U.S. Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on the following page: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Hill, William (1769-1852) ------------------------------------------------------------------- Aler's History of Martinsburg and Berkeley County, West Virginia by F. Vernon Aler, 1888 Printed for the Author by The Mail Publishing Company, Hagerstown, MD. CHAPTER VIII. Historical Pen Sketches of the Early Residents of Berkeley County by the late Hon. Chas. James Faulkner. Pages 135-136, REV. WM. HILL, D. D. Was born in Virginia on the 3rd of March, 1769. In 1785, he entered Hampden Sidney College. He graduated at that college in 1788, and was licensed to preach the gospel by the Presbytery of Hanover, July 10th, 1790. Immediately after his license, he settled in Berkeley County. His stated field of labor was missionary ground, and though his labors here were prosecuted through, many discouragements, they were marked by great vigor and boldness, and were followed by highly important results. He had already acquired a high reputation as a commanding and effective pulpit orator. In January 1800 he left his residence in Berkeley County, and took charge of the Presbyterian Church in Winchester. In 1816 the degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by Dartmouth University. He died on the 16th of November 1852, in Winchester, in the 84th year of his age. His funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. A. H. H. Boyd, D. D. His power as an extemporaneous preacher was very remarkable. He had not the learning and the close logical reasoning of Rice, nor the chaste and flowing style of Speece, nor the splendid imagination of Kirkpatrick; but there was a combination of excellencies in his preaching which made him a great favorite. His commanding person, his clear and powerful voice, the vividness of his conceptions, the distinctness and pungency of his appeals, and the deep earnestness visible in his countenance and manner of delivery, impressed his audience with the conviction that what he said was truth, and such truth as involved their most vital interest. ------------------------------------------------------------------- If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access other biographies for Berkeley County, WV by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/wv/berkeley/bios.html -------------------------------------------------------------------