The Carbondale Herald, a weekly publication, is a bright, clean, newsy
journal, decidedly Republican in its views, and is ably conducted by two
gentlemen of talent and ability, William S. Hill, the subject of this
sketch, having charge of its editorial department, while his son, Burt
E. Hill, is business manager. A son of John McDowell Hill, William S.
Hill was born in Monroe county, Illinois, July 10, 1843, coming from
Virginian ancestry.
John McDowell Hill was born in Virginia in
1816. Six years later he was brought by his parents to Monroe county,
Illinois, where he was brought up and educated. Succeeding to the
occupation of his ancestors, he became a tiller of the soil, and
continued in that independent occupation until his death, in March,
1845, ere reaching manhood's prime. He was a man of sterling worth, and
a member of the Baptist church. He married Nancy Gooding, of Belleville.
Illinois, and she survived him upwards of half a century, dying in
Jackson county, Illinois, in 1902.
The only son of his parents,
William S. Hill was a small child when left fatherless. He lived with
his mother in Belleville, Illinois, until seven years of age, when he
went to Randolph county, where he was employed on a farm near Percy
until 1861. Going to Chester, Illinois, in 1864, he established a small
printing business, which he conducted for seven years. From 1868 until
1880 Mr. Hill was engaged as a painting contractor at Steeleville,
Illinois, and the following ten years was actively engaged in mercantile
pursuits in Cutler, Perry county. Going to DuQuoin, Illinois, in 1890,
he founded the DuQuoin Herald, of which he was the manager for two
years. Coming to Carbondale in 1892, Mr. Hill started the Carbondale
Herald, but soon afterward sold the paper to John H. Barton, and worked
in its office as city editor. In 1910, in company with his son, Burt E.
Hill, Mr. Hill purchased the paper, and has since continued its
editorship.
Mr. Hill married, in Chester, Illinois, in 1865,
Eliza Servant. Her father, the late Colonel R. B. Servant, was born at
Old Point Comfort, Virginia, in 1801, and died in Chester, Illinois, in
1870. He was a man of much prominence and influence, and in addition to
representing his district in the Illinois State Legislature for six
years was for several terms judge of Randolph county. Of the eight
children born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Hill, seven are living,
namely: "W. C., of Chicago; Nancy O., wife of N. S. Weiler; Burt E.,
business manager of the Herald; Parker L.; Jennie, wife of W. O. Hern,
of Carbondale; Samuel G.; and Eva R.
Burt E. Hill was born July
5, 1875, in Randolph county, Illinois, and received his early education
in the public schools of that and Jackson counties. Active, industrious,
and possessing undoubted executive ability, he is now meeting with
well-merited success as business manager of the Carbondale Herald, which
he, jointly with his father, owns. A Democrat in politics, he has
rendered the city excellent service as an alderman, having represented
the Fourth ward for two terms in the City Council. He is a member of the
Christian church, and contributes generously towards its support. He
married, in 1903, Etta Brantley, who died November 11, 1907, leaving one
child, Margaret Hill. Fraternally he is a member of the Ancient Free and
Accepted Order of Masons, to which his father also belongs; of the
Knights of Pythias; the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; and to
the Modern Woodmen of America.
Extracted from 1912 A History of Southern Illinois, by George W. Smith, volume 2, page 732.