One of the most prominent citizens of Talladega County, Alabama, who for thirty years took a leading part in its affairs, was Dr. George Armstrong Hill, who resided on a plantation near Sylacauga. He was a native of the county, having been born March 9, 1849, in Talladega. William Calvert Hill, his father, born in Bibb County in 1822, was the son of George and Jane (Calvert) Hill, emigrants from Tennessee.
George Hill came to the State in 1819, having previously participated, under Gen. “Hickory” Jackson, in the Talladega Indian fight in 1813. He was an extensive planter and served in both houses of the legislature; in the house, 1831-40, and in the Senate, 1857-61. He was prominent in that early day in the Baptist denomination, which he served as deacon for many years. His first wife, Jane, died in 1855. In 1856 he married Caroline M. Henry, sister of George G. Henry, of Mobile. His death occurred on the 3rd of January, 1867.
Mr. Calvert Hill was also a man of mark. After his graduation at the University of Alabama, in 1844, he entered the Law school at Harvard, from which he was graduated in 1846. He formed a partnership with Judge John J. Woodward, and was elected solicitor of the Talladega circuit. He was in the full strength of his manhood when his career was prematurely cut short by death in 1852. He was a prominent Mason, being secretary of Talladega lodge at his death. He married Adelia Armstrong, who also died comparatively young, in 1856. She was the daughter of Drury P. Armstrong and Amelia (Houston) Armstrong, and was a native of Knoxville, Tenn., where her parents lived out their lives, the father dying in 1857, the mother in 1832.
Dr. George Armstrong Hill was one of three children born to the above, and the only one living in 1904. His literary education was secured at the University of Alabama and Howard college. In medicine, he was a graduate of the University of Virginia and of Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, where he took his degree in 1870. He practiced three years at Fayetteville, and then settled on his plantation, and practiced medicine and engaged in agriculture.
Doctor Hill served his county in the legislature in 1882-83 and 1884-85. When the matter of securing a site for a new school of agriculture in the fourth congressional district was being agitated, Doctor Hill led and won the fight for Sylacauga. In 1902 he was appointed a trustee of that institution, an office he still held in 1904. He was a valued worker in the Democratic party. His religious faith was the same as of his fathers, Baptist, he was a Royal Arch Mason and a Knight of Pythias. As a physician, he ranked among the best in the county. He held membership in the State and county medical associations.
He married, in 1872, Georgia A. Wallace daughter of Daniel Wallace and Louisiana (Welch) Wallace. Both the Wallace and Welch families were pioneers in Alabama, the former coming from South Carolina.
Mrs. Hill’s grandparents, Daniel Welch and Mary Welch, were from Tennessee, their settlement in Alabama being in 1819.
Armstrong Hill (1887-1918) attending the Agricultural college at Sylacauga in 1904
Ray Hill, attending the Agricultural college at Sylacauga in 1904.
Dr. George Armstrong Hill passed away on Jan 4, 1911. He and his wife Georgiana (Sep 26, 1851 – Jan 16, 1934) are buried in Hill Cemetery, Gantts Junction, Talladega County, Alabama.
SOURCES
Notable Men of Alabama: Personal and Genealogical, Volume 1 edited by Joel Campbell DuBose 1904
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