Charles Henry Hill:

Mistaken Identity.

by Terry Foenander.


As of early August, 2008, it has been noted that Mr. Gray has removed his biography of this person, an obvious result of Gray's having noted all the evidence shown at this web site. However, the damage has already been done, since his numerous errors and inaccuracies (which are included on every single biography at his web site), have now spread all across the Internet.

A true researcher will go to any lengths to find out the truth about the subject he or she is involved in, and will not accept just oral evidence.   Documents, photos and other items relating to the subject are all needed to prove a case in point, and nothing short of full concrete evidence is needed before acceptance of any facts.

There are those who aspire to be considered as researchers, yet do not go the full mile when attempting to research a subject or person.   Some will just accept what is told them or a published account, without attempting to verify the facts, by obtaining the documents (or copies of documents) necessary for final confirmation.

Such was the case as shown in the biography of Charles Henry Hill at the web site of Mr. James Mason Gray, a member of the American Civil War Round Table of Queensland.   Mr. Gray had insisted, in the past, that he was doing all his very own research, and his intention was to “correct and verify” data on the American Civil War veterans buried in Australia and New Zealand, yet he was unwilling to pay for the copies of documentation needed for such verification, instead relying on hearsay and assumptions.   The subject of this article, Charles Henry Hill was one such case, out of numerous others, shown at Mr. Gray’s collective biographies, where wrong assumptions were made, and a person buried in Australia was incorrectly assumed to be a veteran of the American Civil War, without so much as a shred of evidence being found.

At the time that Mr. Gray had commenced his so called “research” on these veterans, in November or December, 2004, there were already numerous sources of information available at one’s fingertips, mostly on the Internet.   This was  much more than what the original researchers had available to them, when they commenced their original and pioneering work on the veterans buried in Australia and New Zealand, in the early 1980’s.   This work was first begun in earnest by the late Roy Parker of Sydney, and then, with the assistance of Barry Crompton, Bob Simpson and Len Traynor, continued to the present day.   At that time the Internet was not available, and postal correspondence, mainly with American sources, as well as some local research work, and other forms of searching had to be done, usually taking weeks, months and in some cases, years.   In those days the original researchers took the trouble to obtain as many documents as possible, sometimes paying enormous amounts for these documents and other items, for any evidence of a person’s service in the Civil War.   No stone was left unturned, and, although some errors were made, the work of these researchers was considered as perhaps about ninety-nine percent accurate in its conclusions, unlike the current lot of work being done (or to be more accurate, undone) by one person, in particular, in Brisbane, Queensland.

In the case of Charles Henry Hill, the American who died in 1897, at Melbourne, and is buried at the Williamstown Cemetery, in the state of Victoria, Australia, there was already ample evidence to indicate that he may never have served in the American Civil War, and was almost certainly in the merchant marine service at the time.

Copies of documents in the microfilm rolls containing the United States Consular records of Melbourne, make mention of Charles Henry Hill, after a lady in the United States had written to the Secretary of State, and made inquiries about him.   After a search through the Melbourne directories, and contact initiated with those persons of the same name, residing in Melbourne, in 1900, the consul was able to contact Hill’s widow, residing in Williamstown, who gave some important information in relation to her late husband.   At no time, in any of these dispatches, relating to Hill, is any mention made of any Civil War service.   The data provided by Hill’s widow gave some very important clues, including place of birth, age at death, and even his parents’ names, all factors that were crucial to proving who this Charles Henry Hill was, and he most certainly was not the person of that name who served in company I of the 8th Maine Infantry, as indicated in Mr. Gray’s biography.


The United States consul's dispatch of August 10, 1900, to the assistant secretary of state, at Washington, D.C. giving particulars, as provided by Charles Henry Hill's widow, in Melbourne, of his place of birth and parents' names.

The second page of the same dispatch.

Several conclusive factors, relating to the two persons of this same name, Charles Henry Hill, when compared to each other, prove, beyond a doubt, that the Charles Henry Hill who served in the 8th Maine Infantry was not the Charles Henry Hill who lived at Williamstown, Melbourne, Australia, and died there in 1897.   These factors were based on the evidence shown in the enlistment papers of Charles Henry Hill of the 8th Maine Infantry, and data shown in the marriage and death certificates of Charles Henry Hill of Melbourne, as well as his widow’s data supplied to the United States consulate, in Melbourne, and related in the 1900 dispatch.   But the final nail in the coffin, of Mr. Gray’s assumption, is conclusive data that will be shown at the end of this article.

The factors that should have alerted any decent minded researcher, that both men, of the same name, were not one and the same person, were totally ignored, with the result that absolutely inaccurate data was placed on Mr. Gray’s web site, as with much other inaccurate and false data (which will also be revealed in other articles on these errors) at quite a large number of his biographies, then passed on to individuals, groups and organisations in the United States, Australia, and elsewhere, as factual material.   No attempt was ever made to show accurate data, but just a rush, helter skelter, to place these web pages on the internet, in a poor attempt to show his “research” work.

