7) Andrew Gregory Hill: Elected reeve for the Village of Welland in 1869, 1871, 1872 & 1873

Vital statistics

Birth: September 23, 1834 at Clinton Township, Lincoln, Ontario, Canada

Death: December 1, 1895 at Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada (age 61)

Burial place: Fairview Cemetery (Find a Grave)

Parents: Solomon / Eleanor (née Gregory)

Spouse: Isabel (née Thompson)

Children: Frederick William / Luella Jane / Alberta Maud / Isabel Ethel

Occupations: Police Inspector / Police Magistrate / Attorney / Lawyer

Religion: Presbyterian

Political affiliation: Reform

Community affiliations: High School Board / County Board of Education / Pastmaster at Merritt Masonic lodge / Ancient Order of United Workmen

Profile

Andrew Gregory Hill was born September 23, 1834 in the Clinton Township of Lincoln, ON to Solomon and Eleanor Hill. He was the second reeve of Welland to have been born in the Niagara Peninsula (after William Archibald Bald who was born in Thorold). He was the first-born of eight eventual children, all of them delivered at the family’s Batherton Villa estate in Lincoln. His father Solomon served in the Canadian militia in the Rebellion of 1837, and he also founded the Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Clinton.

Andrew went to Victoria College in Cobourg, ON and graduated in Arts in 1860, and then in Law, taking the degree of LLB in 1861. He studied law with Richard Miller in St. Catharines, and afterwards with Adam Crooks in Toronto. He began a law practice in St. Catharines in 1863, his building in the Haynes Block at the corner of St. Paul and Ontario Streets, but in the fall that same year he decided to move to Welland, partnering with Warren Rock.

Besides his work as barrister, he was also active in business. One impact he made which this audience will appreciate (an impact which has endured for over 160 years) was that he was the man who gave the name “Tribune” to Welland’s long-standing newspaper. In 1863 he had bought the newspaper, which was called The People’s Press, from T.K. Titus, and he renamed it to the Welland Tribune. He sold it to H.L. Stone in 1865, who almost immediately afterward sold it to J.J. Sidey, and thereafter it stayed in the Sidey family for 65 years. The paper is an amalgamation of various early newspapers, and its full name has changed many times over the years, The Welland Tribune and Telegraph and the Welland-Port Colborne Evening Tribune being two examples, but the moniker “Tribune” has stuck all the way through.

Andrew continued in business in Welland for around ten years, and was elected reeve in 1869, 1871, 1872 & 1873, and also for several years was a member of the high school board and a member of the county board of education. During his work with the county, he was largely instrumental in having the county’s Registry Office (a government office that records and maintains property ownership, titles, mortgages, and surveys within Welland County) moved from Fonthill to Welland, which was a major boon for Welland’s growth, increasing business and traffic to the village. If you visit the Welland Courthouse today you can read “Registry” carved in stone above the door on the far left of the building.

As was discussed in the previous profile on Moses Betts, Andrew protested Betts’ election as reeve in 1867, arguing it was invalid due to Betts’ employment with the County of Welland. In a special do-over vote, Betts won again beating Andrew 59 to 11. It was in 1869, when Moses Betts did not run for election at all, that became the opening for Andrew Gregory Hill to win reeveship. He triumphed over James Bridges with a 9-vote majority and became reeve. This was the first year in which electors voted for the reeve specifically, and not councillors selecting a reeve among their elected number. Hard feelings didn’t go away immediately, however, as in what was probably a spiteful tit-for-tat move, his election was to be protested either by Moses or Moses’ political camp. From the January 13, 1869 edition of The Evening Journal: “Mr. Hill is Secretary… to the Board of Grammar School Trustees. For this office he is in receipt of a very small salary… he is a contractor with the County, and as such is disqualified for the position of Reeve. The objection seems to us to be a very trivial one, but may prove sufficient in law to unseat Mr. Hill.”

Something changed over the next month, and this was reported in the February 25, 1869 edition of The Evening Journal: “The protest against Mr. A. G. Hill has been abandoned, the oath necessary to take before proceeding having staggered the relator. Many of those who were Mr. Hill’s strongest and most bitter opponents, now speak very favorably of him, and some even go so far as to express the belief that he will prove the best Reeve the village has ever had.” This is quite a turn-around, and tells us something about Andrew’s character: an ability to turn bitter opponents into admirers is not a common quality.

