Hillhouse & Dickey Plantations of York, South Carolina

William Hillhouse (William of the Province of South Carolina) and brothers Samuel & Charles are by far the most illusive of the six children of John & Rachel Hillhouse of Free Hall estate in the county of Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The names are noted along side Abraham, James and John in a travel journal of William Hillhouse's (New Haven 1757-1833) visit to Ireland in 1789. Further information was noted about Abraham, the eldest who inherited Free Hall; Rev James, who seated the New England Branch in Connecticut in 1720; sister Rachel who married into the McCausland family still residing at Drenagh Estate in Northern Ireland. John, the fourth son was said to have descendants in England (the Bristol Branch).

Brother William Hillhouse is noted as the third son who "settled in the West Indies" and there our William's trail ends until 1755. The Hillhouse's of Londonderry were trade merchants whose prominence afforded social mobility and merchant networking. It would have been quite possible for William and his younger brothers to explore life in the rich Sugar plantations of the West Indies before sailing up the coast of North America to Pennsylvania sometime between 1730 and 1740. However the proof is, as of this date, lost to the ages.

It is in the historically rich counties of Chester and York, South Carolina that William Hillhouse and his son's Captain John, Captain William and James Hillhouse leave their mark. I spent a truly enlightening afternoon with the McCelvey Center's Mike Scoggins. He was kind enough to show me the location of William Jr's Plantation where Lord Cornwallis camped in 1781. It is believed that the buildings would have stood on the hilltop just above the Catawba River on Route 322 south of York. The historical marker for Lacey's Fort is just across the road. The old plantation land is now a tree farm where the buildings have long disappeared. click to complete story at HillhouseFamily.com

John Dickey Cabin - 1771

John Dickey was the father of Mary "Polly" Dickey who married
William Hillhouse Sr's son James, my 5th great grandfather.