The warning factors, which should have set alarm bells ringing, in the case of Charles Henry Hill were:

1.        The place of birth of both men were entirely different, as revealed in several documents, including the enlistment papers of Hill, who served in the 8th Maine, the marriage certificate of Hill, who was a resident of Australia, and the data supplied by his wife, after his death in Australia.   Although both men were born in Maine, they were from different towns altogether.

2.        The parents’ names were different altogether.   When the person who enlisted in the 8th Maine enlisted, his father signed a consent form, and the father’s name was shown as being Prentiss Hill.   However the Australian resident had his parents’ names listed on his marriage certificate as Joshua and Rachel Hill.   Additionally, after his death in Australia, Charles Hill’s wife, Ellen, had indicated, in data provided to the United States consul in Melbourne, that her late husband’s parents names were Joshua and Rachel Hill, thus confirming the information shown in the marriage certificate. Neither set of parents' names are shown in Mr. Gray's biography of Hill, and seems to have been conveniently omitted, in an obvious attempt to avoid showing the contradictions .

3.        The Charles Hill who served in the 8th Maine Infantry had his occupation listed as cabinet maker, but our Australian Charles Hill was, by occupation, a seaman.   This is confirmed in the U.S. consulate dispatch, from the data provided by his wife.

4.        Mr. Gray has stated, categorically, in his biography of Charles Henry Hill, that “only one Charles H. Hill is found in the Maine Company rosters” but a proper search of the rosters indicates that at least two other persons of this name had served in Maine units, both of them in the 25th Maine Infantry, but in different companies.   Obviously a thorough search was never instigated when searching through the rosters.   However, this particular factor is not of any major importance, because there is absolutely no evidence that the Charles Henry Hill who resided in Australia, despite his being born in Maine, had ever served in the Civil War.

5.        No investigation of the data shown in the United States census records was ever done by Mr. Gray.   If he had taken the trouble to search this valuable source, he would have seen both persons of this name listed especially in the 1850 census records for Maine.   Charles Henry Hill, who later served in the 8th Maine Infantry, and who had received his father, Prentiss’ consent to enlist, is shown as living, in that year, at Kennebunkport, York County, Maine, with his parents, Prentiss and Martha, and his siblings.   The other Charles Henry Hill, however, who later moved to Australia, and died at Melbourne, is shown, in 1850, living with his parents, Joshua and Rachel, and his elder siblings, at Hallowell, Kennebec County, Maine.


Copy of the 1850 census record for Kennebunkport, York County, Maine, showing the family of Charles H. Hill, who had served in the 8th Maine Infantry, with his parents names shown as Prentiss and Martha.

The 1850 census record for Hallowell, Kennebec County, Maine, showing Joshua and Rachel Hill, and their children, including Charles H. Hill, who was later to take up a seafaring career, and settle in Australia.

6.        Finally, last but not least, and most important of all is the fact that a proper search, and application at the National Archives would have shown that Charles H. Hill, who had served as sergeant in company I of the 8th Maine Infantry, was residing with his wife, Fannie, at Reading, in the state of Massachusetts, and was receiving a United States government pension, until his death sometime after 1920 (long after the death of the Charles Henry Hill who died in Australia in 1897), after which his wife continued receiving the pension.   Additionally a simple search of the United States census records for the years after the war, clearly shows him residing in Massachusetts, with his occupation described variously through the years as working in an organ factory, a sounding board manufacturer, and working in a piano factory.


The index reference card showing the names of Charles H. Hill, sergeant of company I, 8th Maine Infantry, and his wife, Fannie, both of whom received a pension, while residing in Reading, Massachusetts. This fully confirms that Charles Henry Hill of the 8th Maine Infantry was resident in the United States, after the war, and never in Australia.

The census record for Charles H. Hill, and his wife, Fannie, clearly showing that they were residing in Reading, Massachusetts, as late as 1920. They had resided here, after the war, for decades. The census for 1930 shows Fannie as a widow, indicating that Charles had died sometime after 1920.

Once again, it shows that a complete failure to engage in proper research, and an unwillingness to make payments for copies of documentation and other important research items leads to a totally inaccurate biography of a person claimed as a Civil War veteran.   Other such failures, relating to other assumed Civil War veterans, are shown on separate pages.

Sources:

1850 U.S. Census records.

1860 U.S. Census records.

Pension Records of Charles Henry Hill, sergeant in company I, 8th Maine Infantry, and his wife, Fannie I. Hill, residents of Massachusetts.

Mrs. Virginia Crocker, of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

United States Consular records, Melbourne.

For more inaccurate biographies, see "A Litany of Errors."

Page Created, March, 2008 (Updated August, 2008).