Tarrant County, TXGenWeb

Allen & Malinda Hill Biographies

Allen Hill
This material presented by James Manford Dwight
 

Little is known of Allen Hill who is buried in the Lonesome Dove Cemetery next to Malinda Hill, who was his wife and my great-grandmother by her first husband, George E. Dwight.

Allen Hill, who was born June 3, 1839 in Illinois, was the son of John T. Hill (b. 1805 or 1806 in NC and married July 17, 1829 in Lawrence Co., Alabama) and Nancy McGaughey McCain ( b. 1805 or 1806 in Tennessee).
 

This family moved to Upshur County, Texas in 1848, then to Grayson Co., then Denton County, and finally settled in Tarrant County.

From a letter by Mrs. Jeanette Hays in 1984, we learned that Eli Allen Hill had two children named Amanda Jane Hill born May 22, 1872 (her grandmother) and died in 1912 and Elmer Allen Hill born Aug. 11, 1883 and died May 20, 1954.

Frank M. Dwight, step-son of Allen wrote a letter in the 1890's while at Willow Point in Wise County, Texas with a little information on his step-father. Frank Dwight was in the Civil War and when he came home when the war was over, he found that Allen Hill, had died.

Frank indicated that Allen must have been a very kind person. Allen was a Campbilite by religious denomination. However, Allen would invite a Baptist preacher to his house so that all of the children could learn about the Bible. And that act left a lasting impression on Francis. He remembered it all the days of his life and as a result, his children were brought into the church. And that church was the Lonesome Dove Church. 

Malinda Frost Dwight Hill
Her History and Her Family
This material presented by James Manford Dwight
A descendant of Malinda Frost Dwight Hill

Malinda Frost, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Frost, was born August 7, 1820 in Virginia. Samuel and Elizabeth had nine known children: Robert B., Matilda, Juliann, Joseph, Joel, Sarah Jane, John M. and Thomas. In 1833, the family immigrated to Texas as members of the Robertson Colony. Malinda is my great-grandmother.

For all intent and purpose, Malinda's childhood was short lived, and because of that she never learned to read or write. She married George E. Dwight (b. abt. 1805) about 1833/34 somewhere in Texas. It is possible that they were married by Elder John Parker who was a baptist preacher and founder of Parker's Fort. George was from Mississippi and a miller by trade. While the marriage record has so far not been located, it is known that George and Malinda had a child at Fort Parker during the Indian attack and some books indicate that there were two children but documentation can only be found for one child. In James W. Parker's account of the events; he indicates Malinda had two children, but Rachel Plummer indicated the Dwight family consisted of one child. That child was Elizabeth Dwight (b. Texas) and according to the 1850 Houston County Census; she was born in the late part of 1834 or the early part of 1835. So it is possible that there was an infant born after her that did not survive.

Malinda's family, along with her parent's family, was living at Parker's Fort, which was located on the headwaters of the Navasota River, sixty miles from the nearest white settlement. The nearest protection at that time would have been Fort Houston in Anderson County, near present day Palestine. Today called Fort Parker, it is located about two and one half miles northwest of the town of Grosebeck in Limestone County, about one mile from the river.

In 1836 the fort was inhabited by a little over 30 persons. Most of whom were women and children. On May 19, between the hours of 9:00 and 10:00 am, Indians attacked and the occupants were forced to flee or face certain death or worse. George Dwight took my Malinda out of the fort to the river bottoms, along with his father-in-law's family and possibly others. It was on that fateful day that Malinda's father and one of her brother's died by the hands of the Indians that savagely attacked Fort Parker, killing and taking prisoners of those that did not escape. According to the McLean Papers concerning the Robertson's Colony in Texas, (Volume IX; 03 Nov. 1834.) Samuel Frost and his son Robert stayed at the fort to buy time for the Dwight and Frost families to escape to safety on the river bottoms during the Parker Fort Massacre.

Without food and no means of procuring it, and without shoes and the proper clothing for such a journey, Malinda would have to make that fateful journey through the howling wilderness that was no more than a trackless and uninhabited country; literally covered with venomous reptiles and ravenous beast, while fleeing a savage and relentless foe that only hours ago, killed and mutilated her father and older brother and leaving their lifeless bodies. James W. Parker and his family, along with the Dwight and Frost families, traveled on foot for 5 days. On the sixth day, James Parker told my great-grandfather to stay with the survivors. A group of 18 people, of which 12 were children. Parker left alone to get help, in the belief that he could get to help back faster if he traveled alone.

