Charles Henry Hill was said to have been born in 1842 at Lyman, York County, Maine; but his marriage certificate lists his birth as being in Hollowell, Maine. He was the son of Joshua Hill, a farmer, and Rachel Hill.  Today there is a Charles Hill Cemetery in Kittery Point, Maine, right on the York County line; very much in disrepair. The old Hill family house is still there off Brave Boat Harbor Road, beside a newer home built on the property.  They used to have a donkey, which they allowed inside the house, and a picture of the donkey still hangs on the wall in the house. Ancestors of Charles Henry Hill included a Charles Hill, son of Hon. John and Eliz (Gerrish) Hill who married Sarah Prentiss of Cambridge. He was Justice of the Peace, a man of great conversational powers and deep religious feelilngs.  He was one of the first settlers of Royalsborough (now Durham, New Hampshire) where he was Town Clerk 1774-7 and where his Children George and Amos A. were born.  He also served there on the Committee of Correspondence, Inspection and Safety from 1774 through 1777.  He left Royalsaborough about 1778 and died in Meredith  NH in 1819 aged 85.  His wife died April 1802. They had 14 children, five of whom died young.  One was another Charles, baptized April  23 , 1762, who was married four times.  His first wife was Martha Day and they had 12 Children.  His family lived in “Lyman, Maine” where he died in July 1819 at age 57.

The 1850 census records the hill family living in Hollowell, Maine as follows;

Joshua Hill, age 57, a laborer, born in Maine

Rachel, Age 59, born in New Hampshire

Nancy W., age 21, born in Maine

Martha J., age 17, born in Maine

Charles H., age 6, born in Maine

In 1860 the U.S. Census for Hollowell only listed Joshua Hill, a carpenter at age 63 and Rachel at age 67; the children being unlisted in the household. Joshua died on April 4, 1871 in Farmingdale, Maine at 77 years and 5 months of age; Rachel died on September 28, 1878 at 87 years of age, at Gardiner, Maine. Martha J. Hill ent on to marry Edward Peacock in 1864 and also died in Gardiner in 1904.

Charles was under the legal age for enlistment in the U.S. military and therefore had to have a consent form signed by his parents. They in due course provided a “Consent in Case of a Minor” form for him, which enabled Charles to submit a Volunteer Enlistment form at Augusta, Maine and enlist at the age of 20, at Kennebunkport, Maine on August 26, 1862, into the 8th Maine Infantry; being mustered into Company “I” the same day.

The 8th Marine Infantry mustered in as a unit on September 7, 1861 for a three years term of enlistment. It moved to Annapolis, Maryland on October 6, 1861, forming a portion of General T,W. Sherman’s expedition to Port Royal, South Carolina, from October 21 through November 7, and the capture of Forts Walker and Beauregard at Port Royal Harbor on November 7th. It was one of five companies ordered to Dafuskie Island, South Carolina on February 14th and took part in the siege, bombardment and capture of Fort Pulaski; a major defense of Savanna, Georgia on April 10th & 11th 1862.  It was later in the expedition to Jacksonville, Florida from March 18th through the 23rd; during Gen. Seamore’s disastrous failure in an attempt to capture Tallahassee, Florida’s capitol, then in operations near Jacksonville, March 23rd through the 31st, did reconnaissance toward Baldwin, Florida on March 25th for Seamore’s advancing army and was in skirmishes with Confederate forces near Jacksonville on March 25th. 

