Auburn, Alabama
Isaac Hill III, Early Founder of Church & School
In January of 2001 I took a short trip to Auburn, AL, where Isaac Hill III and first wife Lucy Harris were among the first group of settlers to push westward into the Alabama wilderness in 1836. Led by Judge Harper, this small band of mostly Methodists founded what is now the town of Auburn.
Isaac was born in Hillsboro, Jasper Co., GA May 8, 1809, the son of Isaac Hill, Jr. and Angeline Penelope Clark, and the grandson of Isaac Hill, Sr. and Lucinda Wallace. Isaac married at age 18 to Lucy Harris who was about 14 years old at the time.
A mover and shaker in the community, Isaac was one of the founders of the first church in Auburn. The Auburn United Methodist Church was founded in 1836 and is an integral part of the town today, although only a small part of the original structure is still intact.
An amusing anecdote found in the "History of the Methodist Church, Auburn, AL - 1836-1944" by Letitia Dowdell Ross, p. 8, states; "Mr. Isaac Hill, one of the pillars of the Auburn Methodist Church, always "raised" the hymns and enjoyed praising God with his voice, which was loud and strong. When an organ was brought into the church he opposed it and became so disturbed that he withdrew from the church and moved to the country where he built a church of his own." She goes on to write, "He was noted for hospitality and charity, boarding free all sons of Methodist ministers coming to college. He was a class leader of the Texas Camp Ground assemblies and his tent was ever overcrowded."
In the heart of Auburn is beautiful, historic Auburn University originally chartered in 1855 as East Alabama Male College. Isaac Hill was among the original group of founders and was elected to the first Board of Trustees. He later served as Treasurer.
Lucy Harris Hill died at the age of 47 on April 1, 1860. She and Isaac had no children. Lucy is interred in Pine Hill Cemetery, the oldest cemetery in Auburn and located just blocks away from the University. Her tall white marble monument is inscribed as follows:
"Mrs. Lucy Hill
wife of Isaac Hill
died Apr 1, 1860
47 years of age
She died as she had lived
A firm believer in
Christ Jesus
Rest, loved one, until
we meet"
Isaac remarried a widow by the name of Harriette Elizabeth Holt on July 19, 1860. Harriette had been married and widowed twice and had a daughter by each prior marrige. Her third marriage was to Isaac III and they had one son, Isaac William Hill, born in 1861. Isaac William Hill went on to become an important educator in AL and served on the board for Auburn University "Ex-offficio as Superintendent of Education from 1902-1906." He was also the Head of Education in Alabama for twelve years.
Isaac Hill III, although in his 50's during the Civil War, served in the Confederate Army. From the Special Collections at Auburn University Library, Auburn, AL, a paper entitled "Confederate Soldiers Buried in Pine Hill Cemetery, Auburn, AL" by Chas. W. Edwards, 4/26/1967, reads;
"Isaac Hill, b. GA 1809, d. 1886, Macon Co. Reserves, Beat 8. (3) In 1860 owned realty valued at $3,000 and 24 or 25 slaves valued at $24,000."
Isaac is buried in Pine Hill Cemetery next to his second wife Harriette. He died April 23, 1886. Harriette died in 1903. Their shared headstone is near an overgrown juniper bush where I very nearly overlooked it. It reads simply "Harriette Hill, 1822-1903, Mother" and "Isaac Hill, 1809-1886 Father".
Isaac Hill grave and Harriette Holt Hill grave.
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IN LOVING MEMORY
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