George and Malinda moved around for a while and found themselves in Houston County, on Elkhart Creek, where George owned and operated a water mill. It is there George died and left Malinda a widow with six boys and one girl. Their family consisted of:

Malinda moved her family to Limestone County, near the old Parker's Fort from whence George and she had been driven years before by the Indians in what is known as the Parker's Fort Massacre. Sometime afterwards, Malinda met and married Allen Hill, who was a Campbellite. Her son Frank (Francis Marion Dwight, I) writes about his desire to hear the preaching of a Baptist preacher and Allen Hill would from time to time invite one of the Alex boys to come to their house to preach.

When Frank came home from the Civil War, he found that his step-father, Allen Hill, had died. Frank took charge of his mother's family and brought them to Dallas County. While there he writes that they enjoyed the ministerial services of Elders W. B. Long and J. F. Pinson, Baptist preachers.

Moving once again, this time to Tarrant County, near Lonesome Dove Church. Malinda Frost Dwight Hill died and was buried in the Lonesome Dove Church Cemetery which is in northeast Tarrant County near Grapevine, Texas. Frank soon married, took charge of his mother's younger children, joined the Lonesome Dove Church and was baptized by Elder A. J. Hallford. In a few months his wife was happily converted and joined the church. In time his mother's three youngest children were saved and also joined the church.
 

J.M.H. (John Martin Harvey) Dwight, my grandfather, had learned at a early age the art of being a tombstone engraver. He moved to New Mexico and continued to make tombstones for his lively-hood. In fact, he died when trying to lift a tombstone out of his wagon with a block and tackle, the rope broke and the stone hit him in the side crushing one of his kidney's. This injury proved fatal.

Notes & Resources

	One note that I read was from Mrs. Jeanette Hays said her mother called the Fort Worth Public Library for information on Malinda. Someone there read to her from some source that she died in Houston County and that she was taken to Tarrant County by train to be buried. She has 2 Hill children buried close to her.
	Jeanette Hays wrote that the tombstones are deteriorating rapidly. "About 5 years (in the 1970's) ago before I (Jeanette) was into Genealogy, I took my mother to see the graves. Three years latter, we went again. Malinda's tombstone was broken, Allen's was unreadable, and Amanda's was badly worn. Mother and two of her brothers remember the talk of their relationship with the Dwights, but no details."
	In the book titled, Texas Grave Yards, by Terry G. Jordon; Page 52, shows a picture of Malinda's tombstone. Picture was taken by author in 1980. At the bottom of the picture it reads, "A nicely crafted homemade marker, Lonesome Dove Baptist Cemetery, Tarrant County. Note the use of hand arrow, and open Bible decorative motifs. This structure depicted at the bottom is a steepled church, but it may represent the Heavenly home."
	In the Houston County census, George E. and Malinda (Frost) Dwight were in Houston County with 6 children (Note: In the 1850 census of Houston County, Texas, it shows her with George Dwight, age 44 from Miss., herself at age 30 from Va.).
	In Tarrant County 1870 census, Frances M. Dwight was with 2 other Dwights, 5 Hill children and Georgia A. Richardson (niece). Two of those Hill children died, but what happened to the others?
	In 1880 Wise Co. census, Frances M. Dwight with his family and niece and Robert B. Dwight with his Family. Jack County 1880 Census listed the Adrian Dwight family and F.M.H. Dwight family (Note: I believe she made a mistake and it should have been J.M.H. Dwight).
	Texas Grave Yards, by Terry G. Jordon; Page 52, shows a picture of Malinda's tombstone. Picture was taken by author in 1980.
	A Family History of Limestone County, Volume 2, 1993, L.C.C.N. 84-51438, Page 49. Nellie Lewis Kirk Froehner
	Indian Wars of Texas, Copyright 1965 by Texas Press. Page 102-103.
	Dwights, 157 years in Texas by William Horace Dwight Jr., p. 25, page 26.
	Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Chivers, printed material. September 8, 1969. Bridgeport, Texas.
	Fifty-Two Years in Texas, by F. M. Dwight, Willow Point, Wise County, Texas, 1896.
	Jeanette Hayes, March 8, 1984

This page was last modified 13 Nov 2003.

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