Not every plan of his came up roses, however. An amusing opinion from the reader “Hawkeye” is found in the May 31, 1869 edition of The Evening Journal: “This village (or County Town as it is ironically called) is proverbial for miserable sidewalks and muddy roads, but during the last few days a futile attempt had been made under the guidance of A. G. Hill, Reeve, to turnpike the main street, and an abominable failure it is; the mud is worse than ever, and it is with the greatest difficulty you can cross the street, but when you do manage to wade through you have about 40 pounds of clay sticking to your feet… Retrogression seems the order of the day here, and so it will when politics and ‘personal’ matters have the precedence of the public good.” Muddy roads were a big problem for Welland in its early days, and Andrew Gregory Hill was one of the first to implement a possible solution. To get a further sense of the problem and what life was like back then, there is a relevant passage in a December 2, 1933 edition of the Tribune. Mr. & Mrs. Dexter D. Hoover were celebrating their golden wedding anniversary that day, and they reminisced about living in Welland in the 1860s and 1870s. “In the old days of half a century and more ago they wore high boots, reaching up to the thighs, when they went to church. Sidewalks at that time were either of two-inch plank or one-inch boarding, and often, because of peculiar or possibly faulty construction, one end of a sidewalk would tip up while the pedestrian was on the other end. “We loathed that clay and were sure the horses hated it even more,” Mr. Hoover said.”

It was near the end of 1869 that a moment occurred that can be considered the most dramatic in the history of Welland municipal elections. From the December 22, 1869 edition of The Evening Journal: “During the nominations at Welland on Monday, Mr. A. G. Hill, one of the nominees, said something which Mr. Michael Cafferty considered a gross personal insult, and he therefore presented a pistol at Mr. Hill and demanded an apology, the alternative being the drilling of a hole through Mr. Hill’s person.” More details were provided in The Times: they had “got into an argument concerning the municipal elections, when from “sound logic” they proceeded to “high words” when Cafferty drew a pistol on the Reeve, but before he could use it, the bystanders interfered and got the pistol away from him.” Hill apparently did apologize, then proceeded against Mr. Cafferty legally. From the December 30, 1869 edition of The Evening Journal: “The threat to shoot him (which I’m pleased to learn has been settled) has done Hill a great deal of good in his canvas, and he is said to have acted a gentlemanly and generous part on not only neglecting to administer personal chastisement to his assailant but in withdrawing the charge after it had been made.” It also goes on to say that the improvement of the principal street (East Main Street) was also a feather in Hill’s cap, which indicates that the reader “Hawkeye” who was quoted in the previous paragraph was perhaps too hasty in casting judgment on Hill’s road improvement initiative.

Moses Betts returned for the 1870 election and his popularity proved too much for Hill, Betts winning with a 10-vote majority over Hill. Mike Cafferty (the gunman), William Archibald Bald, and William Page were also losing candidates.

Moses moved to Michigan in late 1870 while still the reeve, and so Andrew’s chief rival was no longer in his way. Andrew was elected as reeve for the next 3 years: 1871 (beating Abraham Hendershot 93 to 84), 1872 (beating John Dunigan 89 to 65), and 1873 (unopposed).

This is when Hill’s connection with Welland was severed. In April of 1874 he was appointed police magistrate for Niagara Falls, under a special act to provide for the better government of that part of Ontario. He moved his family to Niagara Falls and he held that position until his death in 1895. His obituary notes “he was possessed of great energy and firmness of character, and his vigorous administration of justice did much to relieve the locality over which he presided of notorious evils and impositions that had for many years defied control.” Of note, his son Frederick William Hill was also a barrister and became the mayor of Niagara Falls in 1898.

Also in his obituary: “Among the many expressions of condolence and sympathy tendered the bereaved family, were resolutions to that effect passed by the municipal councils of the towns of Welland and Niagara Falls, the latter body adjourning out of respect to the memory of the deceased.” The mayor and council of Niagara Falls stated the “wish to place on record our testimony of his personal worth as a good citizen, lover of education and progress, supporter of temperance and every good cause calculated to advance the interests of humanity.”

In Welland, there is a Hill Street just south of Ontario Road, but we were unable to determine if it was named in honour of Andrew Gregory or if it was for another reason. Nevertheless, Andrew Gregory Hill not only made a mark on both Welland and Niagara Falls, he made them a better place to live.

Sources

“Abandoned.” The Evening Journal, February 25, 1869.
“At Welland.” The Evening Journal, December 30, 1869.
Couch, Franklin. “Genealogy of the Hill, Dean, Pinckney, Austin, Barker, Anderson, Rhoades and Finch Families” (1907), 57, 61.
“Death of A.G. Hill.”
“Evening Tribune Has Grown With Community.” Evening Tribune, June 29, 1963.
Morrison, Tommy. “Retired Evening Tribune managing editor rummages through 125 years of history.” The Evening Tribune, October 18, 1988.
“Oh! Muddy Welland!” Welland-Port Colborne Evening Tribune, December 2, 1933.
“Roads and Sidewalks.” The Evening Journal, May 31, 1869.
“Row at Welland.” The Times, December 22, 1869.
“A Serious Affair.” The Evening Journal, December 22, 1869.
Welland Tribune Printing House, “The History of Welland County” (1887), 510.
“Will be protested.” The Evening Journal, January 13, 1869.