed his name to Eliphalet (his middle name) in 1835.