Charles was among some 300 men who joined the regiment in November of 1862. From then until the spring of 1864 the 8th Maine was assigned largely guard duties at Hilton Head and Beaufort, South Carolina and the 8th Maine endured extreme sicknesses due to exposure during the spring campaign of 1862; and from a variety of diseases contracted in the hot southern climates. The 8th Infantry was transferred to the Department of Virginia in April 1864 and on May 4th was assigned to Bermuda Hundred where it took part in the operations of the Army of the James. It was at Drewry's Bluff, Virginia from May 4th through the 16th 1864 where it lost 96 men, at Ware Bottom Church, Virginia from May 9 through 20th 1864 during the Petersburg Campaign losing 50 men, at Cold Harbor, Virginia from May 31st through June 12th 1864 where it lost another 70 men, at the Battle of Chaffin’s Farm at New Market Heights, under the command of Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler, where Hill was wounded on September 29, 1864; Hill was then transported to the Army Corps Hospital at Fort Monroe, Virginia. He remained there for treatment until he was well enough to resume his duties, after which was returned for service in January 1865. In the meantime his unit proceeded on to Fort Gregg, Virginia on April 2, 1865 in the Appomattox Campaign, was at Fort Baldwin, Virginia on  April 2, 1865, at Rices Station, Virginia on  April 6, 1865 and at  Appomattox, Virginia on  April 9, 1865. After Lee’s surrender at the Appomattox Court House it was at Richmond, Virginia until August 1865, at Manchester until November and at Fortress Monroe until January 18, 1865, when they were mustered out, along with Hill, and transferred to Augusta, Maine for discharge. There were a total of 1586 men enlisted, 134 who were killed or died of their wounds, 355 wounded, some 247 who died of diseases and 35 who wound up in Confederate Prisons.

Some argue that Charles was not actually a veteran as his enlistment form and death certificate were contradictory. His death certificate, however, gave Charles’s age in 1897 as 55, which coincides with his military service records and both give Maine as his origin of birth. Only one Charles H. Hill is found in the Maine Company rosters and it gives his prior occupation as that of a “cabinet maker”; which again coincides with his death certificate which states he was a “carpenter”.

The muster-out roll for Company I of January 18, 1866 stated that Charles H. Hill “—joined as Pvt., Aug. 16/62, apptd. Cpl. (Corporal) March o8/63, Sergt. (Sergant) May 12/65, dischgd. (discharged) by G.O No. 94, W.D., A.G.O. series 1865, at Richmond, Va., June 13, 1865.” The Casualty Sheet in Hill’s file also confirmed his having been wounded at Chaffin’s Farm, his treatment at the Army Hospital and his return to duty.

Records reveal that Charles was an active member pf the “Grand Army of the Republic” after leaving the military, joining GAR Post # 12 in Wakefield, Maine and GAR Post # 194 in Reading, Maine.

Charles migrated to Australia in 1872 and at 31years of age married Ellen Martin, at Williamstown, Victoria on March 2, 1874, after which they had five children; Charles Henry born in 1875, Eliza Jane born in 1876, Mary Ellen born in 1878, Marthea Rachel born in 1880 and Isabella Ann born in 1881. He was at the time listed as being 28 years of age and a Mariner. The old Hill family homestead was eventually turned into the well known Williamstown Technical School.  Charles Henry Hill’s death at 55 years, 14 days of age, on  November 29, 1897, was said to be a result of a “fracture of the 5th, 6th, and 7th ribs, bronchial pneumonia and cardiac arrest following an illness of 2 days duration”; assumed to have resulted from a freak accident.

Hill’s funeral service was held on December 1, 1897 and he was buried in the Williamstown Public Cemetery, Church of England Section I, row 26.5, grave 7.  The Williamstown Public Cemetery is under the auspices and care of Altona Memorial Park and is located on Champion Road, Williamstown. The Williamstown Public Cemetery is one of the oldest and possibly one of the most unique cemeteries in Melbourne, providing visible links with Melbourne’s maritime history.

“American Civil War Union Army”, Robin Smith

Barbara Shearer, Boise, Idaho; formerly of Kittery Point, Maine

Birth, Marriage and Death Records, Victoria

GAR Dept of Massachusetts 1866-1947

Ms. Merran D. Price, Hoppers Crossing, Vic., descendant

Muster In and Descriptive Rolls - 1863-64-65, Box 48

Office of Vital Records, Maine Department of Human Services, Augusta, Maine

Regimental Returns - 8th, 9th – 1861 – 1864

Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Maine

“ The Union Army 1861 – 1865 Organization And Operations”, Frank J. Welcher

Williamstown Cemetery Records