History of the Hill Family Farm
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This web page provides a brief history of the Hill/Harper farm that will be auctioned on September 5, 2023 at 1pm Central time by Sullivan Auctioneers. More information at WWW.SULLIVANAUCTIONEERS.COM.
The farm is in Baylis, Illinois, 34 miles east of Quincy, 12 miles north of Pittsfield, and 95 miles north of St. Louis
The Hill farm has been owned by the Hill family since 1880, making it a rare Centennial farm. It was settled by Alfred and Sarah Elizabeth Hill (Lizzy), where they lived a productive, happy life and raised 5 children - George, Harry, Mary, Mina, and Rayburn. Alfred used the 138 acres to grow crops, graze livestock, and hunt deer.
Katherine Harper inherited the farm from her mother, Mina Hill Lovell, who inherited it from her mother Lizzy and brother Raymond.
The Hill farm had a two story farmhouse with 3 bedrooms, a front parlor with Victrola record player, dining room, and kitchen with log stove. The farm had a large barn for their cows and horses and several sheds for farm equipment. It had a large vegetable garden behind the house and cellar to store the many canned vegetables for the winter. I remember helping my great uncle Ray in the garden with his excellent crop of potatoes, beans, and blackberries. This is a photo of the farmhouse in 2005 with my parents, Katherine Hill Lovell Harper (Mina's daughter) and husband Bob Harper. Katherine's Trust owns the farm and is holding the auction.
The photo to the right is Lizzy and Ray in 1912 on the front porch. Lizzy lived a long and productive life on the farm. After she passed away in1949, the Baylis Guide newspaper stated "Sarah lived most of her 88 years in the house where she was married. In 1898, her husband passed away. She was left with the responsibility of five children and the brave way in which she kept the home and family together won the admiration of all who knew her. Her life has been long and good a beautiful example for all."
Ray lived on the farm his entire life until his passing in 1980. A gentle, kind bachelor, he served in WW I and enjoyed working on the farm and playing cards on Saturday night in the Baylis community center. As kids, we always looked forward to visiting him to play in the barn, fish in the pond, and hike to the sandy bottom creek in the woods. Sarah, Alfred, and Rayburn are all buried in the Baylis cemetery a mile south of the farm.
Lincoln Country
Abraham Lincoln grew his law career in the 1840s as a circuit court attorney who traveled central Illinois. He visited Pike County and Pittsfield many times and frequently stayed at the Shastid House in Pittsfield. Lincoln's White House secretaries John Nicolay and John Hay both lived in Pittsfield, where they met Lincoln and formed their strong relationship.
This photo shows Katherine and Bob Harper in front of the Shastid house which they renovated and donated to the Pike County Historical Society. Katherine's mother Mina Hill Lovell was born, raised, and married at the Hill farm in Baylis.
When you are in Pittsfield make sure to take the self-guided Lincoln radio tour and visit the Pike County Historical Society museum in the East School building.
Baylis, Barry, and Pittsfield
Baylis was founded in the 1820s by settlers from Kentucky and Tennessee who were looking for fertile land to farm. William Pine (Lizzy's great-grandfather) was an early settler from NY and Baylis started out as "Pineville". The town was renamed since there was another Pineville in Illinois. Baylis was an important railroad stop in the late 1800s and it had an active train station, bank, hotel, racetrack, and many stores.
Barry, another historic town 7 miles from Baylis, is an active town today with many stores and restaurants.
Pittsfield is 12 miles south of Baylis and is the Pike County seat. It's a beautiful town with historic square around the courthouse (shown at right), beautiful homes, Walmart, McDonalds, and many other stores and restaurants. Lincoln visited Pittsfield numerous times and made many local friends and connections, including his White House secretaries John Nicolay and John Hay.
Mina Hill Lovell
My grandmother Mina Hill Lovell was born in 1892 on the Hill farm in Baylis and had a happy childhood in Baylis. She and her siblings went to school in a one room brick schoolhouse that was on the southwest corner of the Hill property. She was married in the Hill living room to Otis Lovell, son of Union Army Captain A.J. Lovell of Pittsfield. They lived at 530 East Washington in Pittsfield, just west of Otis' birthplace at 720 East Washington. Mina was a very smart, warm, wonderful person that was on the school board for 20 years and led the effort to save the historic East School Building from the wrecking ball and have it placed on the National Registry of Historic Places. She took us on the train to the 1964 New York Worlds Fair and always shared her energy and love with her family and friends. This is a photo of Mina holding my sister Julie in 1954.
Thank you for reading this brief history of the Hill farm, a truly special place in our family's history. For more information, contact Jim Harper at jimharper2@gmail.com.
