A hidden source of power for the great is the study of the past. The lives of wise and successful men and women are like treasures buried in the earth. Great good fortune comes to those who unearth these valuable treasures by applying the lessons of the ages to current events ...

 

AYRSHIRE - Scotland
1388 -

 

LONDONDERRY - Northern Ireland
1639 - 1760

 

CONNECTICUT
1720 - 1942

James Hillhouse (1687-1740)

William Hillhouse (1728-1816)

James Hillhouse (1754-1832) New Haven

Planting the Elms

Sachem's Wood (Highwood)

James A. Hillhouse (1789-1841)

Augustus L. Hillhouse (1792-1859)

Mary Lucas Hillhouse

GEORGIA

Sarah Porter Hillhouse - (1763-1831)
Edward Porter Alexander - (1835-1910)

 

SOUTH CAROLINA BRANCH
1740 -

William Hillhouse Plantation - Turkey Creek

William Hillhouse - American Revolution Pension Statement

 

 

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I can only explain this mid-life obsession with Genealogy as an attempt to connect with family ties lost to me in my lifetime and the comfort I find in walking on the land where my ancestors once lived & worked. In the graveyards nearby their faded tombstones stand etched with eloquent epitaphs. While most family residences are long gone, it is easy for this farmer's daughter to connect with them through the meadows and streams and trees and bird songs that survive the centuries. It was in this spirit of adventure, I started this journey in 2005 with a few precious days among the proud people of the county of Londonderry, Northern Ireland and New Haven, Connecticut.

My journey began months before in a less than romantic place called the Internet with only the last name of my mother's family, Hillhouse, to guide me. It was a family of ancestors I knew virtually nothing about as my grandfather Hillhouse had moved many miles from his family in Missouri to Nebraska and died years before I was born. His railroad watch, now passed on to me, was my only tangible connection to the history of this family.

Almost at once, the search engines found Judy Young's extensive genealogy on the Hillhouse Family and I started where I was most drawn, toward the 17th Century ancestors of the Ulster Plantation in Northern Ireland. Another most important find was the reprint of the extensive Genealogy "THE HILLHOUSE FAMILY" (South Carolina branch) by Helen T. Hillhouse and Laurens Petigru. This wonderful collection of family history provided a vivid description and directions to the old family estate known as Free Hall near Limavady.

From there I am most indebted to a German resident of that town, Jochen Lueg, who has an extensive website covering Limavady and the Roe Valley. The Hillhouse name and the fortified manor house, Free Hall, as I would come to discover, has all but disappeared from existence in Londonderry. Jochen did find the directions to the property very familiar and tied it with McCausland property nearby. It was a short search connecting the names of Hillhouse and McCausland to link the two families by marriage in 1741. In the months before my visit, Jochen was very kind to research what he could on his end and I was able to give him many clues to pursue.

My next connection was with the gracious owners of Streeve Hill B&B, Peter and June Welsh. Streeve Hill was Frederick & Rachel (Hillhouse) McCausland's family home from 1741-1765. The Welshes went well out of their way to provide for my comfort and desire to know more about the Hillhouse family and where they had lived.

I am also most indebted to Frank the owner of Bells Taxis as my local driver and guide who shared his love of the history of the city of Derry and county of Londonderry and waded through the neetles of the local cemeteries to help me in my research.

I also must thank Ian Campbell and his wife who reside at Ballycastle and spent a morning with me sharing the printed history of the area in their possession. It was there that the mystery of the location of the graveyard at the Church of Arclow was revealed.

Jan Eloise Morris
2007